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States Target School Cell Phone Use At least four states have banned or severely restricted the use of smart phones in schools in the current legislative biennium. Florida became the first state to do...
Compounded Weight-Loss Drugs Creating Headaches for State Regulators With popular weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy in short supply, many doctors, pharmacies and other providers have...
In their seminal book on the American health care system, legendary investigative reporters Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele offered a disturbing metaphor for the illogical nature of medical pricing...
PA Lawmakers Pass Bill Regulating PBMs The Pennsylvania legislature passed a bill ( HB 1993 ) aimed at increasing oversight of pharmacy benefit managers. If signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), the measure...
In a sign of the times, states have begun pursuing bills that require disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence. In March, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed SB 149 , making the state the first...
A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board rejected Amazon’s effort to overturn a union victory at the company’s JFK8 warehouse on Staten Island, which has impeded contract negotiations between the company and the union. The NLRB official decided there was insufficient evidence supporting the company’s claim of improprieties on the part of the union and the labor board. The company said it would appeal the regional director’s decision to the labor board in Washington, D.C. (NEW YORK TIMES)
On the first day of Michigan’s legislative session last week (Jan. 11), Democrats who control both the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years announced a bevy of bills that would significantly shift state policies. They include proposals that would reinstate the prevailing wage law repealed in 2018 and repeal the right-to-work law enacted in 2012. The bills were expected to be formally introduced on Jan. 12. (MICHIGAN ADVANCE, DETROIT NEWS)
As Missouri lawmakers returned to the Capitol last week, legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle expressed support for efforts to boost the state’s childcare workforce, including increasing childcare worker pay and possibly granting childcare facilities property tax breaks.
“We know we have a workforce problem,” said Senate President Caleb Rowden (R). “This isn’t a new problem.” (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH)
— Compiled KOREY CLARK