October 21, 2022

Labor Week: New Pay Transparency Requirements in NY, Another Failed Amazon Unionization Effort and More

Pay Transparency Requirements Coming to NY Starting Nov. 1, employers in New York City will have to comply with a new pay transparency law requiring the disclosure of salary ranges in job advertisements. Employers statewide may soon have to comply with pay transparency requirements as well. In June the state’s Legislature passed a bill ( SB 9427 ) that would require employers with at least four workers to include...

October 21, 2022

Finance & Insurance Week: Proposed Climate Risk Reporting Rule for P/C Insurers, FL’s Hurricane-Resistant Building Codes & More

Feds Proposing Climate Risk Reporting Requirement for P/C Insurers The U.S. Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) is proposing a new rule requiring property and casualty insurers to submit homeowners insurance underwriting data to assess climate risk. The idea wasn’t very well received from industry trade groups. “You don’t need a massive data collection to know that climate related losses...

October 21, 2022

Healthcare Roundup: Challenges of Shifting COVID Coverage to Private Sector, CVS, Walgreens Prescription Refusals & More

Experts Say Shifting COVID-19 Coverage to Private Sector Poses Challenges Transitioning coverage of COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccinations to commercial insurers poses significant challenges, according to experts gathered for a Kaiser Family Foundation webinar on the commercialization of COVID coverage last week. For one thing, vaccines, tests and treatments won’t shift to the private sector on the same...

October 21, 2022

State Lawmakers Target Travel Nurse Agencies

During the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, travel nurses made national headlines for earning double or triple what nurses employed by health systems were making. Now some states are considering legislation to regulate travel nurse and other healthcare staffing agencies, including how much they can charge for their personnel. Travel Nurses Draw Unfavorable Attention In early September 2021, when the nation was averaging...

October 03, 2022

Governors Spotlight: Animal Protection Measures, Teachers Assessments, Unemployment Fraud & More

CA Gov Signs Suite of Animal Protection Measures Among the hundreds of bills California Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed in the closing days of September ( See SNCJ Spotlight in this issue ) were a half dozen measures aimed at protecting animals, including a bill that bans toxicity testing on dogs and cats for pesticides, chemical substances and other products. That bill ( SB 879 ) exempts tests related to products intended...

October 03, 2022

Finance & Insurance Week: Big Fines for 16 Wall Street Banks, Costliness of Hurricane Ian & More

SEC, CFTC Fines for Wall Street Firms’ Record-Keeping Failures Reach $2B Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) fined 16 financial firms, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, a combined $1.8 billion for failing to prevent their staff from using personal devices and applications for business communications. From...

October 03, 2022

Labor Week: Paid Leave, Wage, Farm Labor Unionization & More

CA Gov Signs Paid Leave, Wage, Farm Labor Unionization Measures California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed measures last week that give Golden State workers greater access to paid and disability leave benefits. Newsom signed SB 951 , which extends increased wage replacement rates for state disability insurance and paid family leave that were set to sunset at the end of the year. The law will phase in the benefits over...

October 03, 2022

Healthcare Roundup: Travel Nurse Pay Cap Legislation in MI, Scrutiny of Nonprofit Hospitals’ Charitable Giving in MT & More

MI Among Several States Targeting Travel Nurse Pay Rates Michigan is one of at least 15 states considering legislation to cap pay rates for travel nurses. Michigan’s bill ( HB 6364 ), which would prohibit travel nurse agencies from charging hospitals over 25 percent more than what the agencies pay their nurses, has the support of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. “The MHA supports HB 6364 because...

October 03, 2022

California Enacts Slew of First-in-the-Nation Laws

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law during the month of September, hundreds of bills with potentially far-reaching implications. Will Workers Benefit from Statewide Fast Food Council? The first major piece of legislation Newsom signed was AB 257 , otherwise known as the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, on Labor Day. Authored by Democrat Chris Holden of Pasadena, the bill creates a 10-member...

September 16, 2022

Governor's Spotlight: Social Media Legislation, Child Care Services, Loan Forgiveness & More

CA Gov Signs First-in-the-Nation Social Media Bills California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed AB 587 , a first-in-the-nation bill that requires social media companies to publicly post their policies regarding hate speech, disinformation, harassment and extremism on their platforms. The law further requires companies to make twice-annual reports on their enforcement of those policies to the state attorney general’s...

September 16, 2022

Labor Week: Gig Worker Abuse, COVID Job Recovery & More

FTC Will Crack Down on Gig Worker Abuse The Federal Trade Commission approved a policy statement that announced its intention to protect gig workers from unfair, deceptive or anticompetitive practices. The FTC listed three primary areas of enforcement: holding companies accountable for claims to workers about potential earnings and costs borne by workers; ensuring that restrictive contract terms, including those limiting...

September 16, 2022

Tech Week: Autonomous Vehicles May Never Be Fully Autonomous, CA Lawsuit against Amazon & More

Autonomous Vehicles May Always Require Human Supervision Autonomous vehicle (AV) industry executives and experts say remote human supervisors may always be needed to help robot drivers deal with unexpected incidents or so-called “edge cases.” In addition to employing safety drivers to sit behind the wheel of their cars, many AV startups also use remote human supervisors who monitor video feeds from multiple...

September 16, 2022

Healthcare Roundup: CVS, Walgreens, Amazon Leading Shift to Home Healthcare; OTC Birth Control & More

CVS, Walgreens, Amazon Shifting Healthcare Delivery to Homes This month, CVS announced it was buying home healthcare company Signify Health for $8 billion, adding in-home care to its vertically integrated system that already includes health insurance, retail pharmacy and urgent care. Walgreens recently made a $330 million majority-stake investment in post-acute and home-care company CareCentrix. And Amazon has announced...

September 15, 2022

Will States Lead Way in Regulating DeFi?

Will States Lead Way in Regulating DeFi? Decentralized finance, or DeFi - financial services like banking, borrowing and lending but provided via blockchain technology instead of a traditional financial institution - has exploded in the past few years. That rapid growth and a steady stream of hacks and other problems have earned DeFi a reputation as the “Wild West of Cryptocurrency” and drawn the attention...

September 02, 2022

Tech Week: CA, VA Push in Opposite Directions on Gas-Powered Cars, Potential Settlement of Facebook Lawsuit & More

CA Pushes for End of Gas-Powered Cars Last month the California Air Resources Board adopted the world’s strictest rules for shifting to zero-emission vehicles. Under those rules all new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks sold in the state will have to be electric- or hydrogen-powered by 2035. The move is likely to significantly alter the U.S. auto market, with 10 percent of sales coming from California. (INSURANCE JOURNAL...

September 02, 2022

Healthcare Roundup: Amazon Pulling Plug on Amazon Care, Upcoming Changes to Medicaid Enrollment & More

Amazon Ending Major Foray into Primary Healthcare Amazon announced last week that it will be ending operation of Amazon Care at the end of the year. The online retail giant piloted the urgent care and primary care service with its employees and their families in the Seattle area in 2019 and expanded it to employees across the country and then to other companies, including Whole Foods Market and Hilton. But in an email...

September 02, 2022

Governors Spotlight: Mental Illness, Teacher Shortages, Gas Vehicle Bans & More

CA to Require Mentally Ill Homeless to Obtain Treatment California lawmakers gave their final endorsement to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) proposal to establish a new program to direct persons suffering from severe mental illnesses into treatment even if it is against their will. Newsom sponsored the Community Assistance Recovery and Empowerment Act ( SB 1338 ) and is expected to quickly sign it into law. Under...

September 01, 2022

New CA Legislation Could Impact Websites Across the Nation

New CA Legislation Could Impact Websites Across the Nation The California State Legislature last month approved sweeping legislation that has the potential to impact virtually every website you visit, regardless of which state you call home. The California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act ( AB 2273 ) headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom ’s desk on August 30 after receiving widespread, bipartisan support in the Democrat...

August 19, 2022

Governors Spotlight: Sports Betting, Mental Health, Climate Bills & More

Baker Signs MA Sports Betting, Mental Health, Climate Bills Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) has signed a number of bills into law this month, including measures that address sports wagering, clean energy, and mental health. Baker signed HB 5060 – a broad measure that, among several things, allows 10 Bay State communities to completely ban or restrict the use of natural gas and other fossil fuels in new...

August 19, 2022

Tech Week: Fed’s Crypto Guidance for Banks, WhatsApp Crackdown in Financial Industry & More

Fed Issues Crypto Guidance for Banks The U.S. Federal Reserve has issued guidance for banks thinking about getting involved with cryptocurrencies. The Fed said before doing so banks should determine whether the crypto activities being considered are legal and whether any filings are mandated by existing laws. It said banks should also have risk management controls in place to ensure such activities are carried out...

August 19, 2022

Healthcare Roundup: Major Healthcare Implications of Inflation Reduction Act, FTC Says No to State COPA Laws & More

Biden Signs Medicare Drug Pricing Changes into Law Last Tuesday President Biden signed the $700 billion climate change and health care bill passed by congressional Democrats along party lines over the preceding week. In addition to providing $375 billion over the next decade to battle climate change, the Inflation Reduction Act ( HR 5376 ) also caps out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients at $2...

August 19, 2022

California Plastics Law Likely to Have National Impact

Saying “Our kids deserve a future free of plastic waste and all its dangerous impacts,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation on June 30 th that imposes the nation’s most far-reaching regulations on single-use plastics. So far-reaching, observers believe the law is likely to have significant influence well beyond the Golden State’s borders. States Shifting Recycling Costs from...

August 05, 2022

Tech Week In Review: CA Lawmakers Weighing Social Media Protections for Kids, Amazon’s Climate Pollution Problem & More

CA Bills Would Provide Social Media Protections for Kids A pair of bills under consideration in California is aimed at protecting children from social media. AB 2273 would require all online services “likely to be accessed by a child” to minimize the collection and use of personal data of users under the age of 18. The measure, which was passed by the Assembly in May, would also require such companies...

August 05, 2022

Governors Spotlight: Abortion Rights, School Threat Assessment, Mental Health Bills & More

Murphy Signs Suite of NJ Election Bills Saying they “will make democracy more accessible, more transparent and stronger in our state,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed a package of seven bills into law last month intended to strengthen the Garden State’s elections system. The measures Murphy signed include a bill that allows for the counting of mail-in ballots prior to Election Day and another...

August 05, 2022

Healthcare Roundup: WA, U.S. Hospitals’ Financial Struggles, TN’s Opioid Lawsuit against Walgreens & More

Hospitals Struggling Financially This Year in WA, Nationwide Washington’s acute care hospitals, which provide inpatient and outpatient care in addition to nursing services, posted a 13 percent, or $929 million, aggregate net loss in the first three months of 2022, according to a study from the Washington State Hospital association. Hospital expenses were up about 11 percent over last year, while revenues rose...