2019 Press Releases

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• 10/29/2019 CONNECTICUT SUES EPA OVER FAILURE TO ACT ON CROSS STATE AIR POLLUTION

  Attorney General William Tong and New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal filed suit Tuesday against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to take required steps to compel state action to control cross-state air pollution.

• 10/28/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG, COALITION URGES FEDERAL COOPERATION WITH STATES ON CLEAN ENERGY GOALS

  AGs Argue that Combatting the Climate Crisis Requires Collaboration with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

• 10/23/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ANNOUNCES $700 MILLION MULTISTATE FALSE CLAIMS ACT SETTLEMENT WITH RECKITT BENCKISER OVER IMPROPER MARKETING AND SALE OF SUBOXONE

  Attorney General William Tong joined attorneys general nationwide in announcing a $700 million agreement between states, the U.S. Department of Justice and pharmaceutical distributor Reckitt Benckiser Group to settle allegations that the company violated the federal and state False Claims Act by improperly marketing and promoting the drug Suboxone, resulting in improper expenditures of state Medicaid funds.

• 10/21/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG OPPOSES EPA EFFORT TO UNDERMINE STATE ROLE IN PROTECTING CLEAN WATER

  Attorney General William Tong joined 22 other state attorneys general today in filing a comment letter expressing formal opposition to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rule to unlawfully limit state authority to protect our own water.

• 10/21/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG CONFIRMS CONNECTICUT PARTICIPATION IN MULTISTATE ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION INTO FACEBOOK

  Attorney General William Tong confirmed today that Connecticut is participating in a bipartisan, multistate coalition of attorneys general investigating potential antitrust violations by social media giant Facebook.

• 10/21/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG AND COALITION WIN APPEAL TO BLOCK TRUMP EFFORT TO STRIP ACCESS TO COST-FREE BIRTH CONTROL

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with a coalition of states in State of California, et al. v. Alex Azar, II, et al., protecting an injunction currently in place. Connecticut is part of the multistate lawsuit seeking to block the Trump Administration's efforts to give employers the ability to deny women access to cost-free birth control guaranteed by the Affordable Care Act.

• 10/20/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG OPPOSES EFFORT TO UNDERMINE PROTECTIONS AGAINST HOUSING DISCRIMINATION

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general opposing a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposal that would undermine key existing protections against housing discrimination in federal law.

• 10/17/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG OPPOSES EFFORT TO UNDERMINE ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS FOR DISHWASHERS

  ttorney General William Tong joined 13 attorneys general and the City of New York in calling on the Department of Energy (DOE) to withdraw its proposed rule to undermine current energy efficiency standards for residential dishwashers. The proposed rule, issued at the request of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, attempts to carve out a class of dishwashers from energy efficiency standards by creating a new, unnecessary category of dishwashers defined only by shorter cycle times. Attorney General Tong and the coalition assert that the proposal is unlawful, hurts consumers and the environment, and is not supported by any factual need.

• 10/16/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG, DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ANNOUNCE $116.9 MILLION MULTISTATE SETTLEMENT WITH JOHNSON & JOHNSON, ETHICON, INC.

  Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull today announced a multistate settlement along with 40 states and the District of Columbia requiring Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Ethicon, Inc. to pay nearly $116.9 million for their deceptive marketing of transvaginal surgical mesh devices.

• 10/16/2019 TONG SEEKS EXTENDED LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FORMER ARGOSY AND ART INSTITUTES STUDENTS

  Attorney General William Tong has joined a bipartisan coalition of 30 state attorneys general urging U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to expand loan forgiveness eligibility for students who were enrolled in schools operated by the Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC (DCEH). The letter details extraordinary misconduct and mismanagement by DCEH, which prevented students from obtaining degrees, and unfairly left them to repay federal student-loan debt from their time attending the failed schools.

• 10/16/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG URGES CFPB TO ABANDON PROPOSED RULES THAT PROMOTE DISCRIMINATION IN MORTGAGE LENDING

  Attorney General William Tong submitted a comment letter urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) not to adopt new rules, which would undermine the ability to enforce fair lending laws and prevent discrimination against communities of color in the mortgage lending market.

• 10/15/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS 18-STATE COALITION DEFENDING VERMONT’S RIGHT TO BAN LARGE-CAPACITY MAGAZINES TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE

  Attorney General William Tong joined a group of 18 state Attorneys General in defending Vermont’s right to ban large-capacity magazines and protect public safety. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the Vermont Supreme Court, Attorney General Tong and his counterparts argue that states have the right to enact reasonable firearm restrictions that reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by gun violence.

• 10/14/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG APPLAUDS ENERGY EFFICIENCY COURT VICTORY

  Attorney General William Tong today applauded a decision from the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, affirming the U.S. Department of Energy's obligation to publish its finalized energy efficiency standards. The decision affirms a previous order by the district court.

• 10/14/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON STAY OF DEPORTATION FOR WAYZARO WALTON

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement today regarding the stay of deportation granted by the Board of Immigration Appeals for Wayzaro Walton.

• 10/10/2019 CONNECTICUT SUES FEDERAL IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT TO PROTECT LEGITIMACY OF CONNECTICUT PARDONS

  Attorney General William Tong announced today that the State of Connecticut has sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Justice in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, seeking a declaratory judgment that the federal government must honor and respect Connecticut's pardons as sufficient to waive deportation under the Pardon Waiver Clause of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The lawsuit explains that federal agencies have singled-out Connecticut for unfair and prejudicial treatment by refusing to recognize our pardons.