2020 Press Releases

Page 9 of 18

• 11/30/2020 Attorneys General Urge Congress to Pass Extension for CARES Act Funding as Pandemic Impacts Economy

  Attorney General William Tong has joined a coalition of 47 attorneys general urging Congress to extend the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economy (CARES) Act funding until the end of 2021.

• 4/21/2020 Attorney General Tong Urges 3M to Take Further Measures to Prevent Price Gouging of Personal Protective Equipment

  Attorney General William Tong has joined Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring and 19 attorneys general in urging 3M to do more to combat inflated prices of N95 respirators and other desperately needed personal protective equipment (PPE).

• 10/21/2020 AG Tong Joins 13 State Coalition Defending Minnesota's Extension Deadline For Mail In Ballots

  Coalition Argues That Extended Deadline Protects Public Health and Vote-By-Mail Participation Amid Pandemic and Post Office Delays

• 7/6/2020 Attorney General Tong Joins Coalition Demanding Trump EPA Do Its Job to Control Methane Pollution

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 15 attorneys general and the City of Chicago in a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the Trump Administration must stop ignoring its legal responsibility to control emissions of methane from existing oil and gas operations.

• 3/6/2020 Attorney General Tong Calls for Suspension of Public Charge Rule During COVID-19 Outbreak

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general urging the Trump Administration to suspend the Public Charge rule in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. In a letter today to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the attorneys general criticize the Administration for discouraging access to health care during a public health crisis.

• 2/13/2020 CT Joins Lawsuit to Compel USPS to Stop Flow of Foreign Contraband Cigarettes

  Attorney General William Tong announced Connecticut has joined a lawsuit seeking to compel the United States Postal Service (USPS) to comply with federal law and stop delivering millions of foreign cigarettes to Connecticut and other states.

• 3/3/2020 Attorney General Tong Sues to Block Unlawful Diversion of Billions of Taxpayer Funds-- Including Millions from Connecticut Projects-- For Trump Vanity Border Wall

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in a new lawsuit seeking to block the Trump Administration’s illegal diversion of $3.8 billion in taxpayer dollars for the construction of an unauthorized and pointless border wall. The Trump Administration diversions include millions from funds that Congress intended for Connecticut companies and the Connecticut National Guard.

• 2/11/2020 Attorney General Tong Calls on Congress to Take Steps Towards Ratification of Equal Rights Amendment

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 20 state attorneys general in submitting a letter strongly urging both houses of Congress to remove any ratification deadline that may apply to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and in doing so, clarify that ERA must become a part of the U.S. Constitution.

• 8/20/2020 Attorney General Tong Warns Healthcare Providers Could be Violating the Unfair Trade Practices Act by Charging Consumers for Personal Protective Measures

  Attorney General William Tong is alerting consumers to surcharges by healthcare providers that may violate the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. Healthcare providers are strongly encouraged, if not required, to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) and to require that their patients do so, too. However, some providers may be improperly charging patients for the additional PPE or other COVID-19 control measures.

• 4/6/2020 Attorney General Tong Calls for Federal HealthCare.Gov Special Enrollment in Response to COVID-19 Emergency

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider their decision to deny a special enrollment period on HealthCare.Gov during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 7/29/2020 Attorney General Tong Announces Court Victory for Connecticut Air Quality

  Attorney General William Tong announced the U.S. District Court in New York has granted the request of Connecticut and other nearby states in ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hold upwind states accountable for cross-state air pollution in compliance with the Clean Air Act.

• 12/28/2020 Attorney General Tong Joins 23-State Coalition Encouraging Diversity and Local Ownership in Broadcast Media

  State Attorneys General Argue Before Supreme Court that a Diverse and Local Media Benefits Communities, Democracy

• 7/17/2020 AG Tong Announces Restitution for 559 Consumers Targeted by Illegal Spark Energy Robocalls

  Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull announced that they have agreed to a settlement that would provide for full restitution for at least 559 residential electric consumers who enrolled in overpriced contracts with Spark Energy as a result of an illegal robocall campaign.

• 11/25/2020 Attorney General Tong Adds Endangered Species Act Claim to Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration's Revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a multistate coalition in amending their complaint challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful revised regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

• 12/9/2020 Attorney General Tong Files Multistate Lawsuit Seeking to End Facebook's Illegal Monopoly

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a bipartisan coalition filing a lawsuit against Facebook Inc., alleging that the company has and continues today to illegally stifle competition to protect its monopoly power.