Advocacy Group

Skechers has agreed to pay $40 million to consumers who purchased its  rocker-bottom shoes under the mistaken belief that the shoes would help give them Kim Kardashian's booty or Joe Montana's stamina. So how do you get your piece of the payout if you purchased the shoes months, if not years ago, and don't have a receipt? No problem. This refund relies largely on the honor system. Anyone who purchased the company's line of Shape-Up shoes -- or its Resistance Runners, Tone-ups or Toners -- is entitled to a partial refund whether they have proof of purchase or not, officials said Thursday.

The Legislature is poised to offer health insurance to millions of additional low-income Californians, with the federal government covering much of the cost. The expansion would be a boon to counties, which collectively spend billions of dollars caring for the indigent uninsured. One sticking point, though, is what to do with the more than $4 billion in sales taxes and vehicle license fees the state has been sending back to counties every year to help pay for public health programs - and that the Brown administration wants to reclaim.

In yet another scathing critique of government health officials, a federal judge refused Friday to stay his order making emergency contraceptives available to consumers of all ages without a prescription. Calling government efforts to restrict the sale of drugs such as Plan B "frivolous and taken for the purpose of delay," U.S. District Judge Edward R. Korman of New York wrote that the medications would be available to all unless the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled otherwise by noon Eastern time on Monday.

WASHINGTON - An influential network of some of the country's wealthiest liberal political donors is steering resources to an advocacy group backing President Obama's agenda and to organizations working to pass immigration reform, providing a surge of money that could boost the president's legislative goals. Democracy Alliance, an invitation-only group that makes funding recommendations to its members, selected the pro-Obama Organizing for Action and immigration reform groups such as the National Immigration Forum as some of its top 2013 priorities at its spring conference in Laguna Beach last week, according to leaders of the organization.

WASHINGTON - An influential network of some of the country's wealthiest liberal political donors is steering resources to an advocacy group backing President Obama's agenda and to organizations working to pass immigration reform, providing a surge of money that could boost the president's legislative goals. Democracy Alliance, an invitation-only group that makes funding recommendations to its members, selected the pro-Obama Organizing for Action and immigration reform groups such as the National Immigration Forum as some of its top 2013 priorities at its spring conference in Laguna Beach last week, according to leaders of the organization.

Several months ago I went to the emergency room for a respiratory problem. I was treated and released the same night. I was a self-pay patient. I requested the detailed billing to compare with my medical record and found several errors, including duplicated charges and overcharged items. When I discussed this with the billing department they refused to admit it. What is my next step in this situation? It's critical that you put your dispute with the hospital in writing, clarifying that your itemized bill contains items or services that have been billed in error, says Pat Palmer, founder of Medical Billing Advocates of America, a consumer advocacy group in Roanoke, Va. List each item you're disputing and request that the inaccurate charges be removed or that a written response with documentation to support the charges be sent to you. If you've hit a brick wall with the billing department, escalate your complaint, says Martin Rosen, an executive vice president of Health Advocate, a patient advocacy organization based in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. Address your letter to either the chief financial officer or chief executive officer of the hospital, or both, and indicate that you've tried and failed to settle the matter with the billing department.

Future infant geniuses will have to seek their smarts elsewhere now that the company behind Your Baby Can Read - instructional videos for the diaper set - is going out of business. For years, Your Baby Can targeted parents hoping to get their little ones an early start on literacy, eventually selling tens of thousands of educational videos. But many were skeptical of the company's tactics, publicly challenging the practice of exposing young children to videos through class action lawsuits and a "Today Show" investigation in 2010 . “Regretfully, the cost of fighting recent legal issues has left us with no option but to cease business operations,” the company said in a statement on its website . “While we vehemently deny any wrongdoing, and strongly believe in our products, the fight has drained our resources to the point where we can no longer continue operating.” Advocacy group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood filed a complaint against the company last year with the Federal Trade Commission.

Let's be real here. Anyone who orders a meal with three pieces of breaded chicken, a buttery sauce, and mashed potatoes can't be much surprised that it's high in calories. Or that a piece of cake that weighs close to a pound might, as they say, be applied “directly to the hips.” So why would the Center for Science in the Public Interest - advocacy group or nutrition nag, depending on your perspective - give a dubious shout-out to those restaurant choices and several others on Wednesday by handing out “Xtreme Eating Awards”?

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. dumped its membership in conservative advocacy group ALEC ahead of what is expected to be a contentious annual shareholders meeting. The American Legislative Exchange Council, known for its role-shaping controversial legislation, has been hemorrhaging members this spring. Major companies such as Coca Cola Co., McDonald's Corp., Amazon.com Inc., Kraft Foods Inc. and more have fled amid heavy activist pressure. At issue: ALEC's backing of voter ID laws that liberal groups accuse of suppressing the minority vote.

WASHINGTON -- Organizing for Action, the nonprofit advocacy group pushing President Obama's legislative agenda, plans to hold state conferences as part of an effort to roll out chapters across the country in May, trying to knit together the network of volunteers that helped Obama win reelection. Leaders of the group unveiled some of their plans Thursday during a two-day “founders summit” and strategy session at an upscale Washington hotel a few blocks from the White House.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to draft a law prohibiting the possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines, sparking lawsuit threats from two gun rights organizations. On an 11-0 vote, the council called for an ordinance labeling the magazines a public nuisance and "an immediate threat to the public health. " Although the state already has a ban on the sale and transfer of high-capacity magazines, residents can still legally own them. Before the vote, council members described the measure as a response to a series of mass shootings, including the massacre of 26 people - many of them children - at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December.

WASHINGTON - Early last month, state lawyers and election officials around the country dialed into a conference call to talk about how to deal with the flood of secret money that played an unprecedented role in the 2012 election. The discussion, which included officials from California, New York, Alaska and Maine, was a first step toward a collaborative effort to force tax-exempt advocacy organizations and trade associations out of the shadows. The unusual initiative was driven by the lack of progress at the federal level in pushing those groups to disclose their contributors if they engage in campaigns, as candidates and political action committees are required to do. "There is no question that one of the reasons to have states working together is because the federal government, in numerous arenas, has failed to take action," said Ann Ravel, chairwoman of California's Fair Political Practices Commission, who organized the call with officials from about 10 states.

WASHINGTON - The nonprofit advocacy group backing President Obama's second-term agenda plans to mobilize constituents against the U.S. senators who on Wednesday helped defeat a measure to expand background checks - including four members of the president's own party. Jon Carson, executive director of Organizing for Action, told the Los Angeles Times / Tribune Washington Bureau on Thursday that the group will train its resources against the 45 senators who opposed the legislation, including Democrats Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Maybe it really is as simple as it sounds. That for the NHL and its players, establishing a partnership with the You Can Play project — which fights homophobia and advocates for the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual athletes in sports — was born of fairness and logic and isn't really a big deal. "In talking to the guys and all the rest of it, I think the basic feeling was this is the right thing to do, so we oughta go do it. And that's the motivation," Donald Fehr, executive director of the NHL Players' Assn., said Thursday.

WASHINGTON - The nonprofit advocacy group that was formed to back President Obama's agenda, which was sharply criticized as a potential conduit for wealthy interests to influence the White House, has been financed overwhelmingly by thousands of small donors since its launch in late January. Organizing for Action took in just three six-figure donations through the end of March. The biggest, $250,000, came from a son of Warren Buffett's longtime business partner. Only about two dozen of the 770 fundraisers who collected major donations for Obama's reelection gave to the organization, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis.

SAN FRANCISCO - With a new political advocacy group that plans to inject millions of dollars into shaping public policy coast to coast, Mark Zuckerberg is taking a significant step onto the political stage, expanding his influence far beyond his home turf in Silicon Valley. The billionaire founder and chief executive of Facebook made it official Thursday that he plans to take on a far more visible national role in launching Fwd.us, which will lobby for the passage of comprehensive immigration reform, investments in scientific research and higher educational standards.

WASHINGTON - The cavernous ballroom of the Washington Hilton had the feel of Old Home Week as hundreds of former campaign staff and volunteers for President Obama's reelection bid assembled there Sunday morning, greeting each other with whoops and bear hugs and breaking out into intermittent chants of “Fired up? Ready to go!” But the gathering, dubbed the Obama Campaign Legacy Conference, aimed to be more than a reunion for the on-the-ground organizers who helped build Obama's grass-roots army.

WASHINGTON -- Leaders of Organizing for Action, President Obama's new nonprofit advocacy group , are courting his top campaign bundlers to be part of a high-dollar fundraising network that will help finance the work of the nascent organization. During a swing through the Bay Area and Los Angeles this week, OFA Chairman Jim Messina and Executive Director Jon Carson met with members of the Obama campaign's National Finance Committee and told them there will be a similar structure in place to support the work of the nonprofit group, which is set up as a 501(c)

Banks aren't living up to pledges they made in last year's landmark government settlement of mortgage servicing and foreclosure abuses, according to an advocacy group's survey of California housing counselors and lawyers. The California Reinvestment Coalition, which lobbies for low-income Californians, said banks continue to pursue foreclosures against borrowers seeking loan modifications - a practice they had sworn off - and have been ineffective at providing well-informed employees to help troubled borrowers one-on-one.

SAN FRANCISCO - For years, Silicon Valley companies wanted as little to do with Washington as possible. Hiring lobbyists to promote and protect their interests was about as far as they went. But a new generation of technology entrepreneurs believes it can no longer afford to ignore the Beltway, and is setting its sights on Capitol Hill. Leading the way is Facebook co-founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who with other tech executives is starting a political advocacy group that plans to push an ambitious legislative agenda, people familiar with the plans said.