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STANDING UP FOR CONSUMERS—Our advocacy led to the passage of the BPA-Free Kids Act, making Wisconsin the third state to end the use of toxic bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby bottles and sippy cups.

An Independent Voice for Consumers

WISPIRG is a consumer group that stands up to powerful interests whenever they threaten our health and safety, our financial security, or our right to fully participate in our democratic society. 

For decades, we’ve stood up for consumers, countering the influence of big banks, insurers, chemical manufacturers and other powerful special interests.

Our team of researchers uncovers the facts; our staff bring our findings to the public, through the media as well as one-on-one interactions; and our advocates bring the voice of the public to the halls of power on behalf of consumers.

With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, the WISPIRG offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. The WISPIRG works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer citizens meaningful opportunities for civic participation.

Our Top Priorities

 

Using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation, WISPIRG stands up to powerful interests and delivers concrete results. 


 

STANDING UP FOR THE PUBLIC ON HEALTH CARE

As our leaders put the health care reform law into practice, we’re working to promote a more competitive health insurance marketplace that lowers costs for consumers. >LEARN MORE
 

 

PUTTING PUBLIC HEALTH AHEAD OF BIG AG

One in three school-age kids is overweight, yet our government is wasting $16 billion each year on subsidies for sugar-laden, high-fat foods. WISPIRG is calling for an end to subsidies for junk. >LEARN MORE
 

 

CLOSE CORPORATE TAX LOOPHOLES

Corporate tax dodgers cost taxpayers $100 billion last year. That’s why WISPIRG is working to close the loopholes that allow ExxonMobil, Bank of America and others to avoid paying their taxes. >LEARN MORE
 
 

For information about a specific report, please contact the author. If you are a foundation interested in supporting the WISPIRG's work, or if you have general inquiries, please contact us here.

WISPIRG Staff - A Partial List

WISPIRG is an advocate for the public interest. When consumers are cheated, or the voices of ordinary citizens are drowned out by special interest lobbyists, WISPIRG speaks up and takes action. We uncover threats to public health and well-being and fight for the public's interest.


 

BRUCE SPEIGHT

State Director

(608) 268-0510

>CONTACT
>BIO
 

 

STACEY HAFNER

Organizing Director

(608) 251-9501

>CONTACT
>BIO
 

 

KYLE BAILEY

Policy Advocate

(608) 251-9501

>CONTACT
>BIO
 


 

 

WISPIRG and the Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups


WISPIRG is an independent, state-based, citizen-funded organization that educates for the public interest and is a member of U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

 

Since 1970, state PIRGs have delivered results-oriented citizen activism, stood up to powerful special interests, and used the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, and litigation to win real results on issues that matter.

 

Across the country, state PIRGs employ close to 400 organizers, policy analysts, scientists and attorneys, and are active in 47 states, with a federal office in Washington, D.C. On national issues, we also coordinate our efforts, pool resources, and share expertise so that we can have the biggest impact.

 

What's New

News Release | WISPIRG | Democracy

First-of-its-kind “Refrain From Political Spending” Resolution to Be Voted on at Bank of America Shareholder Meeting Wednesday

On Wednesday, May 9, shareholders at Bank of America will vote “yay” or “nay” on a first-of-its-kind “refrain from political spending” resolution. Resolutions addressing political spending are among the most popular in the 2012 shareholder season, many dealing with the disclosure of such spending. This is the first shareholder season for this groundbreaking resolution which was introduced by socially responsible investment firms Trillium Asset Management at Bank of America and 3M Corporation and by Green Century Capital Management at Target Corporation.

> Keep Reading
Report | WISPIRG | Higher Ed

The Cost of College Will Soar if Interest Rates Allowed to Double

More than 7 million students and their families rely on Subsidized Stafford Loans to help pay for college. The loans distributed by the U.S. Department of Education currently hold an interest rate of 3.4 percent. But that rate is set to double if Congress fails to act by July 1, 2012. If that occurs, millions of students will see their interest rates soar to 6.8 percent on the new loans they take in the next year thereby causing a steep rise in their loan burden and effectively increasing the cost of attaining a college degree.

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Higher Ed

The New Student Battle Cry: Don't Double My Rate!

The media and the country are just waking up to the alarming fact that unless Congress acts by July 1, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford student loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Congress must not let that happen.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Democracy

Who Owns Big Oil? We do! | Bruce Speight

The American Petroleum Institute has a new public image campaign- www.whoownsbigoil.org The purpose of this website, presumably, is to convince us that if we raise taxes on hugely profitable corporations we will only be hurting ourselves. Why? Because we are all shareholders of those corporations and when they are taxed we suffer.

> Keep Reading

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News Release | WISPIRG | Democracy

First-of-its-kind “Refrain From Political Spending” Resolution to Be Voted on at Bank of America Shareholder Meeting Wednesday

On Wednesday, May 9, shareholders at Bank of America will vote “yay” or “nay” on a first-of-its-kind “refrain from political spending” resolution. Resolutions addressing political spending are among the most popular in the 2012 shareholder season, many dealing with the disclosure of such spending. This is the first shareholder season for this groundbreaking resolution which was introduced by socially responsible investment firms Trillium Asset Management at Bank of America and 3M Corporation and by Green Century Capital Management at Target Corporation.

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Higher Ed

The New Student Battle Cry: Don't Double My Rate!

The media and the country are just waking up to the alarming fact that unless Congress acts by July 1, the interest rate on subsidized Stafford student loans will double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Congress must not let that happen.

> Keep Reading
Media Hit | Tax

Bruce Speight - La Crosse Tribune Op:ed: Tax code leaves us picking up the tab

This week, hard-working people and small business owners in La Crosse and all around the country will file their tax returns. Many would be shocked to hear about an invisible tax burden put on them this year by some of the largest, most profitable corporations.

> Keep Reading
News Release | WISPIRG | Tax

Congresswoman Moore Statement on Offshore Tax Havens

Congresswoman Moore Statement on Offshore Tax Havens and WISPIRG "Picking Up the Tab" Report.

> Keep Reading

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Result | Consumer Protection

Keeping Kids’ School Lunches Safe

For years, Wisconsin’s schoolchildren ate substandard chicken and beef—of such poor quality that fast-food chains wouldn’t even serve it. WISPIRG stood up for kids, and the USDA set stronger standards for school lunches.

> Keep Reading
Result | Budget

Making Government More Transparent

WISPIRG advocacy led to the creation of a state website giving Wisconsin taxpayers easily accessible information about state expenditures, providing taxpayers with easily searchable, checkbook-level detail of state expenditures and detailed information about all state contracts.

> Keep Reading
Result | Health Care

More Affordable Health Care

We fought hard to make sure the new health care law favors programs that reward quality care and includes steps to contain costs and cut red tape. We continue our work to keep those measures strong.

> Keep Reading
Result | Financial Reform

A VICTORY FOR CONSUMERS OVER WALL STREET

Even after the financial crisis, lobbyists for the big banks and credit card companies furiously opposed proconsumer provisions in the Wall Street reform law. Over their objections, WISPIRG helped convince Congress to create a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

> Keep Reading
Result | Consumer Protection

Protecting Wisconsin Kids from Toxic BPA

WISPIRG played a key role in 2010 in making Wisconsin the third state to ban bisphenol-A (BPA), a toxic chemical linked to cancer and obesity, from baby bottles and sippy cups.

> Keep Reading

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Report | WISPIRG | Higher Ed

The Cost of College Will Soar if Interest Rates Allowed to Double

More than 7 million students and their families rely on Subsidized Stafford Loans to help pay for college. The loans distributed by the U.S. Department of Education currently hold an interest rate of 3.4 percent. But that rate is set to double if Congress fails to act by July 1, 2012. If that occurs, millions of students will see their interest rates soar to 6.8 percent on the new loans they take in the next year thereby causing a steep rise in their loan burden and effectively increasing the cost of attaining a college degree.

> Keep Reading
Report | WISPIRG Foundation | Tax

Picking Up the Tab

Some U.S.-based multinational firms or individuals avoid paying U.S. taxes by transferring their earnings to tax haven countries with minimal or no taxes. These tax haven users benefit from their access to America’s markets, workforce, infrastructure and security; but they pay little or nothing for it—violating the basic fairness of the tax system and forcing other taxpayers to pick up the tab.

> Keep Reading
Report | WISPIRG Foundation | Transportation

Transportation and the New Generation

A new report released today by the WISPIRG Foundation and the Frontier Group demonstrates that Wisconsinites, like drivers across the country, have been driving less since the middle of the last decade. The report, Transportation and the New Generation: Why Young People are Driving Less and What it Means for Transportation Policy, shows that young people in particular are decreasing the amount they drive and increasing their use of transportation alternatives.

> Keep Reading
Report | WISPIRG | Tax

Loopholes for Sale

A new report by WISPIRG and Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ) found that thirty unusually aggressive tax dodging corporations have made campaign contributions to 524 (98 percent) sitting members of Congress, and disproportionately to the leadership of both parties and to key committee members.

> Keep Reading
Report | WISPIRG Foundation | Budget

Following the Money 2012

Wisconsin received a “D-” when it comes to government spending transparency, according to Following the Money 2012: How the States Rank on Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data, the third annual report of its kind by the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group (WISPIRG). 

> Keep Reading

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Blog Post | Democracy

Who Owns Big Oil? We do! | Bruce Speight

The American Petroleum Institute has a new public image campaign- www.whoownsbigoil.org The purpose of this website, presumably, is to convince us that if we raise taxes on hugely profitable corporations we will only be hurting ourselves. Why? Because we are all shareholders of those corporations and when they are taxed we suffer.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Democracy

Making Super PACs Illegal | Bruce Speight

There are some very important steps that every level of government – from your city council to the White House - should take right now to mitigate the impact of super PACs before the 2012 election.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Don’t Freeze our Public Health and Consumer Safety Protections | Bruce Speight

Last year, in the 175 days that the U.S. House of Representatives was in session, it passed more than 190 anti-regulatory bills. Putting profits over public safety and they are still at it.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Consumer Protection

50 Years Ago This Week, JFK Ushered in Modern Consumer Protection Era | Ed Mierzwinski

People of almost any age know a lot about the Kennedy administration with its optimistic beginnings and its sudden, tragic end. Yet many have probably never heard of one of JFK's important legacies -- his declaration that consumers have rights that deserve protection.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Transportation

US House Transportation Bill for the 19th Century, not the 21st CenturyBruce SpeightPhineas Baxandall

With much fanfare and 854 days late, the U.S. House last week introduced bills to fund our nation's transportation system for the next five years. The new rules for spending $260 billion over five years would be tilted more toward highways with less going to buses, rail, biking and pedestrian trails. Given the nation's urgent need to reduce our addiction to oil, that in itself would have been a tragedy.

> Keep Reading

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