Press Releases

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• 2/10/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG GIVES TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF HOUSE BILL 7070

  Attorney General William Tong gave public testimony today in support of House Bill 7070, "An Act Concerning Deceptive Advertising Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers," which seeks to protect women's health by prohibiting limited services pregnancy centers from engaging in false and misleading advertising.

• 3/28/2019 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL NOTIFIES FORMER ARGOSY, ART INSTITUTES STUDENTS OF LOAN FORGIVENESS OPTIONS

  In letters to 49 Connecticut online students of two recently closed for-profit schools, the Office of the Attorney General provided information about federal student loan forgiveness options.

• 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.

• 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.

• 3/18/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS COALITION CALLING ON EPA TO WITHDRAW ITS PROPOSAL TO WEAKEN EMISSIONS STANDARDS FROM COAL POWER PLANTS

  Attorney General William Tong today joined 20 attorneys general and seven local governments in a coalition led by California to demand the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdraw its proposal to weaken federal standards limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new, modified, and reconstructed coal-fired power plants. The coalition asserts in its comments that these standards protect against increased emissions and further acceleration of climate change. The proposal, if finalized, could increase carbon dioxide pollution contributing to climate change by weakening current requirements that new power plants minimize their emissions to the extent feasible. Under EPA’s proposal, a new coal-fired plant would be able to emit 35 percent more carbon dioxide than it could under current law. In 2015, after exhaustive technical analysis, EPA determined that new plants can meet the current standard by using carbon capture and storage. The coalition asserts that the EPA’s reversal of that finding and its new proposal are arbitrary and capricious, and in violation of its statutory obligation to control emissions under the Clean Air Act.

• 4/3/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ANNOUNCES FALSE CLAIMS ACT SETTLEMENT WITH NEW HAVEN DENTIST

  Connecticut Attorney General William Tong today announced a $252,913 settlement with New Haven dentist Robert Sorrentino to resolve allegations that he violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for oral surgery and maxillofacial services to the Medicaid program.

• 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.

• 3/19/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF LAWSUIT BY OAKLAND AND SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITIES TO HOLD BIG OIL ACCOUNTABLE FOR COSTS OF SEA-LEVEL RISE

  ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF LAWSUIT BY OAKLAND AND SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITIES TO HOLD BIG OIL ACCOUNTABLE FOR COSTS OF SEA-LEVEL RISE

• 9/2/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS COALITION DEMANDING ANSWERS FROM TRUMP ADMIN OVER CHANGES TO PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES IMMIGRANTS WITH LIFESAVING MEDICAL CARE

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general led by New York Attorney General Letitia James and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, calling on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide immediate answers regarding the status and oversight of the federal government’s medical deferred action program. For years, medical deferred action has allowed immigrants to apply to remain in the United States if they are in extreme medical need. USCIS has long overseen and managed this program, but last week, without warning, USCIS informed applicants in denial letters that the agency is no longer overseeing the program. The Trump Administration has since failed to issue any formal directive or guidance on the new process for reviewing medical deferred action requests, including what federal agency is overseeing the program, and the coalition is demanding answers.

• 8/6/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS BIPARTISAN COALITION OF 43 ATTORNEYS GENERAL URGING VIDEO STREAMING INDUSTRY TO PROTECT YOUNG VIEWERS FROM TOBACCO

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a bipartisan coalition of 43 attorneys general, co-led by Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, in urging the streaming industry to limit tobacco use in their video content. Due to the growing use of tobacco products amongst teens, the attorneys general urge the streaming industry to take proactive steps to protect the lives of young viewers. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of middle and high school students using e-cigarettes rose from 2.1 million in 2017 to 3.6 million in 2018.

• 10/1/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM TONG SEEKS INFORMATION FROM DO-IT-YOURSELF RAPE KIT MANUFACTURERS

  The Connecticut Office of the Attorney General has sent letters to the manufactures of the "MeToo" and "PRESERVE" "do-it-yourself" rape kits seeking information regarding representations and implications by the companies that their kits will yield evidence admissible in criminal prosecution.

• 3/3/2019 CONNECTICUT JOINS 21-STATE COALITION TO SUE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVER TITLE X “GAG RULE”

  Connecticut Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 21 state attorneys general announcing a challenge the constitutionality of the Trump Administration’s domestic gag rule altering the Title X family planning program. The multistate lawsuit will be filed tomorrow, Tuesday, March 5th, in the U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon.

• 2/28/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS COALITION OF 21 ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN FILING AMICUS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF TRANSGENDER STUDENTS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY SCHOOL

  Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 21 states in filing an amicus brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in support of a transgender student named Drew Adams, who is suing the St. Johns County School Board for discrimination. The Court will soon determine whether the School Board’s policy prohibiting transgender boys and girls from using restrooms that other boys and girls use discriminates against transgender students on the basis of sex, in violation of Title IX.

• 3/28/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG FILES SECOND CIRCUIT AMICUS BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF WAYZARO WALTON

  Attorney General William Tong today filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Wayzaro Walton who is facing imminent deportation and separation from her family due to misapplication of Connecticut's pardon laws.

• 3/19/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS COALITION OF 21 ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN DEFENSE OF EVIDENCE-BASED TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION PROGRAM

  Attorney General William Tong this week joined a 21-state coalition led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro in filing an amicus brief supporting Planned Parenthood’s legal challenge against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ change to the funding structure of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) grant program.