Child labor may evoke Dickensian images of young children in dirty, oversized clothes laboring in dusty, dangerous workshops. But this year legislators in Florida considered a bill ( SB 918 ) that would have eliminated certain employment restrictions on 16-and...
When the genetic testing company 23andMe announced it had entered the federal bankruptcy process in March, concern quickly turned to what would happen to customers’ genetic data . The California biotech company said the bankruptcy would not change how it...
A year ago, after the passage of a couple of strong data privacy laws in Maryland and Vermont, we wondered if states were starting to get tougher on consumer privacy . Even though this issue remains of high interest to state legislators— with 39 comprehensive...
A nightmare may be coming to life for social media companies in Minnesota. There, Democrats in the state Legislature have embraced a pioneering bill, SB 3197 , which seeks to levy the nation’s first tax on social media apps. The bill would require social...
State Lawmakers Shift from PBMs to PSAOs in Fight Against High Drug Costs For a while now state legislators have targeted pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, for contributing to the high cost of prescription drugs . But recently lawmakers have set their sights...
On April 21 Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed into law a bill giving parents the right to sue social media companies for harms caused by their content. The measure, SB 612 , establishes a private right of action for parents to sue social media companies...
In 2022, there were about 22 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in the United States. That’s the highest rate of maternal deaths among high-income nations worldwide. That sobering statistic seems to have caught the attention of policymakers across...
Two years ago, California enacted first-of-its-kind legislation allowing residents to demand that data brokers delete the personal information the brokers have collected about them. Known as the California Delete Act, SB 362 , by Sen. Josh Becker (D), provided...
The days of simply setting a price for goods or services and waiting for customers to accept it are gone. Thanks to predictive pricing , businesses of all sorts can now use data analytics, machine learning and algorithms to anticipate market demand and adjust prices...
While artificial intelligence has been lauded the world over for its potentially transformative impact on, well, just about everything , state legislators across the country have been concerned about its potential for harm , especially in the workplace . New...
On January 1, North Dakota became the first state in the U.S. to cover weight-loss drugs through the Affordable Care Act. The expanded coverage is part of the state’s first update to its essential health benefit benchmark plan since the ACA was implemented...
State-level politicians across the country appear to be growing concerned about private equity investing in healthcare. Over the past two years, legislators in Illinois, Indiana, New Mexico and New York have passed laws to bring greater transparency to healthcare...
Expect a lot of activity at the state level on insurance issues in 2025, so says attorney Karen C. Yotis , content manager for insurance on the Practical Guidance team for LexisNexis®. We asked Yotis, a frequent contributor to State Net® Capitol Journal™...
These are heady days for enthusiasts of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and digital assets. President Trump has declared himself the “ crypto president ,” unleashing a surge of crypto-friendly proposals at the state and federal levels at a time...
In late September, California became one of the first states to establish some ground rules for the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law AB 3030 and SB 1120 . The first of those bills, by Sen. Josh Becker (D...