2019 Press Releases

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• 3/19/2019 AG TONG OPPOSES CFPB EFFORT TO DELAY PROTECTIONS FROM PAYDAY LENDERS

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 25 states led by North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein in urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to take immediate action to protect consumers from abuses in payday, vehicle title, and other types of high-cost exploitative consumer lending.

• 4/25/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS 20-STATE COALITION URGING U.S. HOUSE COMMITTEES TO PROTECT STUDENT VETERANS FROM EXPLOITATION BY FOR-PROFIT SCHOOLS

  Attorney General William Tong, along with 19 other state attorneys general submitted a statement for consideration to Congress during a joint field hearing of the U.S. House Education and Labor and Veterans Affairs Committees taking place this afternoon in El Cajon, California.

• 12/24/2019 AG TONG CALLS ON COURT TO UPHOLD CONTRACEPTIVE COVERAGE MANDATE

  Attorney General William Tong joined 22 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief defending the rights of tens of thousands of women across the country to full and equal access to birth control guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act.

• 11/27/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF WAYZARO WALTON

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement today after Wayzaro Walton was released from federal detention.

• 8/16/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS MULTISTATE COALITION OPPOSING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION RULE RESTRICTING ASYLUM ACCESS

  Connecticut Attorney General William Tong today joined a multistate coalition, led by California and Massachusetts, in filing a comment letter opposing the Trump Administration’s attempt to illegally limit access to the asylum process. Under the rule, individuals entering the United States at the southern border, except in limited circumstances, are no longer able to seek asylum unless they applied for and were denied protection in at least one country they transited through prior to their arrival. In a comment letter, the coalition urges the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to rescind the policy.

• 3/20/2019 STATE ANNOUNCES THIRD EXTENSION OF AMPHASTAR REBATES FOR NALOXONE PURCHASES

  Governor Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong today announced the third extension of a rebate agreement with California drug-manufacturer Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the purchase of naloxone by the State of Connecticut or local municipalities and town agencies. The two-year agreement will extend the $6 rebate on every purchase of naloxone—also known by the brand name Narcan.

• 4/5/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG FILES MOTION TO BLOCK PRESIDENT TRUMP FROM DIVERTING FUNDS AND RESOURCES FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A BORDER WALL

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 20 states led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today in filing a motion to block the Trump Administration's attempt to unlawfully divert $1.6 billion in federal funds to build a border wall.

• 12/9/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ASKS FTC TO STRENGTHEN ONLINE PROTECTIONS FOR CHILDREN

  Attorney General William Tong and a bipartisan coalition of twenty-five state attorneys general today submitted a comment letter to the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) asking the agency to strengthen its rules prohibiting websites, mobile applications, and other digital marketing companies from collecting personal information from children under the age of 13 and using that information to track children across the internet.

• 11/13/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG, DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION WARN AGAINST NEW DEVELOPMENT IN EVERSOURCE ROBOCALL SCAM

  Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull today warned Eversource consumers that scammers may have gained access to customer account numbers and have been using this information in attempts to defraud consumers. Complaints to the Office of the Attorney General regarding robocall utility shut-off scams continue to increase and consumers are advised to be vigilant.

• 2/11/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS 31 ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN SIGNING MULTI-STATE LETTER SUPPORTING FTC IDENTITY THEFT RULES

  Attorney General William Tong today joined 31 other attorneys general in sending a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging the FTC to continue its Identity Theft Rules, which were initially adopted in November 2007.

• 9/20/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER ATTEMPT TO TRAMPLE CALIFORNIA’S AUTHORITY TO MAINTAIN LONGSTANDING CLEAN CAR STANDARDS

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general in a lawsuit against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) challenging the Trump Administration’s unlawful regulation designed to preempt California’s greenhouse gas emissions and Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) standards, also known as California’s Advanced Clean Car Standards.

• 2/18/2019 AG TONG, 15 OTHER STATES FILE LAWSUIT CHALLENGING PRESIDENT TRUMP'S NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION

  Connecticut Attorney General William Tong today joined California and 14 other states in a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency and his attempt to divert funding appropriated by Congress.

• 3/19/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS COALITION CALLING ON EPA TO WITHDRAW ITS PROPOSAL TO WEAKEN EMISSIONS STANDARDS FROM COAL POWER PLANTS

  Attorney General William Tong today joined 20 attorneys general and seven local governments in a coalition led by California to demand the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdraw its proposal to weaken federal standards limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed coal-fired power plants. The coalition asserts in its comments that these standards protect against increased emissions and further acceleration of climate change. The proposal, if finalized, could increase carbon dioxide pollution contributing to climate change by weakening current requirements that new power plants minimize their emissions to the extent feasible. Under EPA’s proposal, a new coal-fired plant would be able to emit 35 percent more carbon dioxide than it could under current law. In 2015, after exhaustive technical analysis, EPA determined that new plants can meet the current standard by using carbon capture and storage. The coalition asserts that the EPA’s reversal of that finding and its new proposal are arbitrary and capricious, and in violation of its statutory obligation to control emissions under the Clean Air Act.

• 8/29/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON TRUMP PLAN TO END AUTOMATIC BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FOR CHILDREN OF SERVICEMEMBERS AND DIPLOMATIC CORPS BORN ABROAD

  Attorney General William Tong issued a statement regarding the Trump Administration's plan to end automatic birthright citizenship for children of servicemembers and government employees born abroad.

• 6/27/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON CENSUS CITIZENSHIP QUESTION

  Today, following the Supreme Court decision blocking the Trump Administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, Attorney General William Tong encouraged residents of Connecticut to participate in the census and ensure an accurate count.