The Associated Press just did a big national story about the Progressive
Change Institute teaming up with the White House and members of Congress
to fight surprise junk fees on "things like plane and concert tickets,
hotel rooms, hospital and cell phone bills and housing transactions."

The AP reports "more than a dozen House Democrats around the country plan
to hold events organized with help from the Progressive Change Institute
to promote the administration’s effort to curb junk fees" in Detroit,
Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Las Vegas, and many other places! Groups like
Consumers Union, MoveOn, Color Of Change, and More Perfect Union are also
supporting these events.

Progressive Change co-founder Adam Green told the AP: "Fighting surprise
junk fees is super popular and bipartisan with the public because everyone
hates these abusive extra costs."

Read the article below -- it’s good!

[ [link removed] ]If you agree that our side needs to do the hard work of ensuring that
smart economic messaging breaks through with the public, please support
our effective work by donating $3 or more.

-- Keith Rouda, Progressive Change organizer

ASSOCIATED PRESS: Biden and House Democrats hope to make curbing 'junk
fees' a winning issue in 2024

[ [link removed] ]Biden talks junk fees.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Democrats are teaming up with the Biden
administration and a progressive advocacy group to turn policy efforts to
curb "junk fees" into a political rallying cry, betting that a small but
potentially potent kitchen table issue will resonate with voters.

President Joe Biden promised in this year’s State of the Union address to
target unexpected fees tacked on to things like plane and concert tickets,
hotel rooms, hospital and cellphone bills and housing transactions. He’s
since worked with major businesses to see that pricing is more transparent
about all fees.

More than a dozen House Democrats around the country plan to hold events
organized with help from the Progressive Change Institute to promote the
administration’s effort to curb junk fees. Events have already happened in
suburban Detroit, Philadelphia, central New Jersey and Albuquerque, New
Mexico. Similar efforts are planned in coming weeks in Pittsburgh, New
York and Las Vegas, as well as in Wisconsin, Ohio and North Carolina.
Still others are in the works.

"Hidden and deceptive junk fees cost Americans billions of dollars every
year," said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic House leader.
"House Democrats will continue to work with President Biden to fight these
excessive fees, hold corporations accountable and lower costs for families
across the country."

[ [link removed] ]Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin: The administration’s initiative to
eliminate junk fees will put money back in peoples’ pockets.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin a swing-district Michigan Democrat who is now running
for the Senate, is planning an event in a few weeks and said "the
administration’s initiative to eliminate junk fees will put money back in
peoples’ pockets."

Fellow Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib referred to seat assignment
fees in saying she was "taken aback to see airlines charging more for you
to sit next to your child" during an event last week at a health center
outside Detroit with Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell.

The push is part of "Bidenomics," the president’s effort to stimulate the
economy by increasing social spending in ways he says can strengthen the
middle class. It could ease the sting of inflation, which has moderated in
recent months but remains high. But it may also help Biden bridge the gap
between an economy that many metrics show is strong — with low
unemployment rates and wages rising — and polling suggesting that many
Americans don’t view that as a positive for Democrats.

"We’ve got to be in a position to show people what we’ve done," Biden said
at a fundraiser last week for his 2024 reelection campaign in New Mexico,
referring to public perceptions on the economy. He added: "It doesn’t
show. It takes time for people to realize why that’s there."

The Biden administration has used executive action to try to limit
ticketing and medical fees, and used federal agencies to try to curb
unexpected charges in banking, airlines and other sectors. The president
also announced in June that company executives meeting with him at the
White House, including from Live Nation Entertainment, the parent company
of Ticketmaster, and SeatGeek, had agreed to disclose more ticketing fees
up front so consumers have a better idea of final pricing as they
comparison shop.

House Democrats have introduced legislation to crack down on unexpected
fees and, at their events, some are seeking to localize the issue,
inviting people to speak about their experiences of being forced to pay
them.

One such story comes from Joe Pfister, a 36-year-old paralegal. He had
been looking to buy a home for a year and a half and went for a tour of
the Brooklyn co-op he eventually bought on the day before New York shut in
the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. But he wasn’t expecting thousands of
dollars in additional fees that came later from the mortgage lender, real
estate agent and co-op company.

"They just kind of sprang up one at a time, and you just had to keep
paying to move your application forward," said Pfister, whose unexpected
charges included more than $400 worth of questionnaire fees, $200 in
COVID-19 cleaning fees and a $750 move-in deposit. "You were kind of on
the ride and you couldn’t get off."

The Progressive Change Institute’s political arm, the Progress Change
Campaign Committee, was closely allied with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth
Warren’s 2020 presidential campaign, which was built around championing
consumer protections and promoting progressive causes through economic
populism. Combating unexpected fees could be an extension of that theme,
with appeals for progressives but also for moderate Democrats and swing
voters.

"Fighting surprise junk fees is super popular and bipartisan with the
public because everyone hates these abusive extra costs," said Adam Green,
the Progressive Change Institute co-founder.

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Have you personally been impacted by surprise junk fees? [ [link removed] ]Tell us here.

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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party’s House
campaign arm, says its members are spending the August recess trumpeting
the economic impact of Biden-championed legislation promoting domestic
microchip production and the Inflation Reduction Act, which advanced green
energy and drastically increased federal social spending. But some
lawmakers, including in competitive districts, are pointing to quelling
junk fees as a pocketbook issue that voters will feel more immediately
than data points about the larger economy.

"Bidenomics is about growing the middle class, which is why President
Biden is spearheading the fight against junk fees that are unjustly
raising costs," said Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for Biden’s reelection
campaign.

The White House sees the effort as an example of good governance with
bipartisan benefits. Consumer Reports conducted a 2018 survey that found
that at least 85% of Americans have experienced a hidden or unexpected fee
for a service in the previous two years.

Still, some Republicans dismiss the issue as a distraction that won’t have
a lasting impact. ="Dumpster fires polled better with the American people
than Bidenomics, so extreme Democrats threw it in the garbage to talk
about ‘junk fees’ because they know Biden’s economy is trash," quipped
Will Reinert, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional
Committee, the GOP’s House campaign arm.

Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who is now running for
president, told Fox News Radio in February: "Having fee control, income
control, price control, it sounds more like socialism than free markets
and capitalism."

The Biden administration says industry groups have embraced greater
transparency on fees, believing they can give consumers comparing prices a
more accurate picture of costs — as long as they apply to everyone. But
capping such fees is a different matter and could cause some pushback, it
acknowledges.

"I think most people experience at least one kind of junk fee each month,"
said Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director for the White House’s National
Economic Council and a former top economic adviser to Warren. "Across
party lines, there’s broad support for addressing these fees, either
eliminating them or disclosing them up front so that people can shop with
full transparency."

Pfister predicted that combating hidden fees would get voters’ attention.

"I think this is very much a working class issue," he said. "This is, I
think, a good tactic for Democrats to take to show that they are on the
side of everyday people — that they don’t respond to monied interests only
and that they’re doing something to protect consumers."

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[ [link removed] ]If you agree that our side needs to do the hard work of ensuring that
smart economic messaging breaks through with the public, please support
our effective work by donating $3 or more.

[ [link removed] ]CBS News in Detroit reports on Junk Fees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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