The Consumer Federation of California (CFC) was founded in 1960 as a non-profit consumer advocacy organization. CFC campaigns for state and federal laws and appears at the California State Legislature in support of consumer focused regulations. Recent CFC legislative issues include protecting consumer financial privacy; reforming accounting industry practices; enabling patients to sue HMO's for denial of care; holding homebuilders accountable for construction defects; prohibiting manufacturers from keeping secret vital safety information about defective products; enacting cell phone users' rights, and strengthening food safety laws. ... Financial Privacy is a blanket term for a multitude of issues: Financial Institutions ensuring that their customers information remains private to those outside the institution. ... HMO can mean the following: Health maintenance organization Houses in multiple occupation Home Media Option (Tivo) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Foodborne illness or food poisoning is caused by consuming food contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. ...

CFC serves the public in several ways:

• Advocating for laws that ensure consumer protection
• Advising elected officials on laws concerning consumers
• Directing consumer complaints to the appropriate government agency or non-profit

An agency is a department of a local or national government responsible for the oversight and administration of a specific function, such as a customs agency or a space agency. ... A non-profit organization (often called non-profit org or simply non-profit or not-for-profit) can be seen as an organization that doesnt have a goal to make a profit. ...

History

Laws that CFC has supported include:

• SB 1162, which aims to raise California minimum wage to $7.25.
• SB 1354, which requires corporations to keep detailed records.
• AB 1010, which requires cell phone companies give a 30 day grace period on all contracts.

The CFC publishes educational materials for the public on consumer issues and sponsors the CFC Education Foundation, a 501(C)(3) non-profit that works to serve the public interest. The minimum wage is the minimum rate a worker can legally be paid (usually per hour) as opposed to wages that are determined by the forces of supply and demand in a free market. ...

Criticism

Because of its hard line consumer advocacy stance, CFC has been criticized as being anti-business and as having a liberal bias. By contrast, CFC and its supporters see the group as seeking to balance consumer rights and the economy in a way that is mutually beneficial to the public and private sector. Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of...

Press

San Francisco Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/03/23/MNGSDHSPK91.DTL

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/09/26/MNGGP8VC851.DTL

Wired:
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,58064,00.html

Berkeley Daily Planet:
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?archiveDate=07-23-01&storyID=6002

Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/2004/08/11/cz_ae_0811beltway.html

Grade the News:
http://www.gradethenews.org/pages2/lazarus.htm

California Progress Report:
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2006/07/the_new_consume.html

External links

• http://www.consumercal.org