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Want to know who has the best lobbyists in the state? According to the Des Moines Business Record, all you have to do is look at who got exemptions in House File 712, the bill provides consumer fraud protections.
After a 19-year struggle by Attorney General Tom Miller, after all of the other 49 states took care of this issue, Iowa's citizens are being granted the right to sue anyone who defrauds them. With some exceptions:
Insurance companies. Attorneys. Financial institutions. Doctors. Veterinarians. Architects. Banks. Retailers that advertise a product with advertising prepared by a supplier. Print publications and broadcast outlets, in connection with the ads they run. Telephone companies. Cable TV providers. Public utilities. Funeral directors. Real estate agents. Charity volunteers. Physical therapists. Optometrists. Anyone whose conduct is permitted by government. And more.
With exemptions like these, who needs the phone number of a lawyer?
Kurt Swaim (D-Bloomfield) managed the bill in the House and says the bill still provides significant protection to consumers depsite all of the exemptions.
Swaim said he wished the bill didn't have so many exemptions. But he said it still would allow consumers to act in the areas that draw the most complaints, such as car repair, home remodeling, debt collection and mortgage brokering.
Check out Bleeding Heartland for more on this story.
1 comment:
Thank you and Bleeding Heartland for picking up this story. I love this quote from Heartland:
“Here's a hint for Democratic legislative leaders: it's not a good sign when even a business publication is mocking you for protecting businesses at the expense of consumers.”
Pretty much says it all. It doesn't seem to matter which party is in charge. Business and insurance lobby runs this state and consumers get the crumbs (at best) of business and insurance say they can get.
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