The Barrios Blog

Gun Violence

As the polls closed on Election Day, Tuesday, November 7, 2006, 17-year-old Hakeem Horton died from a gunshot wound to the head on Hamlet Street in Dorchester, Massachusetts.  It was Boston’s 66th homicide of the year.   Hakeem was one of 55 people in the Boston area that died as a result of a gun shot in 2006.   His death also represented the growing needs of a community in crisis. 
In 2005, there were 340 victims of shootings in Boston, 50 of whom died.   That total represents the city’s highest number of shootings since the height of gang violence in 1996.  In 2006, Boston finished the year with 74 homicides, 55 by a gun, only to have the first gun death of 2007 occur six hours into the new year. Greater Boston is at a Code Red with youth gun violence.  In the last year, the number of gunfire victims actually tripled.
At the federal level, we have moved in the wrong direction.  COPS monies have been slashed and the NRA has successfully protected gun manufacturers and killed the assault weapon ban.  Unbelievably, the NRA successfully inserted an amendment in the 2004 federal budget, through Congressman Todd Tiehrt (R-KS) that actually prevents the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) from providing gun tracing data to any local or state law enforcement agency.  This NRA-sponsored amendment effectively takes away a major tool of law enforcement to stop the trafficking of illegal guns.  But it does more than that:  it is the poster-boy for bad laws that stop good police practices because of an overly-powerful special interest lobby.
The real question is how we can get the powers that be motivated to remove these types of barriers.  At the state level, there is much that we can do to help police and prosecutors and to promote prevention.  Local and state law enforcement entities must have the all tools reasonably available to investigate crimes and cases.  There are many tools, including:

 Enhancing the gun and licensing registries by allowing database information sharing networks to be utilized by both state and local law enforcement entities;

 Targeting low compliance of secondary market sales including facilitating the registrations and enforcing the registration requirements with both buyers and sellers;

 With the improved database, begin to charge persons found to sell or “lose” guns to unlicensed persons;

 Design interstate compacts with surrounding states to utilize gun registry and ballistics information to circumvent the NRA restrictions on gun tracing data sharing; and

 Close the Illegal Gun in the House Loophole so that traffickers are no longer protected because the guns are discovered in their homes or places of business.

These are some commonsense ideas I have found from my research on the gun market and state laws.  I will be releasing the full report of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, along with my Committee colleagues, in the coming week.  This report will contain the full set of recommendations which will, of course, be posted on the blog.

Foreclosures and Sub-Prime Lending

Since I was elected to the House of Representatives in 1998, I have worked on housing –as a member of the Housing committees and as a proponent of legislation.  I have witnessed how the real estate cycles -- boom and bust, boom and bust-- have impacted too many families.  At the height of the market, those who sought to purchase a home too often accessed credit at interest rates much higher than the market rate (upwards of 14% in many cases).  These so-called sub-prime lenders would finance purchases of homes where the buyers would have to dedicate as much as 80% of their income to their mortgage payment.  Now in the bust part of the cycle, many of these homes are in foreclosure or at risk of foreclosure.  It was no favor to these well-intentioned and hard-working individuals to give them credit at these extortionate rates.   

According to Jim Campen, the University of Massachusetts professor who is the state’s leading scholar on this subject, in three towns in my own district -- Everett, Chelsea and Revere – there were sub-prime loans for upwards of 50% of all home mortgages that closed in 2005.  In Everett, a staggering 59.5% of loans were sub-prime.

I have filed legislation with Rep. Dave Torrisi of Andover to help prevent unscrupulous sub-prime lending practices, as well as assist mortgagers at risk of foreclosure.  One story from Chelsea in my district illustrates why consumers need basic protections from abusive mortgage lending and why mortgage companies should be obligated to fairly apply good credit to low income and minority communities.

A gentleman from El Salvador bought a 3 family in Chelsea three years ago.  Ameriquest wrote the original loan.  Several years later he received an offer from Ameriquest to refinance his loan and include within that loan an ability to write off his credit card debt.  One year later he is in foreclosure and despite repeated offers by him to pay off the loan, Ameriquest has refused.

ESAC in Jamaica Plain provided counseling to this man and his brother who co-signed the loan.  According to the homeowner, his mortgage broker originally offered a loan of 9.9%. When the loan was closed, the rate increased to 10.5% (which was 4.5 points above prime) with a cap of 16% over the life of the loan.   

ESAC’s foreclosure counselor spent 1 hour going over the refinancing documents with this homeowner, who speaks very little English and does not read or write in his native language, Spanish.  The counselor realized quickly:
 No one ever explained the details of the loan to the homeowner;
 No one explained to the brother the responsibility of co-signing the loan;
 The homeowner, who brings in $2,000/month in salary and sends $400 home to El Salvador, was stated in the loan documents as earning about $5,500 per month. Because it was a “no documentation” loan there was nothing to support this inflated number; and
 In the refinancing of the mortgage, the homeowner was charged $17,000 in fees of which $15,000 went to Ameriquest.

This story is one of many stories that show why our bill is necessary to make sure that homeowners purchasing or refinancing their homes have the information necessary to assure they can pay their loan and keep their house.  It will also keep mortgage brokers in check to assure they are not originating loans that they know will result in foreclosure. 

The sections of the Torrisi-Barrios Foreclosure bill are summarized below:
AN ACT TO PRESERVE AND PROMOTE HOMEOWNERSHIP

SECTION 1:  ESTABLISHING A HOME PRESERVATION FUND.  The fund shall be used for the following purposes:

 For grants and loans to homeowners facing foreclosure of their owner-occupied homes because they have been victims of abusive mortgage lending practices.
 For grants and loans to non-profit organizations to conduct public education campaigns, to provide counseling, legal services, and refinance assistance to homeowners at risk of foreclosure or who are in foreclosure.

SECTION 2.  REQUIRING IN PERSON COUNSELING FOR HIGH COST LOANS.  This section would amend the Chapter 183C of the MGL, the chapter which regulates high cost loans, to require in-person counseling to a prospective homeowner before a homeowner accepts a high cost loan.  Currently, the law allows for over the phone counseling.

SECTION 3. GOOD FAITH AND FAIR DEALING IN HOME LOAN SERVICING.  This section would increase the protection to mortgagors when dealing with loan servicers and therefore minimize the chance that servicers will drive mortgagors into default and foreclosure.  The section requires that:

 Fees that servicers add to loans are reasonable and authorized by statute or the loan itself;
 Servicers respond in writing to mortgagors written requests for information on their loans;
 All payments received by servicers are posted promptly to the mortgagor’s account;
 Servicers must make timely payments to the mortgagors escrow account. 

SECTION 4. ESTABLISHING A MORTGAGOR’S RIGHT TO CURE A LOAN DEFAULT. 
This section establishes a borrower’s right to cure a loan default initiated by the mortgagee/servicer and thereby stop a foreclosure action from proceeding.  It provides that a borrower would be entitled to:
 A written notice from the lender/servicer outlining the nature of the breach and the specific means and amount to cure it;
 A 30 day “cooling off” period during which the lender/servicer is not allowed to send the loan to an attorney’s office and during which the lender/servicer cannot charge any fees or charges, including any attorneys’ fees and during which time the borrower can redeem the property by paying back to the lender the total amount owed.
 To cure a default up until the home is sold at auction or otherwise transferred by the lender/servicer.

SECTION 5.   ESTABLISHING HOUSING INVESTMENT OBLIGATIONS FOR CERTAIN MORTGAGE LENDERS (Mortgage Company CRA).  This section adds in, word for word, the Mortgage CRA bill (S.562) that was filed in 2005.  This section would impose a “continuing and affirmative obligation” on all mortgage lenders who make more than 50 residential loans a year to help meet the credit needs of the communities where they do business. 

SECTIONS 6 & 7.  LICENSING MORTGAGE ORIGINATORS.  This section amends Chapter 255E of the MGL by deleting the exclusion for individuals who work for licensed mortgage brokers and mortgage lenders from licensing requirements; these individuals currently do not need a license themselves.   The bill would require that any individual who deals directly with borrowers in arranging mortgage loans, except those who work for banks and credit unions, must be licensed by the state. 

SECTION 8.  APPOPRIATION FOR THE HOME PRESERVATION FUND.  This section provides for a $10m for the Home Preservation Fund.

So why all the fuss over the Medical Examiner’s office?

So why all the fuss over the Medical Examiner’s office?  I guess the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) issue goes straight to the governor’s central campaign theme of gimmick-free government—that government is suppose to work for all of us in a transparent way for us to work together to improve.

Some background:  In the wake of a Boston Herald series on lost body parts and misidentified bodies at the OCME, the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security held an oversight hearing in December 2003.  We had whistleblowers testify from the OCME who spoke about the administrative and budgetary problems of the office, as well as District Attorneys who testified about the problems they encountered in prosecuting cases--problems including long turnaround times for autopsy reports.

The OCME’s office was in disarray due to administrative failures and budget deficiencies.   At the hearing, it was revealed that a federal investigation on the misuse of grant money had commenced and only two OCME facilities, one full-time and one part-time, were operating in the state after the facilities in Worcester and Pocasset were closed due to their respective deteriorating conditions.  The Committee also found inadequate administrative procedures that led to backlogs of cases, the loss of body parts, and other problems that challenged the integrity of the OCME’s office. 

Out of the hearing stemmed a movement to find a new Chief Medical Examiner to lead the OCME’s office in a new direction.  In April 2005, Dr. Mark Flomenbaum was hired to direct the agency.  The Legislature also appropriated additional monies -- $3.6 million in FY 2005 to $7.7 million in FY 2007 -- for the OCME’s office which increased the overall salaries of the office’s professional medical examiners and allowed Dr. Flomenbaum to hire new staff, including a team of new Medico-Legal Investigators to process medical evidence from death scenes and provide a more detailed and professional analysis of all unattended deaths in the state.  He expedited the streamlining of the autopsy rate and lessened turnaround time for reports and toxicology reports. He has also increased the number of autopsies in the office dramatically from 2694 in 2005 to 3552 in 2006. 

So how is he the one criticized when he’s done the job he was hired to do?  It is fair criticism of the OCME to observe that there are bodies stacking up on Albany Street, and that the equipment there is dated to say the least (the X-ray machine is from 1974!)  however, this is the result of closing two other full-time offices and sending their cases to this single office.  The poor ventilation at the Albany Street facility, the lack of vehicles, and the lack of sufficient refrigeration have all been identified as needs in writing to the House and Senate Ways and Means committees, as well as to the Public Safety committee. 

At the end of last week, the Executive Office of Public Safety (EOPS) announced they were directing the chief of the OCME to begin to ‘move the bodies’ quicker.  In other words, shorten the time allotted to search for next-of-kin of unidentified bodies before sending them to the Potter’s Field cemetery in Dorchester for deceased indigents.  The EOPS answer to the problem was not to recognize that the reason for this overcrowding was systemic and that the answer needs to be systemic—like re-opening the other OCME offices.  Rather, the EOPS prescription was to abandon the humane policies of the current OCME to accommodate the coarse realities of governing in the 21st century, where it always seems to pay dividends to be penny-wise and pound foolish. 

As for Flomenbaum, I have met him only twice in his tenure here, and I do not know him personally at all, but I take my hat off to him for entering this most-political of environments to do an important job, especially on behalf of families with missing loved ones.  The Globe’s editorial today has it right….there is much to be done at the OCME, but not much more it’s chief can do without all of our help.

Reducing Gang Violence

Two years ago, I filed a bill to give police, prosecutors and youth violence prevention workers more tools to stop gang-related youth violence.  The bill became law last year, and included Massachusetts’ first witness protection program [see herald article: http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=187904], tougher laws on illegal gun possession and witness intimidation, and a grant program which aimed to keep young people out of trouble by recognizing that community-based programs seeking to involve them in activities could effectively reduce their likelihood to become involved in gangs, and also provide them with role models connected to a community of service providers intent on keeping them safe. 

As we begin the new FY2008 budget cycle, we find ourselves in danger of losing the $11 million in funding for this grant program—just as it has enjoyed its first successful season. 
These funds have helped to support community-based outreach programs, summer jobs programs, reentry programs, after-school programs and community policing initiatives targeting gangs and youth violence. 

Few issues are more important keeping our neighborhoods safe and providing alternatives for at-risk youth who need guidance.  However, last’s years grant program was funded through a supplemental budget, and unless the Administration changes its mind, and the Legislature renews its commitment to this kind of innovative, multi-disciplinary approach, communities with gang problems will be forced to discontinue their efforts this summer.

There are obviously many needs that should be addressed and limited revenue in FY2008.  However, investing in strategies to combat youth violence is a budget priority that we believe deserves special attention in FY2008.  Our communities need the resources to prevent youth and gang violence through both prevention and enforcement means, and the Shannon Community Safety Initiative is a unique program that coordinates and balances both important approaches.

http://www.senatorbarrios.org/news/2005/Joint_Committee_PS_Gang_Report.pdf

Seth Harwood - Boston-Area Writer

Seth Harwood grew up in Boston's South End, Cambridge, and Newton. Since graduating from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he has taught English and writing at The Cambridge School of Weston and UMass Boston. He currently lives in Berkeley, CA where he's working on his second noir/crime novel is a series following Jack Palms, a one-time Hollywood actor who finds himself thrown into San Francisco's underworld. In December, he finished podcasting the series' first novel, Jack Wakes Up.

His collection of stories, A Long Way from Disney, fictionalizes some of his experiences growing up in and around Boston. These stories appear on his website, sethharwood.com, and he will be podcasting them in free weekly audio installments throughout the spring. Twelve of these stories have been published in journals and reviews, including Sojourn, Post Road, Ecotone, The Charles River Review, and Inkwell. A Long Way from Disney will be published in the summer of 2007 by Storyglossia Press.

To read some of Seth's Boston-based stories and listen to his podcast, check out his website:

http://sethharwood.com/

The Way to a Healthier Lifestyle Begins…At the Supermarket

How ironic that the highest rates of child obesity are in low-income children!  When I worked in Mexico with malnourished children in the late ‘80s, the poorest children struggled to get food in their stomachs; in the states, programs like WIC (Women, Infants and Children), school free lunches, and also state cash assistance programs allow families to get food on the table—but less healthy food is often cheaper, and certainly perceived by many as less time consuming to make.  Families pressured for time and money often choose fast food or junk food as a filling, but less-than-nutritious means of feeding their children. 

Adult and child obesity rates have exploded across America.  According to the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), obesity rates continue to rise.  Since 1980, the number of obese children doubled—and incredibly, for adolescents it tripled!  With sixteen percent of children and adolescents age 6 to 19 overweight (9 million children), childhood obesity remains a pressing public health concern.

A recent NCSL report notes:
“Being overweight puts children and teenagers at greater risk for developing type 2 diabetes, risk factors for heart disease at an earlier age, and other health conditions including asthma, sleep apnea, and psychosocial effects such as decreased self-esteem.…61 percent of overweight 5- to10-year-olds already ha[ve] at least one risk factor for heart disease, and 26% ha[ve] two or more risk factors for the disease. By adulthood, obesity-associated chronic diseases – heart disease, some cancers, stroke, diabetes – are the first, second, third, and sixth leading U.S. causes of death.” http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/ChildhoodObesity-2005.htm

The explosion in childhood obesity levels across the country means increased state and private expenditures on health care, reduced quality of life and self-esteem concerns for children, and negative impacts on family life.  So what can we do?  Well, lots of legislative proposals focusing on school lunches and junk food (and, yes, I include in these my own preference to limit schools from serving marshmallow fluff as a lunch entrée!), but one non-legislative route to better health is public education—education which starts with education in the grocery store.

I went last weekend with Kat Powers, the editor of the Somerville Journal, for a Saturday morning jaunt to Market Basket in Somerville.  We focused on finding foods that were affordable and easy to cook, but still quite nutritious. 

The visit was greeted with great excitement by management at Market Basket and Somerville

So check out the Journal—we discuss butter and butter substitutes, milks, wild and farm-raised fish, red and white meats, sugary cereals and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.   Journal writer/camera gal Meghan Ackermann filmed it for the Journal’s site [link].  After shopping , we went to my house and each cooked some healthy recipes with our purchases—all on video link on the Journal site.   

If you’d like some additional resources on obesity and diet, check out the official CDC site – lots of links to useful information: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/resources.htm

Below find a couple of recipes featured in the article:

Brazilian Collard Greens (“Couve”)
Serves 4
One large bunch of collard greens, well washed.
8 – 10 cloves of crushed garlic
4 Tbsp of olive oil
4 Tbsp lemon juice

Chop collard greens lengthwise very thin—1/4 inch in thickness.
Heat olive oil till it just begins to smoke and add garlic.  Sauté till it starts to brown slightly and then add greens, stir frying rapidly for a couple of minutes.  Greens should be wilted but not have turned olive-colored or you have overcooked them.  Remove from heat and toss in lemon juice.  Salt and pepper to taste. 

Sweet Potato fries (Baked not fried!)
Serves 4
2 medium sized sweet potatoes
Olive oil spray
Salt to taste
Salsa cruda --Carrot Dipping Sauce (below)
Heat oven to 400 degrees

Slice sweet potatoes into medium sized fries and spread onto an oiled cooking sheet.  Spray with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.  Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked all the way through. 

Salsa Cruda de Zanahoria—Carrot dipping sauce
1 medium-large carrot, cleaned and chopped
1 medium sized Spanish or sweet onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves of garlic
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup white or cider vinegar
Salt and Pepper

In a blender or food processor, combine carrot, onion, garlic, olive oil and vinegar until liquefied.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  This can also be used as a healthy salad dressing

Health Care for All of Us? What Chapter 58 means for the uninsured in Massachusetts

By now, we’ve all heard about Chapter 58 of the Acts of 2006, the landmark health care reform legislation.  Many lofty claims have been made about its accomplishments, and now that Massachusetts is first in the nation again in percentage of residents with health insurance, we have much to be proud of…but the trickier parts of reform are soon to be implemented.  The Medicaid expansions were clear in scope and asked little of “rational consumers.”  If you’re income eligible, you’d assuredly join. 

Similarly, if you’re not eligible but below 300% of the federal poverty level (“FPL”), you’re able to purchase your insurance through the state “Connector,” specifically through a program called C-CHIP or Commonwealth Care Health Insurance Program.  Individuals earning less than 100% of FPL have no premiums, with a sliding scale for individuals earning up to 300% ($29,412 for a single person, $60,012 for a family of four).  For more information on C-CHIP, check out the Q&A at: http://www.mass.gov/Qhic/docs/ccFAQ_122906.doc.

The real debate that will ensue on Beacon Hill in the coming months will be concerning the so-called individual mandate for coverage.  By July 1, 2007, everyone needs to have coverage; those without access to employer-sponsored insurance and small employer groups will be able to purchase affordable insurance through the Connector.  The enrollment period starts soon.

The problem for all sides is the definition of good value and high quality health care.  Under Chapter 58, the products offered by private entities through the Connector must meet “minimum creditable coverage” requirements set by the Connector.  The first round of insurance products submitted for Connector approval were virtually the same cost as traditional insurance products—for example, premiums averaging $400/month and a $2000 deductible for a single person.  According to one friend on the Connector board, the second round of products came in much less expensive—and more in line with what Romney and others predicted….closer to $200 in monthly premiums and a $1500 deductible. 

To get these products to become more affordable, insurance companies are reducing the “package” of what’s covered.  One of the big current debates concerns whether the Connector will require prescription drugs in “minimum creditable coverage.”  I certainly believe prescription drugs should be included, and believe the current administration can not only support this effort, but innovate on a variety of cost containment fronts in the drug markets, chiefly by supporting bulk purchasing strategies (Sen. Montigny and Sen. Jehlen have been champions of this approach), following the Maine Dirigo Health model of guaranteeing affordable drugs to these persons by tying them to the Medicaid formulary price, and finally, following Illinois and Wisconsin by assisting persons to purchase their prescription drugs from Canada and other countries. 

Springfield, which established a website for city employees, found that it saved between $ 2-4 million per year from employees who purchased their maintenance drugs through CanaRX. Approximately 1,200-1,300 employees used the program.  The City did not require they purchase the meds from Canada, but created an incentive by waiving both the co-payments (which ranged from $20-40 per order) and the shipping fee. The City suspended the program when it joined the GIC, which prohibits reimportation.

The administration should expect opposition from PhARMA, Mass Biotech and others who will argue that reimportation is simply importing price controls which will have a detrimental affect on drug R&D.  Yet we are the only developed country that does not negotiate drug prices with drug companies.  We simply can’t afford not to start negotiating better prices—and as a byproduct, offer our Connector-insured citizens quality coverage with a drug benefit.

As time goes on, we’ll all get a hang of the new reforms.  For now, however, keep your eye on the Connector Board meeting on March 2oth—at which time they’ll start making some important choices that will have a substantial impact on our uninsured citizens!  For more information, check out the following link:
http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=hicterminal&L=2&L0=Home&L1=Frequently+Asked+Questions+(FAQ)&sid=Qhic&b=terminalcontent&f=for_employers&csid=Qhic

ID Theft and Victim's Bill of Rights Fact Sheet

Fact Sheet of An Act Regarding Public Safety and Policing Practices to Prevent Identity Theft

Due to the increasing amounts of financial information banks and businesses are collecting from consumers, it is becoming easier for identity thieves to gain access to people’s personal information. 9.9 million Americans were victims of identity fraud in 2003, including almost 10,000 people in Massachusetts.

An Act to Prevent Regarding Public Safety and Police Practices To Prevent Identity Theft will protect consumers from identity theft and help victims. The bill by State Sen. Jarrett Barrios, State Rep. Michael Costello and State Rep. William Strauss includes:

1. Security Freezes - Prohibits consumer reporting agencies from releasing a consumer’s credit report without authorization of the consumer.
2. Notification of Security Breaches - This requires a procedure of notice and response in the event that personal data has been breached.
3. Police Reports - Entitling a consumer to file a local police report if he/she suspects identity theft.
4. Penalties - Increases the penalties for convicted identity thieves.
5. EOPS Study – Requires that the Executive Office of Public Safety form a commission to study the problem of identity theft in the Commonwealth and the resources available to citizens to combat identity theft.
6. Social Security Number Protection - No data collector can release an individual’s Social Security Number to the public.

It's Time to Act on ID Theft

I’m mystified that we’re still wondering about the problem of ID theft. Another week, another slew of identity theft victims. This week it’s a scam preying on Stop and Shop customers in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. While ingenious in its criminality, the data breach was, from the consumer’s perspective, less dangerous than the breach at TJX Companies last month. Here, it appears that only credit card data was compromised. This is much less dangerous to consumers because credit cards can be canceled and consumers are limited to $50 in liability under federal law.

On the other hand, data stolen from TJX was personally-identifiable, that is, unique to consumers and therefore far more valuable to thieves. Social security numbers and birthdates, when lost, mean that a consumer can have credit opened up in their name, without their knowledge, and suffer significant—sometimes permanent—damage. What’s more, because these numbers don’t change for the life of the consumer – the damage could happen any time, even many years after the data has been stolen.

The breach at TJX mystified me because it seemed so preventable. But it was hardly unprecedented: the Boston Globe, Citigroup, Bank of America, Lexis/Nexis, and Fidelity, to name few, have all experienced serious breaches in the last couple of years that have compromised customer security. Last week, the state disclosed that a former employee of the Department of Industrial Accidents (DIA) retrieved workers’ compensation claimants’ personal information and used that information to commit identity theft.

Given the slowness of both public and private sector data aggregators to adopt secure aggregation and storage policies, the importance of legal protections for consumers can’t be overstated. Two provisions are critical to any legislation trying to protect consumers from financial identity theft.

One of the most important protections needed is the so-called “notice provision.” If a private or public entity storing your personally-identifiable information suffers a loss or theft, this requirement assures that you will be notified, along with the type of information lost or stolen. Without notice, you won’t know that you need to take protective action. It’s important to note that there is no mandatory notice provision in Massachusetts right now. Stop & Shop, the Boston Globe, TJX, and other companies who have been breached never had to notify Massachusetts consumers about their compromised systems. It is commendable that they did, because at least consumers will be on notice about the threat to their personal information.

Unfortunately, right now there is little a Massachusetts consumer can do upon learning of such a breach of their personal data. Federal law allows consumers to notify the three national credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion—see below for more info) and have a fraud alert “flag” placed on their report for ninety days. This does not stop anyone from opening credit in your name; it is a mere notice to those checking the credit that suspicious activity may have occurred. Upon seeing this, a creditor is supposed to double-check the person’s identity, by asking additional questions or requesting to see their ID. How often this happens, we will never know, because it is not mandatory that creditors do this.

Great law, no? Protects you from theft after you’ve been a victim of theft—something akin to closing the barn door after the horse has already gotten out. And if you haven’t yet been a victim, what can you do? Not much.

In addition to notice, consumers need a real right to a “security freeze.” A security freeze allows us to limit third party access to our credit histories, in essence requiring our consent before the agency can share our history with a third party. In practical terms, this means we’ll have the right to limit thieves from opening accounts in our names by ending the open-door policy towards credit approvals currently in place. No longer will a thief be able to apply for credit in your name and have the credit reporting agency enable this crime by unquestioningly supplying key information that the third party creditor needs before opening a line of credit.

Twenty-three states now require companies and government agencies to notify consumers and law enforcement immediately of any data security breach. Fourteen states now give consumers the right to put a security freeze on their credit reports. These are the only tool proven to stop identity theft in its tracks, blocking would-be thieves from getting credit in the victim's name. With a security freeze, a consumer can block access to his or her credit report through the use of a password or personal identification number. A security freeze does not hamper a consumer's ability to use existing credit, or seek new credit, as a consumer can temporarily remove the freeze by using their PIN.

Notice requirements and security freezes—along with other protections—are part of legislation I have authored with MASSPIRG and Representatives Mike Costello of Newburyport and Representative Bill Straus of Mattapoisett on Beacon Hill. Please let your legislators know of your own support for the bill by calling the State House at (617) 722-2000.

Useful Information: How to contact the Three Credit Reporting Agencies There are three national credit reporting agencies. Currently, you can have each place a ‘fraud alert’ on your account if you have been a victim of ID theft. This is not a freeze: you cannot, as a resident of Massachusetts, place a freeze on who can access your credit—unlike a majority of other states.

You can order your free annual credit report (one from each of the reporting agencies) at www.annualcreditreport.com.  You can also contact each of the agencies to dispute information on your credit report:

• Equifax: 1-800-525-6285, www.equifax.com, P.O Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
• Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742), www.experian.com, P.O Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013
• TransUnion:1-800-680-7289, www.transunion.com, Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

Cuba Trip VII

February 9: Wrapping things up....

We are getting ready to go to the United States Interest Section to meet with the Chief of the Interest Section, Michael Parmelee. Since the United States and Cuba have no formal diplomatic relations there is no ambassador here, nor in DC for Cuba. But the countries have extensive informal relations--immigration, limited trade, and so forth, and the so-called interest section handles these matters as an embassy would in other countries.

Today was packed, but the event which was most affecting was the Solidaridad con Panama School, which we have helped over the years. This is one of Cuba's 'special' schools for physically disabled children. Severely handicapped children here receive daily physical therapy and an environment of emotional support. A majority live on the 'campus,' a small parcel of land with an old school painted white and red, from the age of 5 years old.

In some ways this is an excellent example of something Cuba does well: give life opportunity to children who would otherwise have severe limitations.

Job training and then direction with ACLIFIM, the national organization of disabled adults. In others, it isn't: though it appears poor by American standards, it is far better resourced than other schools I have visited here.

The sunny day continued with a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Relations, and our annual meeting with the National Library director, Eliades Acosta.

What a pleasure to learn he has just published a book called Hotel Tampa Bay, a murder mystery that takes place in Tampa, circa 1897. My family arrived from Cuba at around that time. In general terms, one salient difference between Tampa Cubans and Miami Cubans is this difference in emigration...it reflects on many aspects of the two groups political differences.

Now, to the interest section and tomorrow, back to Boston!

Jarrett Barrios