New Voters Project:
This year a strong team of PIRG students worked tirelessly to help register over 900 students on both campuses of USM and at SMCC.  To interest and invest students in local politics PIRG hosted a municipal candidate forum and invited local candidates running for school board and city council to come speak to students about their visions for Portland.  Leading up to the presidential election PIRG educated students about their voter rights and the requirements needed to vote.  Students tabled weekly to inform USMers of their polling places and to get the community excited about the youth vote.  PIRG efforts were responsible for reminding approximately 4,000 students to vote on November 4th! 

Truth About Credit:
In response to student interest and need, PIRG is currently running its “Truth About Credit” campaign to educate students about how to be safe credit card consumers and how to avoid common pitfalls that can damage their credit.  PIRG has formed a coalition of student groups and university departments to sponsor a credit card forum where students can get candid answers to their credit concerns.

Local Foods:
This fall USM PIRG sponsored Harvest Fest, an annual on-campus celebration of local foods.  Students invited guest speakers from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) groups as well as local farms to raise awareness about buying locally.  During Harvest Fest USM PIRG worked with Dining Services to promote a Made in Maine meal in the cafeterias on both campuses.  Additionally USM PIRG raffled off fresh local veggies to students and had a booth to bob for apples in the campus café.

Affordable Textbooks:
Thanks to outrageous textbook prices and a broken textbook market, PIRG has created a resolution to promote and address the textbook problems at USM, which will be presented to the Student Senate this month.  PIRG leaders have created fun ways for students to share alternative methods of buying books for classes—like Guitar Hero-palooza (where students come, have fun, and talk about book swaps and the best online places to find used, cheap books).

In August 2008, we 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." It also asks colleges to provide the list of assigned textbooks, including prices, for each course when students are registering for classes.

Higher Education:
In May 2009, Congress passed strong legislation, called the “Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act” that will halt the most egregious abuses by the credit card industry. The CARD bill eliminates a lot of unfair practices, including: excessive and growing penalty fees, unfair billing practices, and unjustified and retroactive interest charges. It also restricts and requires greater transparency for marketing targeted exclusively at college campuses or consumers under the age of 21. Despite the credit card industry's lobbying to defeat or gut the bill, the Senate and the House both passed the bill with overwhelming, bi-partisan majorities.

Thanks to the incredible work of PIRG students Opportunity Maine, a statewide program that provides debt relief to students who choose to stay and work in Maine after graduation, is now a viable success!  This year PIRG students have worked with Opportunity Maine to streamline the enrollment process and educate students about their eligibility for the program.

In September 2007, we helped pass the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, the largest increase in federal student aid in 20 years. This law also made dramatic cuts in interest rates for student loans. We followed up by helping pass the Higher Education Opportunity Act, which was signed by President Bush in August 2008. That law contains several important policy changes, including an increase in the maximum authorized level of the Pell Grant to $9,000.

In February 2009, The Student PIRGs helped convince Congress to include several key measures in the economic stimulus package.  The final package included a $17 billion increase in Pell grant funding, more work-study aid, and bigger tax credits for low-income students and their families.  The bill also included critical funding for programs that will create jobs and protect the environment, including $16 billion for public transit and $78 billion for clean energy and green infrastructure.