Issue Position: Consumer Protection

Issue Position

We are all consumers and deserve to be protected from unscrupulous and predatory business practices. Bad businesses also make it harder for good businesses to compete. As former chairman of the Fairfax County Consumer Protection Commission, I have introduced a number of bills aimed at enhancing consumer protection in Virginia. In 2012, I introduced legislation (HB429) to provide consumers with more tools to prevent the practice of "cramming" on telephone bills. Cramming is the practice of placing misleading or deceptive charges on your telephone bill without authorization. Often, these are small charges with generic names in the hope that they won't be noticed. Since introduction, federal regulations were passed that achieved the goals of my proposed legislation. In 2014, I introduced successful legislation (HB1072, the Personal Information Privacy Act) to make it illegal for a business to scan a driver's license and to keep the information for marketing or other purposes not related to the immediate transaction.

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