2020 Press Releases

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• 2/25/2020 Attorney General Tong Releases Testimony in Support of Update to Connecticut Data Breach Notification Statute

  Attorney General William Tong today testified before the General Law Committee in support of Senate Bill 137, An Act Concerning Data Privacy Breaches. The bill, sought by the Office of the Attorney General, updates and strengthens Connecticut’s breach notification statute.

• 10/30/2020 Attorney General Tong Statement Regarding PURA Decision Ending Emergency Moratorium On Utility Shut-Offs

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement regarding a decision today by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to end the emergency moratorium on electric, natural gas, and water utility shut-offs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 9/29/2020 AG Tong Opposes Rule Governing Paycheck Protection Program Loan Appeals

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general led by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in opposing a proposed Small Business Administration (SBA) rule governing the appeals process for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

• 3/26/2020 Attorney General Tong Joins Multistate Coalition Urging Emergency Relief for Federal Student Loan Borrowers in Response to Coronavirus Pandemic

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 27 attorneys general from around the nation calling on the U.S. Department of Education to take emergency measures to aid federal student loan borrowers during the COVID-19 emergency.

• 10/19/2020 AG Tong, DCP Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull Urge Charities and Donors to be on Alert for Bad Actors During This Year’s Charity Fraud Awareness Week

  Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull are urging Connecticut charities and donors to be on alert for bad actors as part of a nationwide campaign to identify and combat fraud in the charity sector.

• 7/23/2020 AG Tong Announces Settlement with Recovery Network of Programs Over Drug Testing Overbilling

  Attorney General William Tong, U.S. Attorney John H. Durham, and Department of Social Services Commissioner Deidre S. Gifford today announced a $354,368 joint federal/state settlement with the Recovery Network of Programs (RNP) resolving overbilling for drug testing.

• 7/24/2020 AG Tong Sues to Protect Full and Fair Census Count

  Attorney General William Tong today sued President Donald Trump seeking to block his unconstitutional executive order excluding undocumented immigrants from the census. The order would illegally erase millions of people from the apportionment base used to determine the number of members each state receives in the U.S. House of Representatives.

• 9/25/2020 Attorney General Tong Statement on Court Decision Barring Trump Administration Effort to Undermine Census Count

  Attorney General William Tong issued a statement following a preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California barring the Trump Administration from arbitrarily ending the census count a month before its scheduled completion date.

• 6/29/2020 Attorney General Tong Statement on Supreme Court Decision Protecting Abortion Rights

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement on the 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in the pivotal abortion rights case June Medical Services v. Gee

• 7/31/2020 AG Tong Demands Answers From Eversource Following Rate Hikes

  Office of the Attorney General Serves Formal Interrogatories as Part of PURA Docket

• 4/3/2020 Office of the Attorney General, Insurance and Consumer Protection Departments Release Travel Guidance During COVID-19 Pandemic

  Attorney General William Tong, Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull and Connecticut Insurance Department Commissioner Andrew N. Mais released the following guidance to consumers regarding booking and canceling travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 8/10/2020 AG Tong Warns Connecticut Residents to be on Alert for Tree Removal, Power Restoration Scams in the Wake of Last Week’s Storm

  Attorney General William Tong today warned Connecticut residents to be on alert for tree removal, power restoration or other repair scams in areas still without power or where heavy damage resulted from Tropical Storm Isaias.

• 3/20/2020 Attorney General Tong Praises Utilities for Reconnecting Customers During Emergency

  Attorney General William Tong thanked Eversource, United Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Gas today after being told the utilities will reconnect customers disconnected for nonpayment prior to the COVID-19 emergency moratorium.

• 7/2/2020 AG Tong Urges U.S. Department of Education to Rescind Title IX Enforcement Threat in Light of SCOTUS Decision

  Attorney General William Tong today sent a letter urging that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights withdraw its “Letter of Impending Enforcement” targeting the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference and several Connecticut municipalities in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County affirming that federal civil rights law prohibits discrimination against transgender people.

• 7/20/2020 Attorney General William Tong Pushes For Graphic Image Warning Labels on Cigarette Packaging

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 25 attorneys general, led by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, in filing an amicus brief supporting federal regulations requiring “graphic image” warning labels, which consist of color images that depict the dangers of smoking, on cigarette packages.