Public Interest Research Group

History

The PIRGs emerged in the early 1970s on U.S. college campuses. The PIRG model was proposed in the book Action for a Change by Ralph Nader and Donald Ross, in which they encourage students on campuses across a state to pool their resources to hire full-time professional lobbyists and researchers to lobby for the passage of legislation which addresses social topics of interest to students. Ross helped students across the country set up the first PIRG chapters, then became the director of the New York Public Interest Research Group in 1973.

The Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, founded in 1971, was the first state PIRG to incorporate. It was followed by Oregon (OSPIRG) and Massachusetts (MASSPIRG). By the late 1990s, there were PIRGs in 22 states with chapters on more than 100 college campuses. U.S. PIRG reported 1 million members by 2000. The state PIRGs created U.S. PIRG in 1984 to have a national lobbying presence in Washington, D.C.

In their first two decades, PIRGs worked on a variety of issues:

• Bottle bills: Beginning in the late 1970s and continuing into the 1980s, the PIRGs were supportive of container deposit legislation in the United States, popularly called "bottle bills". MASSPIRG lobbied for six years for enactment of a state bottle return law, eventually winning container deposit legislation in 1982.
• Toy safety: U.S. PIRG has released toy safety reports every year since 1986, which has led to recalls of more than 35 toys.
• Lemon law: ConnPIRG and CALPIRG were involved in passing the first new-car lemon laws in 1982 that require manufacturers to repair or repurchase severely defective relatively new vehicles.
• Safer art supplies: CALPIRG led the effort to enact the nation's first laws protecting children and artists from toxins in art supplies in 1985. USPIRG followed with a federal law in 1988.

Funding model

PIRGs on college campuses have historically been funded through the use of automatic billing with a portion of student activity fees in the form of a labor checkoff or in the form of automatically enrolled dues to the association. Students may elect at some institutions to have the fees refunded to them or opt-out, although many students are unaware that this is the case. At some institutions, opting out of the fee only lasts one academic term, requiring students who do not wish to be members and pay dues to have to opt-out. In 1982, the PIRGs established the Fund for the Public Interest (commonly referred to as "the Fund") as its fundraising and canvassing arm.

Controversies

The student fee system of PIRG funding has been met with controversy and with a number of legal challenges.{{cite book | access-date = 10 November 2015

The Fund For the Public Interest has been subject to lawsuits and accusations of unfair and exploitative labor practices,{{cite news | access-date = 1 July 2019 | access-date = 1 July 2019 | access-date = 1 July 2019

In 2016, U.S. PIRG joined conservative groups in opposing the Obama Administration's rules that expanded worker overtime pay, which resulted in criticism against the organization in the popular press.{{cite news | access-date = 1 July 2019 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250321012713/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/the-plight-of-the-overworked-nonprofit-employee/497081/ | archive-date = 2025-03-21

In 2022, the PIRG campus affiliate was shut down at the University of Connecticut after an effort by the local chapter to separate itself from the state and national organization failed to meet legal requirements.{{Cite web | access-date = 2023-04-11

In 2023, Student PIRGs successfully used a ballot initiative at the University of Oregon to double their student automatic billing of dues at the expense of other student activities.{{Cite web | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240618202154/https://www.dailyemerald.com/news/ospirg-doubled-its-budget-through-ballot-measure/article_41ee8554-9238-11ed-a80b-270241434825.html | archive-date = 2024-06-18 | access-date = 2024-06-18

Transparency

As of 2024, the U.S PIRG Education Fund is rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator, with an overall score of 92%. Charity Navigator defines a four-star review, as "Exceeds or meets best practices and industry standards across almost all areas. Likely to be a highly effective charity."

Programs and campaigns

Consumer protection

U.S. PIRG's consumer protection work includes financial and product safety reforms.

U.S. PIRG lobbied for the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an independent U.S. government agency which was founded as a result of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act after the Great Recession and the 2008 financial crisis. U.S. PIRG helped win passage of the Credit CARD Act of 2009, protecting consumers from certain predatory practices by credit card companies.

Product safety work includes warning consumers about potentially unsafe products in the marketplace, such as recalled baby products and food.

Public health

U.S. PIRG has called on major restaurant chains including McDonald's and KFC to end the use of meat raised with antibiotics, a practice that contributes to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in people.{{cite news

Transportation

U.S. PIRG and individual state PIRGs have taken positions against highway expansion or new construction projects as wastefully expensive and unneeded, helping to stop projects such as the Illiana Expressway in Illinois.

Higher education

U.S. PIRG actively lobbied for passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act in 2007, which reduced interest rates on student loans and increased funding for Pell Grants. It supported the expansion of open educational resources on campus and of campus food banks.

Affiliated non-profits

Some PIRGs are members of a larger network of non-profit organizations called the Public Interest Network. While part of the same organization and often staffed by the same individuals, these affiliates are often presented in publications to imply they are different. In the past, they have also helped to launch a number of other independent public interest non-profits, including:

1. Citizen utility boards
2. The National Environmental Law Center
3. Frontier Group

Local affiliates

Twenty-five U.S. states have a statewide PIRG that is directly affiliated with the Public Interest Network/U.S. PIRG. Other state PIRGs that are not part of the network include the New York, Vermont, Alaska, and Minnesota PIRGs. The state PIRGs are:

• AKPIRG (Alaska)*
• Arizona PIRG
• CALPIRG (California)
• CoPIRG (Colorado)
• ConnPIRG (Connecticut)
• Florida PIRG
• Georgia PIRG
• Illinois PIRG
• Iowa PIRG
• MaryPIRG (Maryland) - activism including environmental activism, textbook trading on college campuses, and democratic reforms. They also provide internships and work study jobs for students at the University of Maryland. MaryPIRG's University of Maryland, College Park Chapter has been active since 1973.
• MassPIRG (Massachusetts)
• PIRGIM (Michigan)
• MPIRG (Minnesota)*
• MoPIRG (Missouri)
• MontPIRG (Montana)
• NHPIRG (New Hampshire)
• NJPIRG (New Jersey)
• NMPIRG (New Mexico)
• NYPIRG (New York)*
• NCPIRG (North Carolina)
• Ohio PIRG
• OSPIRG (Oregon)
• RIPIRG (Rhode Island)
• Penn PIRG (Pennsylvania)
• TexPIRG (Texas)
• VPIRG (Vermont)*
• WashPIRG (Washington)
• WisPIRG (Wisconsin)

Not affiliated with the Public Interest Network.*

In Canada, many PIRGs exist as province-wide networks, on university campuses, and as community organizations. A non-comprehensive list is below:

• OPIRG (Ontario)
• OPIRG Brock
• OPIRG Carleton
• OPIRG Guelph
• OPIRG Kingston
• OPIRG McMaster
• OPIRG Peterborough
• OPIRG Toronto
• OPIRG Windsor
• OPIRG York
• OPIRG-GRIPO Ottawa
• WPIRG (at the University of Waterloo, now defunct)
• Laurier Students' Public Interest Research Group
• QPIRG (Quebec)
• QPIRG McGill
• QPIRG Concordia
• GRIP-UQAM (QPIRG UQAM)

References

References

1. "US PIRG".
2. "Our team".
3. "Ontario PIRG (Ontario Public Interest Research Group)".
4. (1971). "[[Action for a Change]]". [[Grossman Publishers]].
5. Ness, Immanuel. (2000). "Encyclopedia of Interest Groups and Lobbyists in the United States". [[Routledge Taylor & Francis Group]].
6. Brobeck, Stephen. (1997). "[[Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement]]". [[ABC-CLIO]].
7. Lanier Hickman, H.. (2003). "American Alchemy: The History of Solid Waste Management in the United States". ForesterPress.
8. Brobeck, Stephen. (1997). "[[Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement]]". ABC-CLIO.
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10. Brobeck, Stephen. (1997). "[[Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement]]". ABC-CLIO.
11. Brobeck, Stephen. (1997). "[[Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement]]". ABC-CLIO.
12. Kotz, Mary Lynn. (December 1985). "The Campaign for Art Hazards Legislation". Art News Magazine.
13. Hinds, Michael Decourcy. (1988-11-05). "CONSUMER'S WORLD; Arts Materials To Get Labels On Hazards (Published 1988)". The New York Times.
14. (26 March 2019). "UMass Lowell students Weigh in on MassPIRG opt-out fee".
15. "Charity Navigator - Rating for U.S. PIRG Education Fund".
16. "Ratings".
17. (15 December 2010). "The Hill: Top 10 Lobbying Victories of 2010".
18. Kirsch, Larry. (2013). "Financial Justice: The People's Campaign to Stop Lender Abuse". Robert N. Mayer.
19. Arnold, Carrie. (April 18, 2020). "Day Cares Used Dangerous Infant Sleeper After Recall". [[The New York Times]].
20. Selasky, Susan. (February 13, 2020). "Kroger, Target are only grocery chains in Michigan to pass food recall test". [[Detroit Free Press]].
21. (September 27, 2014). "Say 'no' to the Illiana Expressway (again)". [[Chicago Tribune]].
22. Demar Lafferty, Susan. (April 27, 2016). "Indiana tries to keep Illiana toll road alive". [[Chicago Tribune]].
23. Lightman, David. (September 24, 2007). "The Poster Child". [[Hartford Courant]].
24. Carrns, Ann. (February 26, 2015). "Putting a dent in college costs with open source textbooks". [[The New York Times]].
25. Pignataro, Juliana Rose. (October 17, 2016). "College Students And Stress: Half Of All Undergraduates Too Poor To Eat, Need Help Getting Food".
26. Najarian, Vasken. (November 21, 2017). "UCR CALPIRG launches Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week".
27. (2012). "Public Interest Network".
28. (1998). "Encyclopedia of the consumer movement". [[ABC-Clio]].
29. "About Us".