Winning Concrete Results
A Victory for Children’s Safety
After years of pushing for it, we saw a powerful and far-reaching consumer safety law signed by President Bush in August 2008. This critical new law will make consumer products safer by requiring that toys and infant products be tested before they are sold, and by banning lead and phthalates in toys.
Landmark Votes for Public Transportation
U.S. PIRG helped pass a landmark passenger rail bill in October 2008 that authorized close to $13 billion over five years to promote rail travel, relieve bottlenecks and begin investment in a new generation of high-speed rail.
New Rules on Ethics in Congress
Thanks to our prompting and research, the House voted in March 2008 to create the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate allegations of ethical violations by members of Congress and their staff.
Record Turnout Among New Voters
The Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project contributed to impressive gains in youth voting nationwide in 2008. More than 2 million additional 18- to 24-year-old voters turned out at the polls than in 2004. Since 2004, the New Voters Project has tallied more than 700,000 new registrations and made more than 650,000 peer-to-peer voter turnout contacts to turn out young people to the polls.
Progress on Health Care
Through the hard work of our advocates, Oregon State PIRG (OSPIRG) won a seat at the table for that state’s health care overhaul, which, if approved, will cut costs for Oregonians by $5.4 billion. Florida PIRG advocated and helped win a state measure that gives consumers information about the cost of hospital visits. In Massachusetts, MASSPIRG helped legislators pass a bill that will require drug company representatives to disclose all gifts to doctors and penalize those that attempt to buy influence.
An End to Some Corporate Loopholes
U.S. PIRG helped pass two bills to rein in federal contractors. One forbids KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, and other contractors from using offshore havens to avoid payroll taxes. The other requires the federal government to verify that contractors have paid back taxes before rewarding more contracts.
A Break for College Students
In 2007, we helped win the largest increase in federal student aid in 20 years. Thanks to the bill, students paid lower interest rates on loans in 2008. We followed up by helping pass the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which was signed by President Bush in August 2008. That law contains several important policy changes, including an increase in the maximum authorized level of the Pell Grant to $9,000 and steps to lower the cost of textbooks.
