The pharmaceutical industry has been impacted by globalization more than most. Where there was traditionally a significant difference between the levels of healthcare and well-being between the developed and developing worlds, there has been rapid and...
With the recent burst of OFAC fines issued to businesses, sanctions represent a very real and potentially damaging area for any business trading internationally. Recent cases include the New York Branch of National Bank of Pakistan, who received...
When it comes to email triage, company newsletters often get relegated to the end of the line, even among the most highly engaged employees. And, according to Gallup poll figures , 68.5 percent of American workers are “not engaged” or “actively...
Competitive intelligence can be extremely valuable for informing strategic business decisions about your products, messaging, business expansions, customers and more. But when does competitive research slip into the more morally ambiguous areas of corporate...
Nearly every state in the country has passed a law requiring private or government entities to notify individuals about security breaches involving their personal information. And states have been toughening those laws in recent years. But cybersecurity...
As of June, at least 32 states had introduced or were considering security breach notification bills this session, many of which were aimed at toughening existing security breach laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Fourteen...
Despite facing a budget shortfall this year, Maryland doubled its income tax exemption for military retirement pay to $10,000. And a budget hole forced Connecticut to raise taxes on its most prosperous corporations, but it still managed to do away with...
The Alabama Legislature passed a handful of bills during a special session on the budget that ended last week, but none of those measures is likely to have much of an impact on the state’s deficit, projected to be at least $200 million. The House...
Every state in the nation provides some sort of public website that provides information about government spending. The “checkbook” sites allow taxpayers to see who the hundreds of billions of dollars states spend every year on government...
Kansas Retirement System Woes Moody’s Investors Service has given $1 billion in pension obligation bonds proposed by KANSAS an Aa3 rating, a notch below the state’s current overall rating. The Wall Street rating company said the bonds would...
Although their constitutionality has been upheld by federal courts, Maryland’s congressional districts - drawn in 2011 by then-Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and the Democrats who control the state’s General Assembly - are considered by some...
Florida lawmakers returned to Tallahassee last week for a 12-day special session to draw new congressional districts in accordance with a state Supreme Court ruling that found previous maps drawn by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature...
MN House Members Age Increase The median age of MINNESOTA House members has increased by seven years - from 47 to 55 - since 1995. For senators the increase is eight years, from 47 to 55 (TWIN CITIES PIONEER PRESS). KS Cracks Down on Voter Fraud...
In a radio interview last Tuesday, Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) said he will consider using the National Guard to battle a recent uptick in the use of heroin and other opiates that has led to a rash of drug overdoses in the Pine Tree State. “I...
In the wake of a string of recent prison deaths and suicides, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) has ordered a review of inmate safety policies at Last Frontier State prisons. Walker named Dean Williams, who serves as a special assistant to the governor, and...
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) spent five days at the University of Maryland hospital last week receiving 24-hour chemotherapy for treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Hogan is now halfway through his treatment regimen. He left the hospital in good...
NH Heroin Use Not Statewide Emergency NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) declined a request to declare a statewide health emergency over the state’s burgeoning heroin epidemic. The request came from Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas. Hassan said...
NC Signs HB 607 NORTH CAROLINA Gov. Pat McCrory signs HB 607, which requires a credit card reporting agency to place a security freeze on a protected consumer’s credit report upon request of the protected consumer’s authorized representative...
CT Declares Capital Punishment Unconstitutional The CONNECTICUT Supreme Court declares capital punishment to be unconstitutional, effectively barring the death penalty in that state (WASHINGTON POST). MD Use of DNA In Unsolved Crimes The MARYLAND...
NJ Signs SB 2484, SB 2377 Vetoes SB 1857 Amidst reports that student achievement is being harmed by a lack of sleep, NEW JERSEY Gov. Chris Christie (R) signs SB 2484, which directs education officials to review the impact of delaying school starting...
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs SB 165, a bill that imposes civil fines up to $40,000 against marijuana farms that damage the environment by dumping wastewater and chemicals, removing trees and killing wild animals (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
IL Signs HB 1335 ILLINOIS Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signs HB 1335, so-called “right-to-try” legislation that allows terminally ill patients to try drugs that have not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Prairie State...
CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signs SB 432, which will remove the term “alien” from the Golden State labor code as a way to describe foreign-born workers. The law goes into effect next year (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET).
OH Gay Marriage The OHIO Supreme Court's Board for Professional Conduct rules that judges who perform civil marriages may not refuse to conduct a ceremony for a gay couple, nor may they refuse to do all marriages based on personal beliefs opposing...
NORTH CAROLINA Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signs HB 553, which bars local governments from enacting their own regulations regarding the standard of care for farm animals (HIGH COUNTRY PRESS [BOONE]). -- Compiled by RICH EHISEN