Month: March 2024

BLUMENTHAL SPONSORS LEGISLATION TO CRACK DOWN ON PRICE FIXING ALGORITHMS THAT HELP PREDATORY LANDLORDS RAISE RENTS

[HARTFORD, CT] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined Senate colleagues in introducing two new bills that would ban predatory practices by landlords who use pricing algorithms to avoid competition and raise rents.

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Senator Blumenthal is a cosponsor of both the Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act, which would prevent companies from using algorithms to collude to set higher prices, and the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, which would crack down on companies that help landlords increase rents in already high-priced markets.

“This practice affects housing throughout Connecticut. This kind of conscious collusion ought to be stopped. It is inflating rents for the ordinary person who goes to the landlord and is given a price that is based on an algorithm rather than real competition. Stifling competition ultimately means higher prices for renting apartments and homes here in Connecticut and all around the country,” said Blumenthal on Tuesday at a press conference at Greater Hartford Legal Aid.

The Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act would prevent companies from using algorithms to collude to set higher prices. Price fixing and other forms of collusion are illegal under current antitrust laws. However, current antitrust laws may be insufficient when competing companies delegate their pricing decisions to an algorithm. This has already occurred in rental housing, and we must ensure that it does not spread to other sectors of our economy with the proliferation of algorithmic pricing.  To strengthen current price fixing law, this legislation would:

  • Clarify the law to make it easier to challenge algorithmic price-fixing and help antitrust enforcers stop algorithmic price-fixing before it occurs;
  • Increase transparency by requiring companies that use algorithms to set prices to disclose that fact and give antitrust enforcers the ability to audit the pricing algorithm when there are concerns it may be harming consumers;
  • Ban companies from using competitively sensitive information from their direct competitors to inform or train a pricing algorithm;
  • Direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to study pricing algorithms’ impact on competition. 

The Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act is led by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and cosponsored by Senators Blumenthal, Ron Wyden (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI). The bill is endorsed by the Open Markets Institute and American Economic Liberties Project.

The Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act would crack down on companies that help landlords increase rents in already high-priced markets. These services allow landlords to collude to set prices via software and price-setting algorithms. The bill is led by Senators Wyden and Welch, and cosponsored by Senators Blumenthal, Klobuchar, and Hirono, as well as Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Jeff Merkley, (D-OR), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).

According to reporting by ProPublica and other news outlets, companies like RealPage and Yardi advertise their products as “property management software,” but in fact they help landlords in Connecticut and across the nation to coordinate prices to increase rental rates in the same market. The companies collect real-time price and lease information and in return suggest rent increases. The result is less competition and higher rent prices for consumers. RealPage, for example, says that it increases rents for client landlords between 5% and 12%.  This legislation would:

  • Make it unlawful for rental property owners to contract for the services of a company that coordinates rental housing prices and supply information, and designate such arrangements a per se violation of the Sherman Act;
  • Prohibit the practice of coordinating price, supply, and other rental housing information among two or more rental property owners;
  • Make it unlawful for two or more coordinators to merge where a merger creates an appreciable risk of materially lessening competition; and
  • Allow individual plaintiffs to invalidate any pre-dispute arbitration agreement or pre-dispute joint action waiver that would prevent their bringing a suit under this act.

The Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act is endorsed by the American Economic Liberties Project, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, and the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

GOVERNOR LAMONT URGES APPROVAL OF LEGISLATION STRENGTHENING CONNECTICUT’S PAID SICK DAYS STATUTES

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(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont is urging the Connecticut General Assembly to approve legislation he proposed for consideration this session that will expand and strengthen the state’s paid sick days statutes to ensure that more workers have the ability to take time off from work when they are sick or need to care for a sick family member without sacrificing a day’s wage or risk losing their employment. The proposal will also enact safeguards in these statutes for small businesses to ensure that the right to paid sick days is not being misused.

“Our current paid sick days laws include important protections for some workers, however there are broad categories of workers who are left unprotected,” Governor Lamont said. “If there’s anything we have learned from the recent outbreak of a viral pandemic, it’s that illness can spready quickly, and workers are sometimes left in a situation in which they have to choose between going to the workplace sick and risk spreading that illness to their coworkers and clients, or sacrificing a day’s wage and be unable to support themselves and their families. This proposal will modernize our paid sick days statutes and acknowledge the evolving landscape of work in a post-pandemic world.”

Under the governor’s proposal, these statutes would be modified by:

  • Requiring all employers to provide their employees with paid sick days, regardless of the number of employees who work for that employer. Under current statutes, only employers with more than 50 employees are required to provide paid sick days.
  • Expanding the definition of who qualifies as a family member when a worker wants to use their paid sick days to care for a loved one to include that worker’s parents and domestic partners. Under current statutes, workers are limited to using their paid sick days only to occasions when they are caring for themselves, their spouse, or their child.
  • Prohibiting employers from mandating the search for a replacement as a condition of a worker accessing their paid sick days.
  • Prohibiting employers from eliminating a worker’s accrued paid sick days in instances when an employer’s ownership has changed or because a worker’s jobsite has changed.
  • Enabling workers to use their paid sick days in certain instances related to the declaration of a public health emergency, such as when a public health authority has mandated the closure of a worksite or when a family member’s child care facility has been ordered closed due to a public health emergency.

Additionally, the governor is proposing to include protections for small businesses in these statutes by:

  • Clarifying that employers have the right to request reasonable documentation when an employee is using three or more consecutive paid sick days.
  • Affirming that employers have the authority to take disciplinary action in instances when paid sick days have been misused.

Bridgeport Police Arrest Felon Found with Stolen Firearm

On March 14, 2024, Officers D. Teixeira and Z. Schuler of the Bridgeport Police Patrol Division responded to a reported incident on the east side of the city. Upon arrival, they initiated an investigation that resulted in the recovery of a stolen Smith and Wesson 9mm firearm, equipped with a loaded seventeen-round magazine, from Boysie Vega, a 32-year-old resident of the city. Further inquiry revealed that Vega, a convicted felon, was unlawfully in possession of the firearm. Vega faces multiple charges, including criminal possession of a firearm, carrying a pistol without a permit, illegal possession of a high-capacity magazine, stealing a firearm, illegal transfer of a firearm, and violation of a protective order. Bond was set at $50,000.

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GOVERNOR LAMONT ANNOUNCES $400,000 IN STATE GRANTS TO SUPPORT FINANCIAL WELLNESS AND EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMS

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(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, and Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez today announced the release of three state grants totaling more than $400,000 that will be used to support programs focused on improving the financial wellness of Connecticut residents with a priority focus on women and girls. The grants are being awarded through a competitive RFP process issued by the Connecticut Department of Banking that solicited proposals centered on the grant’s objectives.

“These grants will be used to support programs that empower people to improve their own financial stability through education and training, with a particular focus on our underserved populations, including women and girls,” Governor Lamont said. “I appreciate the partnership of the organizations that are working in our shared goal of helping people get on the road to financial independence and wellness.”

“Empowering women towards financial wellness benefits all of us,” Lt. Governor Bysiewicz, who serves as chairperson of the Governor’s Council on Women and Girls, said. “Decades of research have shown that the benefits of women’s full participation in economies are enormous. By uplifting women and girls, we can increase financial stability in their households, as well as their local communities and broader societies. Through these partnerships, we are increasing the opportunity and accessibility – especially for women and girls – of these essential programs that will help propel them, and their communities, to a better financial future.”

“The recipients have demonstrated that they can effect real change with the money allocated from this grant,” Commissioner Perez said. “I would like to thank all the committee members who thoroughly reviewed each proposal. It was a difficult decision, as all the proposals had merit. While we could not fund all applicants, it is encouraging to see the various organizations working and making a difference each day in people’s lives.”

The Connecticut Department of Banking sourced the grants from settlement funds with various companies. As per those arrangements, a portion of the monies are set aside for financial wellness and investor education. A committee, composed of department staff, representatives of other state agencies, and industry professionals, reviewed 15 responses to the department’s RFP. Consideration was given to organizations, entities, coalitions, and collaborations able to reach and assist underserved communities, with a priority on women and girls, to improve their financial wellness and empowerment.

Each application required a detailed description that included:

  • the program’s method of delivery of financial education;
  • the targeted demographic of the program;
  • information regarding the nature and structure of the program including the programs goals for participants;
  • how the proposed program would go beyond what is available and to what extent would the program serve as an innovative and scalable model; and
  • how success of the program would be measured and, if available, information pertaining to the success of past programs.

The committee considered the following factors and gave preference to proposals that:

  • empower individuals with financial capabilities that help prepare them to meet their future financial goals;
  • describe the benefits of saving and checking accounts;
  • teach the importance of establishing good credit as a foundation for future financial success;
  • encourage individuals to think long-term by teaching investing principles;
  • deliver information regarding consumer protection including high-cost loans, frauds/scams, cybersecurity, and identity theft;
  • apply knowledge to practical skills and real-life experiences;
  • inspire participants to set personal and financial goals and demonstrates how those goals can be achieved
  • provide participants with the ability to seek follow-up services; and
  • build upon current programs in a manner that is innovative, measurable and scalable.

The following organizations have been selected to receive the grants:

Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) will receive a $250,000 state grant to expand seven of its Financial Opportunity Centers, which are located throughout Connecticut. These serve as career and financial coaching service centers that provide three core services to individuals with low-to-moderate incomes: one-on-one employment coaching, one-on-one financial coaching, and access to benefits that help build credit, savings, and assets. The centers also have the opportunity to transition into Bridges to Career Opportunity Centers. These funds will be used to enhance one-on-one financial coaching, and access to benefits that help build credit, savings, and assets.

“LISC Connecticut is excited to receive this support from the Connecticut Department of Banking, which will strengthen our network of seven Financial Opportunity Centers across the state,” Jim Horan, senior executive director of LISC Connecticut, said. “With this award, our clients will receive budget coaching to save $500 over the course of a year, which will be matched two-to-one with Department of Banking funds and support from Liberty Bank. At the end of the year, clients will have $1,500 and improve their credit score.”

The Village for Families and Children

The Village for Families and Children will receive a $103,911 state grant for its Boosting Financial Wellness for Greater Hartford Families project, which will support connection between its Financial Opportunity Center and its family-centered programs based at the Spring Street site in Hartford. The Village’s Financial Opportunity Center helps low and moderate-income adults living in the Hartford area to effectively manage their finances and achieve financial goals. The Village served more than 690 families at the Spring Street site in the most recent program year. Many of these were single-parent, female-led households.

“At The Village, we know that there is a direct relationship between financial health and overall well-being,” Tammy Freeberg, vice president of strategy and planning for The Village for Families and Children, said. “This grant will increase capacity and resources for our Financial Opportunity Center, helping us to empower more families in Greater Hartford with education, coaching, and tools to achieve financial wellness and gain stability in many aspects of their lives.”

United Way of Southeastern Connecticut

The United Way of Southeastern Connecticut will receive a $50,000 state grant for its Path to Financial Wellness program. The mission of this program is to provide an opportunity for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and female-led households to engage in financial literacy education on their own time and at their own page, and to provide an opportunity for those individuals to make empowered financial decisions. The program will utilize self-directed e-learning and professional financial coaching to guide participants in gaining financial stability through self-assessment, goal setting, and practical application of financial literacy skills. The grant funding will allow them to provide their program to the Greater New London area.

“United Way of Southeastern Connecticut is excited to bring our Path to Financial Wellness program to New London County,” Dina Sears-Graves, president and CEO of the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut, said. “We are excited to partner with local nonprofits and Chelsea Groton Bank to provide members of our community an opportunity to make empowered financial decisions. This program aims to increase financial stability, focusing on communities that are disproportionately affected by financial hardship including female single-headed households, Black, Indigenous and people of color.”

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