October 08, 2021

Governors This Week: Power Struggles, Electric Vehicles & More

ID Gov in Power Struggle with Lt. Gov : A simmering feud between Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R) became public last week when Little said he would rescind an executive order McGeachin issued in his absence that banned Gem State schools from imposing mask or vaccine mandates. The kerfuffle started when McGeachin, who has already announced her candidacy for governor in next year’s...

October 08, 2021

Labor Week: COVID-19 Opt-Out Measure in AR & $130M Tesla Payout for Racial Harassment

AR Lawmakers Pass COVID-19 Vaccine Opt-Out Measure: Arkansas’ General Assembly passed a bill ( HB 1977 ) requiring employers in the state to allow their workers to opt-out of getting vaccinated for COVID-19. The measure failed to draw the two-thirds majority vote in the Senate required to approve its emergency clause, which would have made the measure effective immediately. Ordinarily, that would have meant it...

October 08, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: Differing Healthcare Worker Vaccination Mandate Impacts in NY and RI, HI Nursing Shortage & More

Divergent Worker Vaccination Mandate Results in NY, RI: Healthcare workers in New York have been getting vaccinated against COVID-19 at over twice the rate of adult residents of the state as a whole, since former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers on Aug. 16. As of the day after that announcement, 76 percent of hospital workers were fully vaccinated. By Oct. 2, the day after the...

October 07, 2021

Newsom Signs Major CA Unemployment, Consumer Finance and Education Funding Reforms

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) continued addressing the mountain of bills on his desk last week, including a legislative package to overhaul the state’s struggling unemployment benefits system. Reforming the CA EDD The state Employment Development Department (EDD) has come under intense criticism throughout the pandemic for a series of high-profile mishaps that include approving over $11 billion in fraudulent...

October 01, 2021

Governors This Week: Return to Work Incentives, Pandemic Prison Funds, Emergency Paid Leave & More

NJ Gov Unveils Return to Work Incentives : In an effort to address ongoing staffing shortages across several industries, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced an incentive program that will pay currently unemployed workers $500 to return to the workforce and employers who hire them up to $10,000 in wage subsidies. To be eligible for the Return and Earn program subsidies, employers must have fewer than 100 employees...

October 01, 2021

Labor Week: Power Boost for Cal/OSHA, $5.8B Economic Development Project in KY & More

CA Boosts Cal/OSHA’s Power: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation ( SB 606 ) expanding the enforcement authority of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA). The new law, effective Jan. 1, 2022, establishes a rebuttable presumption that an employer who operates multiple worksites and is found to have safety violations at one of them has similar violations at others. The...

October 01, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: NY Hospitals Suspending Unvaccinated Workers, Panic Buttons for MO Hospital Staff & More

NY Hospitals Push Unvaccinated Workers toward Vaccination with Suspensions: Hospitals in upstate New York have started placing employees on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the state’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for healthcare workers. The tactic appears to be having an impact on at least some of the unvaccinated workers. Last Monday, Albany Medical Center suspended 204 of its over 11,000 employees...

October 01, 2021

Newsom Signs Plethora of Workforce and Housing Measures

Newsom Signs Plethora of Workforce and Housing Measures With the attempt to recall him from office thoroughly beaten back, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) got down to more normal gubernatorial activity this week by addressing many of the scores of bills awaiting his action. Some of the most notable include bills dealing with housing and homelessness, labor protections, voting, medical marijuana, policing reform and...

September 20, 2021

Labor Week: Big Fines for Vaccine Mandates in FL, Denial of Unemployment Benefits for Vaccine Mandate Violators in RI & More

FL to Begin Fining Local Governments over Vaccine Mandates: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced at a news conference last week that the state will begin enforcing a new state law enacted in May ( SB 2006 ) that bars businesses and local governments from requiring proof of vaccination for COVID-19 “to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the governmental entity’s operations in this state.”...

September 20, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: Pandemic Downside of Hospital Cost-Saving Success, Biden Vaccine Mandate Concern & More

Cost Cutting has Made Hospitals More Vulnerable to Pandemic: Hawaii has one of the lowest hospital bed per capita rates in the nation, at 1.9 beds for every 1,000 people. The state is now out of intensive care beds, with half of the 223 total statewide occupied by COVID-19 patients. And Gov. David Ige (D) has just signed an executive order providing hospital administrators immunity from liability for rationing care...

September 20, 2021

Governors This Week: Changing Recall Rules, Social Media Censorship, Vaccine Requirements & More

CA Dems Will Explore Changing Recall Rules : California voters emphatically rejected a Republican-led effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), and now Dems are looking to revise what they call a “flawed recall system.” That system offers voters a basic two-part question: should the governor be recalled, and if so then who should be the replacement? It is the second part of the question that most irks...

September 10, 2021

Hot Issues This Week: Secret Settlements, Curbside Alcohol, Kinetic Energy Projectiles, and More

Business New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signs AB 3350 , which makes Empire State contractors on construction projects jointly liable for wages owed to employees of their subcontractors. The law further allows contractors to demand payroll information from subcontractors and withhold payment to those entities if the information is not provided. The California Senate gives final approval to SB 9 , a bill that would...

September 10, 2021

Governors This Week: New Abortion Restrictions, New Prisons, Redistricting, and More

Noem Orders SD Abortion Restrictions : South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R)issued an executive order imposing significant restrictions on abortion in the Coyote State. Under Executive order 2021-12 , doctors not licensed in South Dakota are barred from prescribing abortion-inducing chemicals or delivering those products via courier, telemedicine or mail service. Abortion-inducing drugs are also barred from being dispensed...

September 10, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: Federal Funding for Health Staffing, Nurse Pay Hikes, Booster Shots, and More

WY Gov Allocates Federal Funds for Health Staffing : Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) announced he is allocating $30 million in federal funds to provide bolster heath care staffing across the state. The first $20 million will be utilized by facilities on a discretionary basis to stabilize staffing levels, with the remaining $10 million allocated for private hospitals and long-term care facilities for traveling medical staff...

September 07, 2021

Hot Issues This Week: NCAA Athletic Endorsements, Anti-Hazing Policies, Texas Abortion Law and More

Business California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signs AB 1480 , which expands a state law barring employers from using criminal detentions that did not result in a conviction as a factor in employment to include those already employed as nonsworn members of a criminal justice agency. Education California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signs SB 26 , which moved the effective date of the state’s groundbreaking name, image...

September 07, 2021

Governors This Week: Legal Weed Process, Governor Recalls, Voting Restrictions, and More

Hochul Kickstarts NY Legal Weed Process : After months of delay by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), the New York Senate acted quickly to confirm Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) two appointments to head the agencies that will oversee the Empire State’s legal marijuana cultivation, distribution, and sales program. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed the program into law back in March, but then never moved further to...

September 07, 2021

Insurance Week: Copay Waivers, Hurricane Ida, COVID-19 Liability Claims and More

Majority of Insurers No Longer Waiving Copays for COVID-19 Hospitalization: Seventy-two percent of the two largest insurers in each state are no longer waiving cost-sharing requirements for COVID-19 hospitalizations as they were early in the pandemic, according to analysis by the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation . Another 10 percent of insurers will phase out their waivers by the end of...

September 07, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: Roadblock for Telemedicine, Nursing Home Staff Training Waivers in IA, CO Vaccine Mandate & More

Rollback of Out-of-State Medical Practice Restrictions Creating Roadblock for Telemedicine: During the darkest days of the pandemic, many states temporarily waived rules requiring licensed healthcare practitioners to hold a valid license where they treat patients. But states have been rolling back those waivers, which is increasing barriers for telehealth. For instance, Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore recently...

August 20, 2021

Hot Issues This Week: Business, Immigration and More

Business Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signs SB 817 , a bill that bans discrimination in schools based on hairstyles historically associated with race, ethnicity, or hair texture braids, locks and twists. Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) signs HB 5105b , which extends the pandemic-induced law that allows restaurants to sell limited amounts of liquor with take-out food orders through March 1, 2022. Rhode Island...

August 20, 2021

Governors This Week: NDA Reform, Eviction Moratoriums, Recall Election and More

IL Gov Okays NDA Reforms : Illinois Gov. Pritzker signed legislation earlier this month that makes significant changes in Prairie State law governing the use of non-disclosure and non-compete agreements between businesses and workers. Under SB 672 , employers will be prohibited from entering into non-competition agreements with employees who earn $75,000 per year or less and non-compete agreements with employees who...

August 20, 2021

Tech Week In Review: The War on Cybercrime, Self-Driving Vehicles, Anti-Trust, Metaverse and More

Signs of Progress on Combatting Cybercrime Although cybercrime isn’t going away any time soon, there appears to be some headway being made on combatting it. “We are seeing a new level of collaboration between the public and private sectors,” Christian Hoffman, Aon’s Cyber Solutions chief executive officer of North America, wrote in a new report. Hoffman attributed some of that recent progress...

August 20, 2021

Health Care Roundup: Long-Term Healthcare Costs of COVID-19, Medical Worker Vaccination Mandates Backlash & More

COVID-19 to Drive Healthcare Costs Higher Long-Term: The health implications of COVID-19 are likely to inflate healthcare costs and insurance premiums for decades, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. The ongoing treatment of chronic conditions associated with COVID-19, as well as diagnostic testing and treatment for other illnesses that was deferred during the pandemic, will require providers to expand outpatient...

August 13, 2021

Health Care Roundup: Nursing Home COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates, Anti-Vax Anti-Protest Bill & More

Nursing Home Staffing Worries Hinder COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates in KY: In late July and early August, the Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities & Kentucky Center for Assisted Living conducted a survey of 283 skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities, and personal care homes, asking if they would support a COVID-19 vaccination mandate if all other providers did the same. Of the 103 facility...

August 13, 2021

Governors this Week: A Less Toxic NY Gov’s Office, FL, and TX Mask Mandates, OR HS Grad Requirements, WI Cyberinsurance

Hochul Vows Less ‘Toxic’ NY Gov’s Office: New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said she is “fully prepared” to take over for the current Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) who announced he will step down on August 24 th . “I want people to know that I’m ready for this,” she told reporters in her first press conference since Cuomo’s announcement . “It’s not something...

August 13, 2021

Labor Week: Religious Considerations with Vaccine Mandates, Fight over Correctional Officer Vaccine Mandates in CA, AR Vaccination Privacy Bill & More

Vaccine Mandates Force Employers to Ponder Religion: The surge in COVID-19 cases across the United States largely due to the Delta variant has prompted a growing number of major companies, including Google parent Alphabet, Tyson Foods and Walmart, to implement vaccination mandates. Those requirements are obliging the companies to grapple with the sensitive issue of their employees’ religious beliefs. According...