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Blog Post | COVID-19

Factory farms: A pandemic in the making. | Matt Wellington

The emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic is a symptom of how we raise food animals across the world. 

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | COVID-19

Statement: SBA data breach puts business owners at risk of ID theft and other fraud

The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Tuesday that the personal information of nearly 8,000 business owners applying for federal disaster loans had been exposed. The breach affects applicants to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program (EIDL), and may have included names, Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers, citizenship statuses and insurance information.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips, COVID-19

Consumer complaints of COVID-19 fraud surpass 15,000

Scammers and other bad actors are trying to take advantage of Americans’ heightened fears around the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and fraud complaints are soaring. Consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) related to the virus surpassed 15,000 Thursday.

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News Release | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

GUIDE TO ADDRESSING BILL PAYMENTS DURING COVID-19

With the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulting in a significant number of job losses, many Arizonans are concerned with how they’re going to pay their monthly bills. The Arizona PIRG Education Fund released a guide with tips for how consumers can negotiate with their banks to lower interest rates, waive overdraft fees, and determine payment plans to provide more financial peace of mind in the months to come.

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News Release | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

GUIDE TO ADDRESSING BILL PAYMENTS DURING COVID-19

With the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulting in a significant number of job losses, many Arizonans are concerned with how they’re going to pay their monthly bills. The Arizona PIRG Education Fund released a guide with tips for how consumers can negotiate with their banks to lower interest rates, waive overdraft fees, and determine payment plans to provide more financial peace of mind in the months to come.

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News Release | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

COVID-19: Tips for Consumers from Travel Refunds to Student Loans

As documented cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) increase across Arizona, the Arizona PIRG Education Fund warns that consumers can expect to be faced with an escalating number of pandemic-related scams, hazards and financial challenges.

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News Release | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Tips

Consumer Groups in Arizona Issue COVID-19 Utility Related Recommendations for Policy Makers and Arizonans

According to two consumer organizations that are actively engaged in utility policy in Arizona, without at least temporary relief and clear communication, Arizonans are likely to face even greater challenges paying utility bills for the foreseeable future. The groups noted that due to public health warnings associated with COVID-19, many more Arizonans are working from home and taking classes online.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Coronavirus worry triggers most surgical mask, sanitizer prices to spike at least 50% on Amazon

As the Coronvirus outbreak became more widespread, the price of most of the sanitizers and masks rose at least 50 percent higher than the 90-day average. Even one in six products sold directly by Amazon saw prices rise at least 50 percent higher in February

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Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund

Electric Buses in America

New report profiles six case studies of early electric bus adopters from South Carolina to Washington State. By understanding common pitfalls and best practices, municipalities, transit agencies and school districts can ensure a smoother roll-out of electric buses, helping to reduce costs and protect public health.

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Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Get the Lead Out - Back to School Toolkit

The "Get the Lead Out" toolkit was developed to help parents, guardians, teachers and school officials get the facts on lead in drinking water and take action to ensure safe drinking water at school.

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Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Get the Lead Out

Our children need safe drinking water – especially at school where they go to learn and play each day.  Unfortunately, lead is contaminating drinking water at schools and pre-schools across the country.  As our report shows, states are failing to make the grade when it comes to keeping lead out of drinking water at school.  Instead of waiting for more testing, we need to proactively remove the lead pipes and plumbing at the root of this toxic hazard for our children.

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Report | Arizona PIRG Education Fund | Health Care

The Real Price of Medications: A Survey of Pharmaceutical Prices

People living in the United States have access to some of the best medical care in the world, from life-saving drugs to cutting-edge surgical techniques. But our system is deeply flawed, with spiraling costs forcing many Americans to spend more on care and often receiving poor quality care for all the extra money spent.

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Blog Post | Solid Waste

Major Arizona Municipalities Are Below the National Recycling Rate | Diane Brown

To mark America Recycles Day, the Arizona PIRG Education Fund thought it would be helpful to shine a light on the recycling and compost rates for ten of the most populated municipalities in Arizona and offer solutions for improvement.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Getting good data on rate designs is worth the effort | Diane Brown

There’s been good national conversation in recent years around the need for transparency and responsiveness from electric utilities and regulators when it comes to data on rates and pilots, assessing impacts on consumers, and consumer outreach and education. At the local level, though, it can take quite a bit of work to turn guidelines into reality. 

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Tucson Unanimously Adopts the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code | Aaron Kane

Last night, Mayor Rothschild and the Tucson City Council unanimously adopted the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code as recommended by the Tucson-Pima County Joint Consolidated Code Committee. The Committee’s recommendation was developed as a result of a rigorous, ten-month-long stakeholder process open to all interested participants. We are quite pleased with this vote.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Let's Celebrate Energy Efficiency | Aaron Kane

Energy Efficiency Day celebrates and recognizes energy efficiency as the quickest, cheapest, and cleanest way to address our growing energy needs. With technological advances and increased energy consciousness, consumers now have more ways than ever to make our homes and businesses more efficient, reduce our energy usage, and save money on our electric bills.

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Blog Post | Democracy

Let’s Keep Breaking Voter Turnout Records | Diane Brown

The majority of counties in our state recently broke their record for voter turnout in a primary election. The uptick in voters in these counties contributed to a new voter primary election turnout record not only for individual counties but also for our state. While we applaud the increase in voter turnout, we know Arizona can do better.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Consumer advice: Ask for help with your bills before an emergency

This coming Monday, June 1, will mark the third full month that bills are due since COVID-19 was declared a national state of emergency in March. To help Americans manage their finances, U.S. PIRG Education Fund has published an updated guide with tips on what to do about paying bills during the crisis.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Statement: Consumer complaints about COVID-19 fraud near 50,000

Consumer complaints to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) related to the coronavirus approached 50,000 on Tuesday. U.S. PIRG Education Fund has documented the actions taken by the FTC and 14 other federal agencies in response to coronavirus scams.

Blog Post

U.S. PIRG Supports Automated Contact Tracing Because More Than Anything Else, America Needs Good Information Before It Can Safely Lift Stay-At-Home Rules

Public health experts have made it abundantly clear that to safely lift stay-at-home rules we must have four key things we don’t yet have. We need fast, accurate and widely available testing. We need a better plan for isolating and supporting people who have COVID-19. We need sufficient hospital capacity, including medical and protective equipment, to treat all patients safely. And we need more contact tracing. This blog explains U.S. PIRG's support for automated warning and contact tracing, subject to appropriate privacy and civil liberties protections, which can provide critical information quickly about who has potentially been exposed.

Blog Post

Factory farms: A pandemic in the making.

The emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic is a symptom of how we raise food animals across the world. 

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Americans need stronger consumer protections during COVID-19 crisis

U.S. PIRG Education Fund has released a report with the Student Borrower Protection Center and Consumer Action. The report makes recommendations to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to upgrade its consumer complaint tool, including the public consumer complaint database, so COVID19-related complaints can be handled more quickly and tracked better.

  • COVID-19 CONSUMER TIPS
    Avoid online scams, protect your credit and more. We have assembled a set of consumer tips and guides, and will add more in the days to come.
    OUR TIPS
  • ENERGY EFFICIENT ARIZONA
    Arizonans are experiencing the impact of recent rate increases on their electric bills. We're urging the Arizona Corporation Commission to oppose cuts to energy-saving programs.
    LEARN MORE
  • 21ST CENTURY TRANSPORTATION FOR ARIZONA
    Arizona is experiencing a shift in how we travel. We're driving fewer miles per person, and looking more to public transportation to get around.
    LEARN MORE
  • THE FIX IS IN
    Our survey shows that independent shops are struggling to access parts, service information and repair software which is necessary to fix phones — which manufacturers won’t let these independent shops have.
    OUR REPORT

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