Agency Veils Auto Repair Dispute Data
<p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p>
<p>Consumer groups expressed alarm, saying the decision will deprive the public of information about past problems.</p>
Privacy
Consumer Watchdog investigations and advocacy on data privacy, surveillance, AI, and your right to control your personal information.
Calif. regulatory appointment raises flap
<p class="source">Reuters</p>
<p>Peevey, a former executive at Los Angeles-based Edison International, tapped commissioner Henry Duque, who retired in December, to stay on for six months to manage the transfer of money for a telecommunications program for deaf and disabled consumers to t</p>
THE LEGISLATURE & PROP. 103
<!-- excerpt --><p>(updated 1/18/03) The Legislature is not allowed to rewrite Proposition 103 in any way that undermines its protections.</p>
Kaiser settles suit with consumer groups
<p class="source">CONTRA COSTA TIMES</p>
<p>Signaling a more responsive attitude in its dealings with upset consumers, Kaiser Permanente Thursday announced a settlement with consumer groups that alleged the HMO had engaged in false advertising in recruiting new members.</p>
KAISER PERMANENTE AND CONSUMER GROUPS AGREE TO LANDMARK PUBLIC DISCLOSURE
<p class="source">Financial Times UK - Global Newswire</p>
<p>"Kaiser Permanente has set an important bar for public disclosure that other health plans should meet," said Jamie Court, executive director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>
Bush likes California medical suit law
<p class="source">The Sacramento Bee</p>
<p>"The main cause of the current malpractice crisis can be found not in the courts but the insurance industry," said a letter Wednesday to the president. "The industry creates a 'malpractice crisis' whenever its investments do poorly."</p>
Duque’s ouster tossed;
<h3>Appeals court backs ex-member of PUC</h3><p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle</p>
<p>In a ruling made public Monday, the court found that when Henry Duque was a PUC commissioner, he violated state law by investing in Nextel Communications. But it also ruled that a San Francisco Superior Court judge had no authority to fine Duque</p>
Court Reverses Order Ousting Henry Duque From PUC for Conflict
<p class="source">Metropolitan News-Enterprise</p>
<p>A court order stripping California Public Utilities Commission member Henry Duque of his post for owning stock in a company he helped regulate has been overturned due to an apparent statutory drafting error.</p>
Court finds in favor of former utilities commission member
<p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p>
<p>A judge should not have removed Henry Duque from the California Public Utilities Commission for an alleged violation of conflict-of-interest laws, a state appeals court has ruled.</p>
Appeals court: Duque should never have been axed from PUC
<p class="source">Associated Press State & Local Wires</p>
<p>The 1st District Court of Appeal, in overturning a lower court judge, said Duque broke no laws for investing and earning $70,000 in Nextel Communications Inc., a telecommunications company the PUC oversees in California</p>
Campaign Contribution Limits Hiked;
<h3>Critics say the state panel vote was hasty, coming beforethe original caps could be fully applied.</h3><p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p>
<p>Even before California's new campaign contribution limits have been used in a statewide election, the state's political watchdog agency has increased the caps by 6% to reflect inflation.</p>
Calif. Group Steps Up Push For Referendum on Privacy
<p class="source">The American Banker</p>
<p>Privacy hawks in California are readying a fund-raising campaign for a ballot initiative that would force banks to change the way they use customer information.</p>