February '10 Nevada Government—U.S. Congresswoman Dina Titus Column

Titus Letter to Gibbons Encourages State to Move Quickly with a Plan for Housing Funds

February 25, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District sent a letter to Governor Gibbons this morning urging the state to act quickly to develop a plan for the housing money recently announced by President Obama while he was in Las Vegas.

Below is the text of the letter.

February 25, 2010

The Honorable Jim Gibbons
Governor
State Capitol
101 N. Carson Street
Carson City, NV 89701

Dear Governor Gibbons,

As you know, last week in Las Vegas President Barack Obama announced that his Administration will be providing $1.5 billion in assistance for states that have been hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. These funds will be allocated to states where the average housing price has fallen 20 percent or more.

In the next few weeks, the Department of The Treasury will announce the maximum funding that each state will be able to receive. Because our state is ground zero for the foreclosure crisis, I am confident that our state will be eligible for a significant portion of this funding. As local housing authorities in Southern Nevada learned through the second round of funding for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, however, simply being eligible for and in need of funding are not enough to ensure receipt.

I write to you today to ask that you do all in your power to ensure that the Nevada Housing Division is capable and ready to submit an excellent application for this critical funding. Receiving these funds will be vital to helping families in Southern Nevada avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. As our residents struggle with high unemployment and record foreclosure, we cannot afford to leave a penny on the table.

My office is ready to offer any assistance that your administration believes will be helpful as you prepare these applications. Please consider my office a resource and an advocate throughout this process.

Sincerely,

Dina Titus
Member of Congress

C.c. Charles L. Horsey III, Administrator, Nevada Housing Division

Titus: Repeal of Antitrust Exemption for Health Insurance Companies Will Increase Competition and Lower Costs

Double Digit Rate Increase Illustrates Need for Reform

February 24, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District voted today in support of legislation that puts consumers first by ending the health insurance industry’s 65-year exemption from antitrust laws. The Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act, which passed by a strong bipartisan vote of 406 to 19, will increase competition in the health insurance market.

“Competition in a market is critical to lowering costs and providing consumers with real choices,” Congresswoman Titus said. “For too long, as health care costs have skyrocketed, the health insurance industry has benefited from an antitrust exemption that has prevented any federal investigation into anti-competitive practices. This legislation is an important step toward bringing down costs for Nevada’s families through increased competition and transparency.”

Titus highlighted a new report released today by the Center for American Progress that shows Nevada as one of 11 states that has seen or will face a double-digit rate increase for health insurance from WellPoint. In 2009, the Nevada Division of Insurance approved roughly a 13 percent overall rate increase for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Click here to read the report.

“Nevada’s families have paid the price for a lack of competition in the health insurance sector, seeing premiums go up by double digits last year,” Titus added. “With many people in District Three struggling to find a job or save their home from foreclosure, huge increases in health care costs are weighing on budgets that are already stretched to the limit. And with insurance companies like WellPoint hiking up premiums by more than 20 percent in many states, it’s clear that higher premiums will become the status quo without our efforts here today.”

Since 1945, the McCarran-Ferguson Act has exempted insurance companies from all federal antitrust laws. The Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act amends McCarran-Ferguson to repeal the blanket antitrust exemption and provides the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission with the authority to investigate any evidence of possible collusion within the health insurance industry. For decades, leading consumer groups have called for the repeal of the antitrust exemption, with the Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of American, and U.S. PIRG strongly supporting this legislation.

Titus Highlights Credit Card Reforms that Take Effect Today

Key Reforms Will Help Consumers Take Control of Their Financial Future

February 22, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District highlighted additional credit card reforms that begin to take effect today, nine months after President Obama signed the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights. Key reforms include prohibiting arbitrary interest rate increases and prohibiting interest charges on dept paid on time, also known as double-cycle billing.

“For too long, consumers have been subjected to the whims of the credit card companies that have been focused on padding their bottom line through unfair rate hikes and sky-high interest rates,” Congresswoman Titus said. “With Nevadans struggling to make ends meet during this tough economic time and credit card debt at a record high, these fair, commonsense reforms will help consumers take hold of their financial future. By leveling the playing field, Nevadans will be in a position to make smart financial decisions that can save some families thousands of dollars in credit card debt.”

The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights provides for important consumer protection reforms that are instituted 90 days, 9 months, and 15 months after enactment. Some of the key reforms that are taking effect include:

Credit card companies must provide notice of any rate hike or change 45 days in advance.
Interest rate increases are prohibited in most cases during the first year of the account.
Account statements must be sent 21 days in advance of the due date.
Credit card companies are restricted from allowing over-the-limit transactions without the card holders’ knowledge.
vDue-date gimmicks such as setting morning times for payments, before mail is delivered, or charging fees for paying a bill by phone or Internet is prohibited.
Recipients of gift cards are protected by requiring all gift cards to have at least a five-year life span and eliminating the practice of declining values and hidden fees for those cards.

In addition, on August 22 of this year, penalty fees will be required to be reasonable and proportional to the violation. Creditors will be required to periodically review all interest rate increases since January 2009 and reduce rates when a review indicates that a reduction is warranted. Additionally, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act will be amended to limit dormancy, inactivity, and service fees associated with gift cards. The Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights, which Titus voted for, is supported by a number of consumer organizations, public interest groups, and small business associations including the National Federation of Independent Businesses, Center for Responsible Lending, and U.S. PIRG.

Titus Applauds President’s Plan to Fight Housing Crisis

Administration Heeding Titus’ Call
to Increase Assistance to Hardest Hit States

February 19, 2010 – Henderson, NV – Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s Third District released the following statement today on President Obama’s plan to fund innovative measures to help families in the states hardest hit by the housing crisis. Titus has urged the President and Administration officials for months to take additional action, writing to the President as recently as last week. Click here and here to read Titus’ most recent letters to President Obama.

“It is always an honor to welcome President Obama to Las Vegas and I am pleased that he is choosing this visit to announce additional funding for areas that have been the hardest hit by the housing crisis. Southern Nevada, and the district I represent in particular, has been ground zero as Nevada has led the nation in foreclosures for far too long.

“Since I came to office, the focus of my work in District Three has been on helping families stay in their home, devoting the time and resources of my office to individually help homeowners who, through no fault of their own, are facing foreclosure despite making good faith efforts to work with their lenders. I have helped hundreds of homeowners when their banks refused to return their calls or lost their paperwork, and for months it has been clear that the programs that have been in place were not enough to get the job done in Nevada.

“I have been working hard with Secretaries Donovan and Geithner to convey the depth of the housing problem in Southern Nevada, and I am pleased that President Obama is taking this important step to provide our community with additional resources that will help families remain in their home. I look forward to seeing the state housing finance agency’s plan and I hope it will act swiftly to implement it.”