Tim Nangle: My bills to increase transparency and protect consumer rights

By State Senator Tim Nangle

As your state senator, one of my top priorities is ensuring Maine consumers are treated fairly and transparently in the marketplace. Too often, people are caught off guard by hidden fees, unfair policies and unexpected financial hits.

State Senator Tim Nangle

That’s why I’m introducing several consumer-protection bills this session to tackle deceptive pricing, simplify subscription cancellations and bring fairness to how parking violations are issued. At their core, these bills are about keeping more money in your pocket and preventing corporations from taking advantage of Mainers.

If you’ve ever bought a ticket to a concert or booked a hotel room, you’ve probably experienced the frustration of hidden fees. The initial price you see rarely matches what you actually pay.

Service charges, resort fees and convenience fees can quickly inflate costs, turning what seemed like a good deal into a much more expensive purchase.

My bill would require businesses to disclose the full price upfront – including all mandatory fees – whenever they advertise prices. This would prevent deceptive pricing tactics from misleading you and help maintain fair competition in the marketplace. When you buy something, you deserve to know exactly what it will cost – no surprises, no gimmicks.

Just like hidden fees, subscription traps are another way companies make it easy to start paying them, but hard to make it stop. Many of us have signed up for a free trial or subscription only to find that canceling is a confusing, frustrating process. Some businesses make it so complicated that people give up, continuing to pay for services they no longer want or need.

That’s why I’ve introduced a bill to simplify subscription cancellations by requiring companies to offer a clear, easy way to cancel online – just like they do when you sign up. If you don’t have to mail in a letter or go to a physical office to subscribe for a service, you shouldn’t have to jump through those hoops to cancel.

These bills are about making sure Mainers aren’t losing money due to deceptive practices. This includes parking violations. I’ve heard from constituents in my district who were blindsided by tickets they didn’t even know they had – some of them only finding out when the fine was sent to collections. That’s not right.

My bill would require that drivers be notified of parking violations at the time of the offense, eliminating delayed notifications that arrive weeks later with additional penalties. It also prevents parking fines from being reported to credit agencies, protecting Mainers from long-term financial harm.

These are common-sense protections that put consumers first. Whether it’s making pricing more transparent, ensuring subscriptions are easy to cancel or stopping predatory parking fines, these bills are about fairness. If you want to make your voice heard, learn how you can submit testimony by going to mainesenate.org/testify.

Contact me directly at Timothy.Nangle@legislature.maine.gov or call the Senate Majority Office at 207-287-1515. For the latest updates, follow me on Facebook at facebook.com/SenatorTimNangle, and sign up for my e-newsletter at mainesenate.org. <