Declarations

“Instead of allowing victims to have their day in court and permit an independent judge or jury to arrive at a verdict following an open and fair trial, Wells Fargo wrongly pushed customers seeking justice into forced arbitration.”

— California Treasurer John Chiang is among those speaking in favor of legislation to allow state residents to sue financial institutions for fraud, rather than letting banks force customers to settle disputes in arbitration.

“These companies continue to mislead the public.”

— Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, announcing a lawsuit that accuses five major drug manufacturers of misrepresenting the risks of prescription opioid painkillers such as OxyContin and Percocet. The companies named in the suit are Purdue Pharma LP, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. unit, a unit of Endo International Plc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.’s Cephalon unit and Allergan Plc. Ohio has one of the highest drug overdose rates in the country.

“Forty-four other states have done this, but Louisiana is last in everything, so why not be last in regulating Uber, too?”

— Louisiana State Rep. Kenny Havard, who pulled a bill that would have implemented statewide regulations for transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft, after New Orleans lawmakers blocked the measure in the Senate. Representatives from New Orleans said their city could lose $2 million annually if the agreements it has with Uber and Lyft were superseded by Havard’s legislation. The city currently charges riders a $0.50 fee under a 2015 agreement, the highest in the country.