The “digital transition” is coming. Will your TV make the switch? In February 2009, television broadcasting signals will switch from analog to all digital signals.

Our expert on the issue, Amina Fazlullah, found that Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target, among other electronics retailers, are using the transition to their advantage, convincing customers to buy unnecessary equipment or neglecting to inform would-be analog buyers about the transition (click here to learn more).
 
While a rebate program has been established to help consumers purchase analog to digital converters, the information on the program is often hard to find. Most of the consumers who will be affected are rural, elderly or low-income. Estimates put the number of households in danger of being cut off from television with the digital transition between 13 million and 21 million. Fazlullah testified before U.S. House and Senate committees on the issue. 

Oregon’s congressional delegation helped pass a comprehensive higher education reform bill that included policies championed by OSPIRG.

If approved by the Senate, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act will help students and their parents find better deals on expensive textbooks. Under the bill, publishers would provide the price of textbooks when they market them to faculty and sell their textbooks “unbundled” from costly workbooks and CD-ROMS. Schools would provide book lists earlier to allow students and parents to shop around. The bill also requires private lenders to clearly disclose the rates and terms of student loans and requires lenders and colleges to notify students about their options to borrow more affordable federal student loans.  

On March 11, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to set up an independent office to police ethical scandals. The plan was recommended by a special task force and endorsed by OSPIRG. We applauded Reps. David Wu (Portland), Earl Blumenauer (Portland) and Peter DeFazio (Eugene) for fulfilling a promise to clean up Congress.

In January 2007, the House approved strong OSPIRG-backed rules designed to curb the influence of lobbyists over members of Congress. The rules banned lobbyist-paid gifts and travel, and required lobbyists to disclose fundraising for candidates.

The House put off a decision on how to enforce the rules for most of 2007, setting up a task force to examine the options. OSPIRG’s Gary Kalman urged Rep. Michael Capuano (Mass.), the head of the task force, to recommend a truly independent office, one that would end the current culture of “self-policing” that let lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others shower members of Congress with favors for years before the Justice Department brought them down.