Environmental Priorities

• Protect Citizens From Dangerous Toxic Chemicals
  WashPIRG has long advocated eliminating dangerous toxics from our environment. We support HB 2686 and SB 6533 which will eliminate a large source of mercury from our environment by phasing out products that contain mercury and ensuring consumer right-to-know by requiring the labeling of all mercury products.
  WashPIRG supports SB 6356 and HB 2885 which would create the Children's Environmental Health And Protection Advisory Council. The council would be responsible for investigating and eliminating children's exposures to environmental hazards, including toxics.
  
  
• Prevent Rollback Of Environmental Standards
  This session, the Legislature will review recommendations made by Governor Locke's Competitiveness Council on issues affecting Washington's business sector. While it is important that our environmental programs work efficiently, we should not sacrifice the health of Washington's environment in the name of efficiency. WashPIRG will work to defeat legislation that will weaken environmental protections.
  
  
• Require Industry To Pay Its Fair Share
  Many of Washington's environmental programs are paid for primarily with taxpayer dollars instead of the polluters who are regulated by those programs. Given the current economic climate, the state cannot afford to continue to subsidize these programs. WashPIRG supports increases in the fees paid for environmental permits and other programs to fully cover the costs of the environmental management programs.
  
  
• Breaking Transportation Gridlock
  Transportation is becoming an increasing problem in the state, with traffic gridlock causing air and water pollution and hurting our economy. As WashPIRG's report "Breaking the Gridlock" documents, expanding highways to address traffic can lead to even more congestion. Alternative choices, when fully utilized, create lasting relief from traffic and reduce pollution.
  
  WashPIRG supports HB 2359. This bill would allow voters to approve investments in state and local road improvements, as well as light rail, monorail, commuter rail service, bus transit service, ferries, and trip reduction programs.
  
  WashPIRG opposes SB 6140 which would require multiple counties to approve new projects, allow only pre-existing transit funding, create new bureaucracies, and would not promote spending on alternative forms of transportation.
  
  WashPIRG supports HB 2343 and HB 2342 which would help mitigate the costs of rapid growth of public services by giving local jurisdictions the ability to increase development fees and raise more money for fire protection and law enforcement by charging fees for development.
  
  
• Investing In Smart, Sustainable Energy
  WashPIRG supports energy policies that increase funding for energy conservation programs and supports investments in clean, affordable, renewable energy, reduces our reliance on fossil fuel, and reduces the impacts of global warming.
  
  WashPIRG supports HB 2326, which would establish the Washington Climate and Rural Energy Development Center. This project would serve as a central clearinghouse for all climate change activities in the state.
  
  WashPIRG supports HB 6416, which gives public utility districts more flexibility in offering low-income assistance programs to their customers.
  
  WashPIRG opposes HB 2442, which would establish a work group to transfer the functions of the Utilities and Transportation Commission to the Legislature. The UTC provides an essential service in balancing the interests of utility customers and shareholders and should remain independent and impartial.

Consumer Protection Priorities

• Stop Credit Scoring
  A "Credit Score" is a number insurance companies assign to you based on information they find in your credit report, such as bill paying history, the number and type of accounts you have, late payments, outstanding debt and the age of your accounts. The use of your credit history by insurance companies to determine how much money you will pay for insurance is often unfair to consumers. You could have paid every insurance bill you ever received on time and never filed an insurance claim, and still have a bad credit score that would either make you pay significantly more for insurance or prevent an insurance company from offering you insurance coverage. WashPIRG supports HB 2544 and SB 6524, which would prohibit insurance companies from using credit scores to deny or cancel personal insurance policies or to excessively raise insurance rates.
  
  
• Prohibit Single-Premium Credit Mortgage Insurance
  Single-premium credit mortgage insurance is sold in conjunction with a mortgage loan. The premium is added as a lump sum to the overall amount financed in a mortgage. Finance charges on this lump sum can add thousands of dollars to the cost of a home without providing adequate coverage. The Federal Trade Commission defines this practice as predatory lending. WashPIRG supports HB 2545 and SB 6525, which would ban the sale of single-premium credit mortgage insurance.
  
  
• Stop Price Gouging
  Some unscrupulous companies use events like the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the United States to excessively raise the prices of their goods and services during abnormal market conditions. WashPIRG supports HB 2419 and SB 6415 which would prohibit companies from gouging consumers during national emergencies or natural disasters.
  
  
• Limiting Credit Card Marketing To Students
  Over the past decade consumer credit debt has risen 154%. Of particular concern is the increasing number of college students leaving school with large credit and debts. A leading cause of this problem is deceptive marketing and loose application standards by credit card companies toward students. WashPIRG supports SB 6369 which restricts the ability of credit card companies to market credit cards to Washington applicants under 21 years of age, prohibits free gifts and other offers to bait students into applying for credit cards, and prohibits schools from releasing student information to credit card companies.
  
  
• Reducing Prescription Drug Costs
  The cost of prescription medications is increasing twice as fast as inflation, a dire situation for the over 1.2 million people in Washington (23% of the entire population) without prescription medicine coverage. The pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to lower their prices despite being the most profitable industry in the nation, averaging profits four times higher than all other Fortune 500 companies. Gov. Locke has proposed a plan that puts the burden on pharmacists, making them pay for cost reductions even though they have nothing to do with the high prices.
  
  WashPIRG supports HB 2431 and SB 6368 which will set up a state formulary from which the state will buy drugs. The bill covers all Washington state residents that are uninsured and those who already receive state sponsored healthcare coverage. It will give the state the power to negotiate with the drug companies on behalf of citizens to lower the costs of their prescription drugs.