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About Illinois PIRG Education Fund

For 35 years, Illinois PIRG Education Fund has educated consumers about misleading practices by big banks and credit card companies, dangerous toys on store shelves, and more.

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH & EDUCATION

Illinois PIRG Education Fund is an independent, non-partisan group that works for consumers and the public interest. Through research, public education and outreach, we serve as counterweights to the influence of powerful special interests that threaten our health, safety or well-being.

OUR MISSION

With public debate around important issues often dominated by special interests pursuing their own narrow agendas, Illinois PIRG Education Fund offers an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. Illinois PIRG Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, works to protect consumers and promote good government. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation.

THE FEDERATION OF STATE PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUPS

Illinois PIRG Education Fund is an independent, state-based, citizen-funded organization that educates for the public interest and is a member of U.S. PIRG Education Fund, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups.

 

Since 1970, state PIRGs have delivered results-oriented citizen activism, stood up to powerful special interests, and used the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, and litigation to win real results on issues that matter.

 

Across the country, state PIRGs employ close to 400 organizers, policy analysts, scientists and attorneys, and are active in 47 states, with a federal office in Washington, D.C. On national issues, we also coordinate our efforts, pool resources, and share expertise so that we can have the biggest impact.

Our Top Priorities
Using the time-tested tools of investigative research, media exposés, grassroots organizing, advocacy and litigation, Illinois PIRG Education Fund stands up to powerful interests and delivers concrete results.  

STOPPING THE OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS ON FACTORY FARMS

More than 93% of doctors are concerned about the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms, yet factory farms still use up to 70% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. We're working to protect our medicine. 
 


 

CHANGING OUR TRANSPORTATION PRIORITIES

Americans are driving less and less. It's time to change the way we think about how we get around.
 


   

RECLAIMING OUR DEMOCRACY

Our democracy is based on the principle of one person, one vote, but our research shows the increasing dominance of big money in our elections. That's why we're working to reclaim our democracy. 
 

 

 

Illinois PIRG Education Fund Staff
Illinois PIRG Education Fund is an independent voice that works on behalf of the public interest. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public, and offer meaningful opportunities for civic participation. Illinois PIRG Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization working to protect consumers and promote good government. Find out more about our staff

What's New

Blog Post | Transportation

All Americans Deserve Clean Air to Breathe, On Earth Day and Every Day | Sean Doyle

U.S. DOT asks if we should measure global warming pollution from transportation.

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News Release | U.S.PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection, Make VW Pay, Transportation

Framework for VW Settlement Announced

Statement by Mike Litt, Consumer Program Advocate at U.S. PIRG Education Fund, on todays announced VW settlement. For more details on what a strong settlement agreement ought to look like, please see the open letter that we released earlier this week with other consumer and environmental groups.

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News Release | U.S.PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection, Make VW Pay

Leading Groups Send Criteria for Evaluating VW Settlement

Four leading consumer, environmental, and public health organizations wrote an open letter in advance of the April 21st deadline set by U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer for a proposal that deals with Volkswagen’s emission scandal.

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Report | Illinois PIRG Education Fund | Budget

Following the Money 2016

State governments spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year through contracts for goods and services, subsidies to encourage economic development, and other expenditures. Public accountability helps ensure that state funds are spent as wisely as possible.

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Blog Post | Public Health

Flint Pediatrician Gave a Voice to the Voiceless in Flint, Michigan | Anna Low-Beer

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is the Flint pediatrician who led the charge in proving that Flint water was tainted by lead and was poisoning the community. Without her drive and dedication to the children of Flint, it is hard to say how long government officials might have left the public in the dark about the mounting crisis. In honor of Women’s History Month we’re recognizing Dr. Hanna-Attisha -- a doctor, mother, and activist -- who has relentlessly fought for the public interest. 

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Pages

Media Hit | Consumer Protection, Health Care

Obamacare Launch: What Students Need to Know

Being young and healthy, health insurance does not seem like a first priority, especially since it can be expensive. Nevertheless, running the risk of not having insurance has always been a high one; an unexpected emergency and trip to the hospital could cost several hundred to several thousand dollars without insurance.

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News Release | Illinois PIRG Education Fund | Tax

JPMorgan Shouldn’t Receive Tax Windfall for London Whale Penalty

Unless regulators forbid JPMorgan Chase from writing off an $800 million settlement as a tax deduction, taxpayers could end up shouldering 35 percent of the cost of the settlement.

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News Release | Illinois PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

New Report Shows Illinoisans are Driving Less

Illinoisans have cut their per-person driving miles by 6.6 percent since 2005, while the nation’s long term driving boom appears to have ended, according to a new report from the Illinois PIRG Education Fund.

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News Release | Illinois PIRG | Health Care

Big Pharma’s Pay-for-Delay Deals Take a Hit

Big Pharma’s controversial “pay-for-delay” agreements took a hit today. In FTC v. Actavis, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the FTC’s case against the payoff keeping generic AndroGel from the market can move ahead in the lower courts. 

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News Release | Illinois PIRG | Food

Senate Farm Bill Continues Giant Giveaways to Big Agribusiness

Illinois PIRG opposes The Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 (S. 954). The farm bill, just passed by the Senate, would keep the gravy train flowing for big agribusiness, locking in their unjustified corporate handouts for the next five years. With Congress focused on how to fix the budget, our elected leaders shouldn’t squander the opportunity to cut off these outrageous giveaways to Big Ag once and for all.

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News Release | Illinois PIRG Education Fund

New report shows how repowering buildings with electricity has become an ideal option for cutting pollution and fossil fuel use

Electric technologies are ready to replace the fossil fuels that heat roughly three out of four American homes, according to a new report from Illinois PIRG Education Fund, Environment Illinois Research & Policy Center, and Frontier Group. However, critical barriers must be overcome to maximize the new technologies’ potential to cut pollution, the study notes. 

Report | Illinois PIRG Education Fund

Electric Buildings

To prevent air and water pollution and the worst impacts of global warming, America must move toward meeting its energy needs with 100 percent renewable energy. Getting there will require that we get the most out of every bit of energy we use – and that we end the burning of fossil fuels in our homes and commercial buildings. 

Blog Post

What do steeply rising gas bills and the threat of disconnection mean for city residents as we head into another Chicago winter?

 

For several years, Illinois PIRG and our allies have been working to hold Peoples Gas accountable for its troubled pipe replacement program. As documented by the Illinois PIRG Education Fund report released in June, the program is mismanaged, misdirected, and a bad deal for Chicago.

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund

Deadly infant products sold after recalls at T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that discount stores T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods sold 19 different recalled products to consumers between 2014 and 2019. In the case of five products, the stores’ parent company TJX initiated the recall. The products included the Rock ‘N Play and Kids II inclined infant sleepers, which are responsible for a number of fatalities, rattles that can break and pose a choking hazard, and electronics that overheat or explode.

News Release | Illinois PIRG Education Fund

Quarterly report: Struggling Peoples Gas pipe program once again behind schedule, over budget

Peoples Gas released its third quarter report Friday on its troubled pipe replacement program, which was the subject of a highly critical Illinois PIRG Education Fund report in June. The report shows that for the seventh consecutive quarter --  a period that spans every quarterly report on the project -- the program is behind schedule and over budget. 

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Illinois PIRG Education Fund is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to getting things done.