Accomplishments

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More victories -

(2010) Helped pass a new law called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to lower health care costs for families including young adults by allowing them to stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26.

(2010) Helped to pass the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which among other things, adds $36 billion into the Pell grant program. Maryland PIRG Student Chapters and Student PIRG lobbying and organizing over the past several years was critical to the passage of this historic law.

(2009) Helped pass strong legislation called, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act that will end some of the worst abuses of the credit card industry, including some which are often targeted at college students.

(2009) Student PIRG and Maryland PIRG student activists mobilized their peers and helped persuade Congress to include an additional $2.5 billion down-payment for high-speed rail in their appropriations bill, more than doubling President Obama’s original recommendation.

(2009) Help to launch the Resolve Conference, where 250 students from across the country were joined by activists, advocates and organizers for a weekend of education and training to create anti-poverty campaigns in their communities.

(2008) Helped with passing the Higher Education Opportunity Act. The  law contains several important policy changes, including an increase in the maximum authorized level of the Pell Grant to $9,000.

(2008) Maryland PIRG students helped get an Affordable Textbooks provision included in the federal Higher Education Opportunity Act. The provision helps lower the cost of textbooks for millions of students by requiring publishers to disclose textbook pricing and revision information to faculty and requiring publishers to offer textbooks and supplemental materials "unbundled."

(2008) Student PIRGs' New Voters Project helps register 118,000 young voters and contacts 440,000 voters to turn them out to the polls across the poll

(2008) Surveyed over 2,000 students and released a subsequent report, “The Campus Credit Card Trap,” which garnered nationwide media coverage.

(2007) Joined the nationwide Student PIRGs' What’s Your Plan? Campaign which talked to the presidential candidates over 100 times on the campaign trail, to ask them about their plans for global warming and higher education.

(2007) Helped pass the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the largest increase in federal student aid in 20 years. The law also made dramatic cuts in interest rates for student loans.

(2007) Maryland PIRG students worked on a campaign to protect Maryland's open spaces. When the Governor introduced his budget on January 19th, he remained true to his pledge and didn't divert any funding from Program Open Space and the other land conservation programs.

(2006) Student PIRGs' New Voters Project helps register 75,000 young voters and makes 94,000 get-out-the-vote contacts to get youth across the country out to the polls

(2006) Maryland PIRG students worked to pass the Healthy Air Act, the strongest state law in the country to reduce pollution from the dirtiest coal-fired power plants.  Students gathered hundreds of signatures to local legislators and erected a 20-foot tall inflatable power plant on Hornbake Mall to raise awareness about the campaign.

(2005) Joined PIRG students across the country to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in response to Hurricane Katrina and send hundreds of volunteers to the Gulf Coast to help with rebuilding efforts

(2005) Maryland PIRG students in the Hunger and Homelessness campaign raised over $8000 to send a group of 30 students to the Biloxi, Mississippi region to help with Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts.  The students spent 10 days in the region, helping with debris cleanup, rebuilding houses, and serving those displaced by this disaster.

(2005)  Maryland PIRG students worked with a national coalition to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from efforts to drill for oil and gas in its pristine wilderness.

(2004) The Student PIRGs' New Voters Project helps register 524,000 young voters across the country and works to turn them out to the polls

(2004) Maryland PIRG and the UMVotes coalition helped register 5,000 students in College Park to vote in the Fall 2004 election. The effort helped result in a 11% increase in turnout for 18 to 24 year old voters from the 2000 to the 2004 election.

(2004) With the help of state senator John Giannetti, Maryland PIRG secured $32,000 from the state legislature to fund recycling bins for McKeldin Mall and Fraternity Row.  They are now working with Facilities Management to coordinate the placement of these bins.

(2002) MaryPIRG helps win funding for emergency preparedness committee

(2002) U.S. PIRG helps win critical Senate vote blocking drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

(2002) U.S. PIRG efforts are instrumental in defeat of dirty energy bill

(2001) MaryPIRG convinces state to cut electricity use and purchase renewable energy

(2001) MaryPIRG defeats bill to give tax credits to municipal waste incinerators

(2001) MaryPIRG helps win law to clean up brownfield

(2001) MaryPIRG helps win passage of Gov. Glendening’s transit funding initiative

(2001) MaryPIRG leads effort winning tax breaks for construction of energy efficient building

(2001) MaryPIRG report helps win law to reduce use and sale of mercury containing products in Maryland

(2001) MaryPIRG wins pledge by Baltimore mayor to replace unsafe playground

(2000) MaryPIRG defeats bills that would have sanctioned predatory payday lending

(2000) MaryPIRG wins tax incentive for Energy Star appliances

(2000) President Clinton announces PIRG-sponsored plan to protect 60 million acres of national forests

(1999) MaryPIRG convinces state to track energy sources of electric power

(1999) MaryPIRG wins laws to promote alternative transportation

(1998) MaryPIRG helps protect Chapman’s Forest from development

(1998) MaryPIRG spearheads efforts winning law to reduce pesticide use in schools

(1998) Student PIRGs win law requiring colleges to distribute voter registration forms to students

(1997) MaryPIRG helps defeat bill to weaken state’s auto-emissions testing standard

(1997) MaryPIRG helps defeat two bills to weaken environmental enforcement

(1997) MaryPIRG helps win computerization of state’s campaign finance data

(1997) MaryPIRG helps win law to promote redevelopment of urban brownfields

(1997) MaryPIRG helps win removal of anti consumer provision in mortgage lender law

(1996) MaryPIRG helps double acreage of state’s protected wildlands

(1995) State PIRGs deliver 1.2 million petition signatures to Congress, helping stop rollback of environmental laws

(1988) MaryPIRG helps stop construction of a proposed solid waste incinerator in Prince George’s County

(1987) MaryPIRG helps postpone development of fragile wetlands

(1985) Student PIRGs and USA for Africa launch National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness

(1984) The PIRGs' newly launched National Student Campaign for Voter Registration helps registers 750,000 student voters in its first year

(1978) MaryPIRG helps repeal Prince George’s County anti-student tenant law