PLI Bulletin

Student Loans, Saving the ACA, Disinformation Playbook and More

Posted on October 25, 2017

Student Loan Bill of Rights: 43 million Americans now owe more than $1.3 trillion in student loans and, more and more, the lenders aren’t playing fair. States (and Washington, D.C.) have started to protect consumers with the passage of a Student Loan Bill of Rights. Our model bill is based on groundbreaking 2015 legislation enacted in Connecticut.

Framing for the 2018 election season: Major elections are decided by the way they are framed. So what are progressives doing to frame the next election season? Not much. In every jurisdiction, progressive lawmakers and advocates should thoughtfully construct a package of 5-to-10 bills to shape the debate throughout the year. For an explanation and suggested policies, see the latest IdeaLog, our blog intended to raise eyebrows and engage minds.

Status of the ACA and what states and localities should do for health coverage: Wednesday, November 1 @ 3pm Eastern, 2pm Central, 1pm Mountain, Noon Pacific. Since Congress’ latest failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Donald Trump has started to destroy the program on his own. A top expert will explain several ways that state and local lawmakers can protect ACA programs in their own jurisdictions. To sign up for this webinar, click here.

Rx drug rate-setting model legislation from NASHP: PLI has offered two model bills to address soaring prescription drug costs—the Prohibition on Price Gouging and the No Gag Rule on Pharmacists Act. The National Academy for State Health Policy has an additional proposal—the Prescription Drug Rate-Setting Model Act. It creates a cost review commission that evaluates drug costs in the same way that states now regulate Medicaid, state employee health care, and public utilities.

The Disinformation Playbook: This useful and rather entertaining resource from the Union of Concerned Scientists explains five methods that corporations and industries employ to lie about science—The Fake, the Blitz, The Diversion, The Screen, and The Fix.

PLI Books on our website and on Amazon: For a free PDF copy of our new Voicing Our Values messaging guide, click here; you can also buy a hard copy on Amazon, here. For a free PDF copy of our new Preparing to Win advocacy guide, click here; you can also buy a hard copy on Amazon, here.