On March 1, Jennifer Giegerich spoke at a Press Conference at theCapital in favor of AB 344, the Cell Phone Bill of Rights.

Protections for Cell Phone Customers

Rep. Therese Berceau (DMadison) has introduced legislation, AB 344, to protect cell phone customers. It would allow Wisconsin to regulate abuses in the industry, which have been largely neglected by the federal government.

WISPIRG research has uncovered that the worst cell phone abuses include the widespread use of vague and misleading marketing, poor billing practices and customer service, and the aggressive use of extended contract periods and transfer fees designed to tie consumers down and make it difficult to drop or change providers.

“The current state of cell phone protection is virtually nonexistent,” Rep. Berceau stated.

A WISPIRG Cell Phone Shopper’s Guide can be found on our Web site, www.wispirg.org.

Greater Funding to Reduce Water Pollution

Because of a lack of funding, the strongest rules in the nation that WISPIRG helped put in place in 2002 to protect our lakes from runoff are not being implemented.

Polluted runoff is Wisconsin’s leading water quality problem. Unfortunately, there was not enough funding in this year’s budget to implement programs to significantly reduce runoff from agricultural sources. The original budget proposed underfunded the water program so much that Wisconsin would lose $3 million in matching federal money.

WISPIRG worked with a variety of local governments that help farmers comply with the rules and Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters to restore the funding. As of this printing, money for the federal matching grant was restored, however, the legislature cut the money available to farmers and local governments by 36 percent.

WISPIRG Works to Defend Voting Laws

Recent elections have shown that there are problems in Wisconsin which can make it harder for citizens to exercise their democratic right to vote.

WISPIRG supports the early voting option for all eligible voters, simplifying the registration process so there are less clerical errors, helping voters to find their correct polling places, and requiring state legislative districts to be drawn by the non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau, in order to ensure more competitive races.

WISPIRG will be working with a diverse voter-rights coalition to make sure that every vote cast in Wisconsin is counted and that no one has to wait four hours to vote.

On April 11, 2005, Governor Doyle announced that Wisconsin would join 11 other states to challenge the Bush administration’s weak mercury rule for violating the Clean Air Act. WISPIRG was honored to be asked to speak at the press conference about the need for stronger public health protections. Under the Bush administration’s plan, utilities would be able to emit more mercury pollution over longer periods of time than is currently allowed under current law. All of Wisconsin’s in-state waters have health advisories for mercury.

On May 18th, the Association of State PIRGs announced that we would also be filing suit to stop this bad plan from going forward.