12 March 2006 We've posted, with permission, an important article: OCC v. Spitzer: An Erroneous Application of Chevron That Should Be Reversed. It's by Professor Arthur Wilmarth of George Washington University School of Law, one of the nation's leading scholars on banking law and the relationship between state and national bank regulation. It was first published in BNA's Banking Report. We have a blog entry analysing some of the issues of Chevron deference discussed in the article here.

7 March 2006. The latest issue of PIRG Preemption Alert is up, with its new regulatory and legislative Preemption Tracker. (Scroll to the bottom for archived issues.)

16 Feb 2006 We've got a new occasional e-newsletter -- PIRG Preemption Alert -- focused on growing Congressional and regulatory threats to the ability of states to protect consumer privacy, pocketbooks and health and safety. (Scroll to the bottom for archived issues.)

27 Dec 2005 See the U.S. PIRG Consumer Blog's States: Laboratories of Democracy archive for up-to-date commentary on threats to stronger state laws. Here's the blog home page.

29 March 2005 Here is the backgrounder from a PIRG National Press Club briefing held today: Privacy to Pollution to Predatory Lending-- New Federal Threats to Strong State Consumer and Public Health Protections, featuring U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski and his statement, Jennifer Bradley, Federalism Project Director at Community Rights Counsel, a public interest environmental law firm and co-author, Redefining Federalism (Environmental Law Institute Press 2004) and Mike Calhoun, General Counsel, Center for Responsible Lending and his statement, Durham, NC. The backgrounder highlights a number of the issues, from Choicepoint to clean air to predatory lending, where our organizations and allied groups are fighting to preserve the right of the states to enact stronger consumer and public health protections.

March 2005 Fact sheets on the state identity theft and credit laws that led to the 2003 Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FCATA) and on other state privacy laws -- including the 40 state do-not-call lists" that showed Congress the way.

Fall 2004 State PIRG Model Law To Prevent Identity Theft and Improve Credit Report Accuracy This is the home page for a joint project of the state PIRGs and Consumers Union (publishers of Consumer Reports magazine). You can download a model law to fight identity theft and improve credit report accuracy. April 2005 Update: Following the Choicepoint identity theft scandal, over a dozen state legislatures are considering the model law. PIRG's Choicepoint and identity theft page here.

July 2004 See news release and new report "Tying the Hands of States: The Impact of Federal Preemption on State Problem-Solvers," by U.S. PIRG Research Director Alison Cassady. The report was released at the July convention of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Salt Lake City.