AG Alliance Roundup - March 11th, 2021

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

March 11th, 2021

ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTIONS

ACKNOWLEGMENTS

New Hampshire AG MacDonald was sworn in as chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Gov. Sununu has nominated John Formella to serve as New Hampshire’s next attorney general.

CONSUMER PROTECTION

Oregon AG Rosenblum announced $105,600 in settlements with four different hotels and motels in Oregon due to price gouging during and in the aftermath of the 2020 wildfires in Oregon.

Colorado AG Weiser announced the creation of the Colorado Unemployment Fraud Task Force. The joint task force will investigate and prosecute those who have committed identity theft, and used that information to commit fraud against the state of Colorado and the unemployment insurance system.

In light of Consumer Protection Week, the ARDA-Resort Owners' Coalition commended the work of attorneys general and Better Business Bureaus nationwide for their help in fighting fraud in the timeshare resale and exit arena.

Nevada AG Ford, along with the Federal Trade Commission and 46 agencies from 38 states and the District of Columbia, has stopped a massive telefunding operation that bombarded 67 million consumers with 1.3 billion deceptive charitable fundraising calls, mostly illegal robocalls.

D.C. AG Racine announced a lawsuit against Vizion One, a home health care provider, for defrauding the District’s Medicaid program of more than $3 million.

COMMUNITY

Comcast Corporation released 2020 network data, highlighting COVID-19 impact as the world approaches the first anniversary of the pandemic, showing the primary factors that allowed its network to perform at such a high level throughout a year marked by tens of millions of Americans transitioning to working and learning from home.

Lowe's announced the launch of 100 Hometowns, in celebration of its 100th birthday, an initiative to complete 100 impact projects this year as part of a $10 million commitment to give back to the communities Lowe's serves.

COVID-19 RELIEF

Walgreens announced the expansion of its digital health platform, Walgreens Find Care®, to include 11 new and four expanded collaborations with service providers, offering easier access to care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BIG TECH

AT&T announced it is adding fixed 5G wireless solutions to the first nationwide business-focused broadband network, which combines our AT&T Wireless Broadband and their leading business fiber network, now enhanced this week with the addition of new fixed 5G wireless solutions.

COMBATTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

As a part of its Distributors Against Human Trafficking initiative, the National Beer Wholesalers Association is hosting a webinar in partnership with four state Attorneys General on Wednesday, March 10.The webinar aims to emphasize the pervasive issue of human trafficking in the United States and illustrate how beer distributors can best be of service in the fight against it.

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.

SOCIAL JUSTICE & EQUITY INITIATIVES

IN THE NEWS

New York AG James took action to stop discrimination, harassment, violent threats, and for the first time false, race-based police reports in a lawsuit against the former owner of a popular ice cream shop in Schenectady, New York.

Florida AG Moody presented a resolution to the Governor and Florida Cabinet recognizing March as Women’s History Month in Florida. She stated: “I am honored to present this important resolution recognizing March as Women’s History Month in Florida. It is a time to honor all the trailblazing women who have come before us and forged new paths so that we could be anything and do anything that we put our minds to"

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interpretive rule clarifying that the prohibition against sex discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B includes sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity discrimination.

UPCOMING VIRTUAL PROGRAMS

Organized Retail Crime and the INFORM Act

Tuesday, March 9th from 1-2pm ET

Moderated by Attorney General Chris Carr, Georgia

On Tuesday, Georgia AG Chris Carr moderated the AGA's webinar on organized retail crime (ORC). Though ORC might seem like a relatively minor issue, it's been linked to criminal activity like weapons trading, human trafficking, and money laundering. State AGs across the country have been working with retailers and e-commerce sites to crack down on illicit sales while also keeping in mind concerns like seller privacy and the physical safety of consumers and bystanders. Legislation, including the U.S. Senate's INFORM Act, and policies created by individual retailers and e-commerce sites (like eBay's PROACT program), present potential solutions to this emerging problem.

In case you missed our webinar Organized Retail Crime and the INFORM Act; watch the full recording here.

CHAIR'S WORKING GROUP

Thank you to all the public and private representatives who joined our working group calls these past four weeks. We had representatives from 17 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. Thank you again to everyone who participated in these important discussions.

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

Organized Retail Crime and the INFORM Act

Tuesday, March 9th from 1-2pm ET

Moderated by Attorney General Chris Carr, Georgia

In case you missed our webinar Organized Retail Crime and the INFORM Act; watch the full recording here.

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 -

AGA | (916) 478-0075 | WWW.AGALLIANCE.ORG