Webinar dives into escalating federal rollbacks and discusses the need for advocates to lead the fight to protect civil rights, consumer protections and economic justice.

Facing a surge of coordinated attacks on consumer protections and economic justice, nearly 100 advocates and community partners convened last week for a Rise Economy-hosted webinar featuring former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, Democracy Forward’s Rachel Fried and Eleanor Blume of the California Attorney General’s Office. The panelists outlined the growing threats to federal and state protections and called for renewed advocacy to defend California’s communities.

The webinar, “What’s at Stake: Civil Rights, Consumer Protections, and the Future of California Communities,” opened with an overview of the landscape for consumer protection and community development, both nationally and in California. The three panelists highlighted an alarming wave of deregulatory actions, including efforts to gut critical rules around overdraft fees, payday lending, credit cards and protections for immigrant taxpayers.

Director Chopra warned of a growing economic storm, noting early signs of financial stress such as consumers making minimum payments on credit cards, rising subprime auto loan defaults, and challenges around the restart of student loan payments. He noted this all comes on top of the devastation from natural disasters like the wildfires in Los Angeles.

Chopra also stressed the deeper, less visible threat posed by federal efforts to “defund the police that looks after Wall Street and the financial industry.” If left unchecked, he cautioned, “it could create a recipe for disaster for so many people in California and across the country.”

Rachel Fried, who has represented Rise Economy in litigation against harmful Trump-era rulemaking, emphasized the importance of vigilance around regulatory rollbacks — especially efforts to rewrite rules without public input. Fried outlined how the Section 1071 small business lending data rule, long championed by Rise Economy, remains vulnerable and requires continued defense.

Eleanor Blume shared how the California Attorney General’s Office is preparing for the next wave of challenges, from opposing harmful federal tariff policies to strengthening consumer protections at the state level. She underscored that California has historically been, and must continue to be, a national leader in defending civil rights and economic justice.

Both Fried and Blume echoed the urgency of supporting state solutions like California’s own Community Reinvestment Act (AB 801), a bill authored by Asm. Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) that is expected to be heard on Monday, April 28.

Throughout the webinar, panelists emphasized that the stakes are not just theoretical — they are real and already impacting Californians. From growing corporate consolidation through unchecked bank mergers to weakened protections for small businesses and tenants, the risks are multiplying.

Chopra closed with a stark call to action: “It’s really the power of local organizations helping tenants, homeowners, small businesses — we need every single one of you to be more active than ever because we have some big problems on our hands…We need to make sure there is not systemic harm and predation that targets our communities; we have to make sure we are rebuilding for those whose homes and neighborhoods have been destroyed; and we need to make sure we’re putting into place real protections at the state and federal level to actually address the challenges of our time.”

As the webinar drew to a close, Rise Economy CEO Paulina Gonzalez-Brito reminded that taking action is something that communities can achieve together.

“This is a reminder to fight back; to not wallow,” Gonzalez-Brito said. “There’s a lot of power on this call; there’s a lot of power in our membership and in our communities. And that power can effectively fight back against what’s happening.”