The pressure is on. Every day, you’re tasked with providing business intelligence to support decision making across your organization. It’s an intimidating assignment when you consider all of the information being generated. According to a...
Are you confident that your current due-diligence process mitigates third-party compliance risk? These days, you can’t be too careful when it comes to vetting and monitoring the third parties that you rely on. Regulators around the world have indicated...
Infant formula marketing—just writing those words triggers a mental picture of ads full of cheerful, chubby-cheeked babies. Unfortunately for Mead Johnson Nutrition Company, some third-party distributors promoting the formula took a different approach...
Raising prices at the gas pump is a risky proposition in California, where cars have always been king. In fact the state is one of only a few in the nation that haven’t raised gas taxes since the early ‘90s. But that could change this year...
When voters in Denton, Texas shocked just about everyone last November by banning the controversial oil and gas extraction process hydraulic fracturing within city limits, it set up a clash between what the Texas Tribune called “two interests Texans...
At least five states have passed laws this year nullifying or preempting local ordinances, including those regulating ride-sharing, fracking and concealed-weapons permits, according to analysis by LexisNexis State Net. Local-control legislation is also...
Michigan collected twice as much in “sin taxes” from drinkers and smokers than in income taxes from businesses last year, according to an analysis of tax data by The Detroit News . Taxes on beer, wine, liquor and tobacco topped $290 million...
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a 2013 Maryland Court of Appeals ruling declaring that the state’s unusual practice of denying taxpayers a credit on the county segment of the state’s income tax wrongly exposes those who earn income out-of...
RI Taxing Big Trucks A plan in the works in RHODE ISLAND , dubbed “RhodeWorks,” aims to raise $1.1 billion for bridge repairs and road maintenance through the imposition of new highway tolls on big commercial trucks (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL...
Since a series of Supreme Court decisions in the 1960s, including Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v. Sims , the state legislative and congressional districts drawn by state legislatures or commissions after each decennial census have had to be roughly equal...
This month, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) signed legislation requiring the state to implement an online voter registration system by October 2017. The decision was somewhat of a surprise because the bill, SB 228, was sponsored by a Democrat, Sen. Jeff Clemens...
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a U.S. District judge’s ruling in 2012 upholding Montana’s limits on campaign contributions. The 9th panel ruled that the standard U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell...
CO Signs HB 1057 COLORADO Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) has signed a bill (HB 1057) requiring citizen petitions for constitutional amendments to include estimates of the proposals’ fiscal impact. Currently such estimates aren’t required until...
Calling it a “global challenge” that “requires bold action on the part of governments everywhere,” California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a new agreement last month with leaders from 11 states and countries pledging to work together...
Flanked by House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello (D) and Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed (D), Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) unveiled a $1.1 billion plan to rebuild or repair hundreds of Ocean State decaying bridges. Under the proposal, the state would...
Personal Data Breach in FL For the second time in 10 months, the administration of FLORIDA Gov. Rick Scott (R) acknowledged it inadvertently released personal data of private citizens, potentially exposing them to identity theft. State officials said...
CA Approves SB 358 The CALIFORNIA Senate approves SB 358, which would bar employers from paying female workers less than men for performing “substantially similar” job duties unless they can show evidence of reasonable differences in training...
AL Signs Prison Reform Legislation ALABAMA Gov. Robert Bentley (R) signs sweeping prison reform legislation that, among many things, adds hundreds of parole and pardons staff, reduces penalties for technical violations and authorizes the Alabama Law...
MI Approves HB 4041 The MICHIGAN Senate approves HB 4041, a bill that would end cash assistance for families where a child is considered chronically truant as determined by school district rules. The families would lose about $386 per month in cash...
TEXAS Gov. Greg Abbot (R) signs SB 709, a bill that overhauls a state law governing contested-case hearings, a process that allows the public to challenge industrial applications for permits at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), such...
TX Approves HB 21 The TEXAS House gives final approval to HB 21, so-called “right-to-try” legislation that would allow terminally ill patients who have exhausted all other treatment options to access experimental medications not yet approved...
CA Approves AB 2175 The CALIFORNIA Assembly approves AB 2175, a bill that requires so-called “crisis pregnancy centers” to provide women with information about reproductive services available elsewhere, including abortion, and to disclose...
KANSAS Gov. Sam Brownback (R) signs HB 2155, a bill that clarifies the legality of fantasy sports leagues in the Sunflower State. The measure codifies that fantasy leagues are games of skill and knowledge and not chance (LEGAL SPORTS REPORT). -- Compiled...
Spring and summer are rarely dull around the California Capitol and this year is no different. But things were hopping for real last month when lawmakers, staffers and others gathered on the East Lawn for the 41 st Annual Capitol Frog Jump Contest. An...
Speaking of critters, California First Dog Sutter, Gov. Jerry Brown’s incorrigible Welsh Pembroke Corgi, has some competition: the gov and First Lady Anne Gust Brown just got themselves a new puppy. As the Sacramento Bee reports, the announcement...