AG Alliance Roundup - February 25th, 2021

Announcements, information and updates from the AG Alliance Members and Associates

February 25th, 2021

SOCIAL JUSTICE & EQUITY INITIATIVES

IN THE NEWS

D.C. AG Racine announced two separate actions to prevent discrimination against District residents who live east of the Anacostia River. The Office of the Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Lend A Box for rejecting online reservations for rental moving boxes from residents in particular zip codes.

In continuing the conversation from our virtual program on the importance of addressing mental health in law enforcement, the Major Cities Chiefs Association released an open letter to the public, to state that, "a police officer is expected to be unaffected by politics and unbiased in how they perform their duty, make decisions, and even testify under oath." Please view the referenced AGA recording here.

Comcast continued progress toward highlighting diversity, equity, and inclusion by sharing an update and news of their $100 Million commitment from their Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer.

UPCOMING EVENTS

*Please check back for frequent updates

Hate Speech and the Internet

Thursday, April 8th from 2 - 3pm ET

Moderated by Attorney General Karl Racine, District of Columbia

Registration & Details

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Over the last year, communities across the country have assessed their treatment of minorities and other under-represented populations. In an effort to facilitate dialogue in the Attorney General community, Amazon and the Attorney General Alliance have partnered to create a series of conversations exploring issues around justice and social equity. We are excited to announce 2021 as the inaugural year of this forum and we look forward to providing focused programing aimed at facilitating exploration of these issues. We thank Amazon for their leadership and invite all of our public and private partners join us as we embark on these discussions.

UPCOMING VIRTUAL PROGRAMS

Organized Retail Crime and the INFORM Act

Tuesday, March 9th from 1-2pm ET

Moderated by Attorney General Chris Carr, Georgia

Registration

ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTIONS

CONSUMER PROTECTION

Idaho AG Wasden and the Idaho Supreme Court issued a consumer alert following reports of a misleading advertisement being mailed to Idahoans. Idaho residents reported receiving a false advertisement in an envelope labeled “ID-Ada County District Court,” though it included a return address in Florida.

Arizona AG Brnovich announced that his office secured an agreement with Arizona Public Service Company providing $24 million for approximately 225,000 APS consumers who were not on their most economical rate plan for electric utility service. Copy of complaint here.

Missouri AG Schmitt announced his office obtained a default judgement against Martin Management Group LLC and its owner. “We will work diligently to ensure that Missourians who were scammed are refunded." said AG Schmitt.

Texas AG Paxton issued Civil Investigative Demands to ERCOT and other power companies regarding power outages, emergency plans, energy pricing, and more related to Texas's winter weather disaster.

COMMUNITY

The Attorney General Alliance wishes a long and enjoyable retirement to Sherm Furey, Chief Deputy of the Idaho Attorney General’s Office and sends congratulations to Brian Kane who will assume the role in May.

The National Association of Attorneys General named Florida AG Moody Co-Chair of the NAAG Elder Justice Committee.

COMMUNITY

Lowe’s announced a $250,000 donation to American Red Cross disaster relief In response to the devastation caused by winter storms in Texas and across a large part of the country. The donation will help the Red Cross provide shelter, food, relief supplies, emotional support and other assistance to those affected by disasters.

TIAA received its seventh consecutive annual recognition as one of the 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it is suing Libre by Nexus, Inc. for a predatory immigrant-services scam that traps victims into paying expensive, long-term fees. The CFPB alleges that Libre preys on immigrants, who speak little or no English and are being held in federal detention centers, desperate to return to their families.

CHAIR'S WORKING GROUP

Thank you again to all the public and private representatives who joined our third working group call. We had representatives from 11 states along with several companies of whom were all able to share insights and thought leadership on the challenges we are all facing related to COVID-19.

Specifically we focused on further questions that may arise as the process of reopening continues. Some of these questions include reviewing the limitations of executive orders, the liability to which businesses may be held after reopening, and possible vaccine requirements employers may enforce on their employees.

Join us on Wednesday, March 10th at 11am PST for another conversation on issues related to the pandemic and COVID-19 vaccine. Additional information for that call will be provided to registrants via email.

To join any/all of these calls, REGISTER HERE.

Download our current Chair's Policy Outline here.

For more information, please contact

David Blake

General Counsel for the AGA

david.blake@agalliance.org

(202) 255-9668

VIRTUAL SEMINAR LIBRARY

Missed our live programs? No problem! Follow the button below to visit our Virtual Seminar Library for access to all recordings.

Do you have a webinar topic suggestion? We want to hear from you! Please email ideas to Andrea Friedman at AFriedman@AGAlliance.org.

Virtual Library

CWAG Executive Committee

- AG Wayne Stenehjem - AG Phil Weiser -

- AG Jason Ravnsborg - AG Hector Balderas -

AG Alliance Co-Chairs

- AG Lawrence Wasden - AG Sean Reyes - AG Karl Racine -

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