The three main divisions of the Consumer Protection Board were:[1]
Outreach and Program Development Bureau creates education programs and brochures for consumers about issues including credit card usage,
home improvement,
identity theft and Internet safety. The bureau's Consumer Assistance Unit handles over 20,000 complaints a year relating to consumer issues.
Counsel, Policy and Research Bureau oversees the agency's legal functions, including enforcement of the state's
Do not call law. In 2006, the Board added 1.3 million resident phone numbers to the
United States National Do Not Call Registry and reached settlements with 58 telemarketers in response to
consumer complaints, collecting over $350,000 in fines.
The CPB was established in 1970 under legislation signed by then-Governor
Nelson Rockefeller.
Betty Furness, a former Hollywood actress who had served as special assistant for consumer affairs to President
Lyndon B. Johnson, was named as the Board's first chairman and executive director.[2] Furness served in the position until July 1971, resigning after complaints about the lack of serious attention to her recommendations by the
New York Legislature.[3][4]
Richard Kessel served as Executive Director of the CPB from 1983 to 1995, where he negotiated rate freeze agreements with
Consolidated Edison,
Niagara Mohawk and other electric and telephone utilities, which Kessel estimated saved consumers $1 billion.[5]
Merger
On March 31, 2011, Part A of Chapter 62 of the Laws of 2011 merged the former New York State Consumer Protection Board into the
New York State Department of State creating a new
Division of Consumer Protection. Consumers can find useful information, alerts and tools by visiting www.dos.ny.gov.[6]
References
^About the CPB, New York State Consumer Protection Board. Accessed September 25, 2008.
^Severo, Richard.
" Betty Furness, 78, TV Reporter And Consumer Advocate, Dies", The New York Times, April 4, 1994. Accessed September 25, 2008. "She also was President Lyndon B. Johnson's special assistant for consumer affairs and was head of the New York State Consumer Protection Board in 1970 and '71.... Miss Furness abruptly quit as Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller's consumer affairs adviser in 1971, charging that the New York State Legislature did not take her recommendations seriously enough."