April 21, 2023

Delay of SCOTUS Ruling on Abortion Pill Limits, Extension of Pharmacists’ Pandemic Vaccination Authority & More

No SCOTUS Ruling on Abortion Pill—Yet Access to the abortion pill mifepristone remained in place after the Supreme Court delayed issuing a decision on whether to restrict access to the drug after a federal judge in Texas ordered a hold on FDA approval of the abortion medication. The brief order from Justice Samuel Alito indicated the high court’s decision could come by 11:59pm EDT Friday (April 21). As the...

April 21, 2023

AI Decision-Making Poses Unique Challenge for State Legislators, Regulators

Artificial intelligence is having a moment. As we recently reported , ChatGPT has been grabbing headlines for a while now for its astonishingly human-like writing ability. And just last month, Siqi Chen , chief executive of a San Francisco startup called Runway , predicted that AI would have a greater impact on society than the internet or even electricity. So did Bill Gates . Yet, for all the talk about the power...

April 07, 2023

Two More States Eyeing E-Commerce Delivery Taxes, FL’s ‘Digital Bill of Rights’ Legislation & More

MN, NY Follow CO’s Lead on Taxing E-Commerce Deliveries In 2021 Colorado passed a transportation funding bill ( SB 260 ) that included a 27-cent charge on food and goods deliveries from companies like Amazon and DoorDash. This year the Minnesota House is considering a transportation budget bill ( HB 580 ) that includes a 75-cent fee on such deliveries. And New York Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D) has proposed a measure...

April 07, 2023

Stockpiling of Abortion Pills in WA, Targeting of LGBTQ Healthcare Access in Red States & More

WA Stockpiling Abortion Drug as ‘Insurance Policy’ Against Potential Court Ruling Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said he ordered the state’s Department of Corrections to purchase 30,000 doses of the abortion pill mifepristone last month, and UW Medicine has bought 10,000 doses as well, giving the state about a four-year supply of the drug. The governor said the move was “an insurance policy”...

April 06, 2023

States Seeking to Regulate Health Insurers’ Cost-Cutting Practices

Spurred by health insurance companies’ increasing efforts to save money by dictating how providers deliver care, state lawmakers across the country have begun introducing legislation aimed at regulating the use of “utilization management policies.” Insurers Embrace Prior Authorization and ‘White Bagging’ While a mouthful to say, utilization management policies are simply insurance company...

March 24, 2023

MI’s Impending Repeal of Right-to-Work, UT’s Prohibition on Employer Use of Vaccination Status & More

MI to Repeal Right-to-Work Law Michigan is poised to become the first state in almost 60 years to repeal a right-to-work law, after the state’s Democrat-led Legislature approved a bill ( HB 4005 ) along party lines last week that would repeal the 2012 Republican-backed law barring unions in the state from requiring membership as a condition of employment. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said she planned to sign the...

March 24, 2023

Health Insurance Reform Bills Vetoed in MS, Prescription Drug Reform Bill Line-Item Vetoed in WY & More

MS Gov Nixes Health Insurance Reform Bills Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) vetoed two health insurance reform measures that were passed by the Legislature with bipartisan support. One of the bills ( SB 2622 ) would have accelerated the prior authorization process, which health insurers use to let providers know whether an insured’s policy covers a particular drug or procedure. Reeves cited errors in the wording...

March 24, 2023

ChatGPT Draws State Lawmakers’ Attention to AI

ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence-driven computer program designed to facilitate interaction between users and their digital devices, has drawn a great deal of public attention since being introduced last year. Some state lawmakers are taking notice too and calling for more regulation of AI. ChatGPT Puts AI in Spotlight Artificial intelligence has been around for over half a century. A summer workshop at Dartmouth...

March 10, 2023

MT’s Sweeping TikTok Ban Bill, Biden Administration’s Plan to Hold Software, Device Makers Liable for Hacks & More

MT Senate Passes Sweeping TikTok Ban The Montana Senate approved a TikTok ban ( SB 419 ) that goes much further than the executive actions of several Republican governors prohibiting the use of the Chinese-owned video-sharing app on state-issued devices. The bill would prohibit the use of the app and downloads of the app from app stores within the state’s borders. Violations would be punishable by a fine of up...

March 10, 2023

Walgreens Caught in Political Battle over Abortion Pills; IA, TX Targeting Online Abortion Information & More

Walgreens Caught in Red-State, Blue-State Battle over Abortion Pills California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said last week that his state was cutting ties with Walgreens, including a $54 million contract to provide medications to inmates of the state’s correctional system which was scheduled for renewal on May 1. The governor’s pronouncement came in response to the retail pharmacy chain’s decision not...

March 09, 2023

Top Compliance Issues for Insurance, Financial Sectors in 2023

At the start of the year, we took a look at some of the legislative issues we believed would get the most attention from state lawmakers in 2023 within the realms of health, insurance/finance, labor and technology . This week, with the guidance of attorneys Celeste Mitchell-Byars and Karen C. Yotis of the LexisNexis Practical Guidance and Analytical Team , we’re delving into the compliance side of one of those spheres...

February 27, 2023

GOP AGs’ Effort to Block ESG Investment Rule, Another Round of Insurance Industry Reforms Pitched in FL & More

25 GOP AGs Seek to Block Federal ESG Investment Rule The Republican attorneys general of 25 states have asked a federal court in Texas to block implementation of a regulation from the U.S. Department of Labor governing the consideration of issues like climate change and social justice in investment decisions made by managers of retirement plans. The AGs claim that by permitting fiduciaries to take “nonfinancial...

February 27, 2023

CA Lawmakers Take Aim at Crypto Industry Again; IL, WA Lawmakers Weigh Protections for Vloggers’ Kids & More

CA Lawmakers Trying Again to Regulate Crypto Industry California lawmakers are considering legislation ( AB 39 ) that would require digital asset companies to be licensed by the state and also impose new disclosure requirements on them intended to protect consumers. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a crypto licensing bill ( AB 2269 ) that was overwhelmingly approved by state lawmakers last year, saying “a more flexible...

February 27, 2023

Seattle Bans Caste Discrimination, NY Lifts Statute of Limitations for Sexual Assault Claims & More

Seattle Becomes First U.S. City to Ban Caste Discrimination Seattle’s City Council passed an ordinance ( CB 120511 ) prohibiting discrimination in various arenas, including employment and housing, based on caste, which it defines as “a system of rigid social stratification characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social barriers sanctioned by custom, law, or religion.” Some colleges have banned...

February 27, 2023

Amazon’s $3.9B One Medical Deal, NJ’s Crackdown on Nursing Home Medicaid Application Assistors & More

Amazon Closes $3.9B One Medical Deal Amazon announced last week that it had closed its $3.9 billion deal to buy One Medical, furthering its efforts to expand its growing medical services business. The tech giant’s announcement came the day after The Wall Street Journal reported the FTC wouldn’t sue in time to block the merger but would continue investigating it. (FIERCE HEALTHCARE, WALL STREET JOURNAL) ...

February 25, 2023

States Following California’s Lead on Children’s Data Privacy

Once again, the California Legislature is proving to be a pioneer in lawmaking, as several states across the country, including Maryland and New Mexico, are looking to follow the Golden State’s lead and pursue comprehensive legislation to protect the digital privacy of youths. California Passes First-in-the-Nation Law In September California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law AB 2273 , otherwise known as...

February 17, 2023

Proposed Family Leave Plan in WI, Maternity Leave Bill in AR, MD’s Proposed Four-Day Workweek Experiment & More

WI Gov’s Proposed Budget Includes Family Leave Plan One of the most significant provisions in Gov. Tony Evers’ (D) proposed 2023-25 budget is a new family and medical leave program. Under that program both public and private employees who already qualify for the federal Family and Medical Leave program would be eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. The program, which would take effect...

February 17, 2023

Wave of Bills Aimed at Protecting Teens from Social Media, Proposed Data Privacy Protections in VT & More

FL, Other States Seek to Protect Teens from Social Media A bill ( HB 591 ) introduced in Florida this month would require social media companies to disclose to users that that they employ “addictive design features” like auto play and infinite scrolling. The bill is part of a growing bipartisan wave of legislation aimed at protecting teenage users from the potential harms that could come to them from using...

February 17, 2023

CA’s Proposed $25 Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers, Hospitals’ New ER Staffing Strategy & More

CA to Consider $25 Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers A bill introduced last week in California ( SB 525 ) would establish a statewide $25 minimum wage for healthcare workers and support staff. The bill would require healthcare facilities and home health agencies to increase the pay of many support employees, from nurse technicians to housekeepers, many of whom currently earn close to the state’s existing $15...

February 16, 2023

States Continue to Roll Back Vaccine Requirements

While the pandemic is slowly fading from the headlines, vaccine legislation continues to be a priority for lawmakers in many states. The flood of proposals and shifting mandates are posing challenges for government affairs and compliance professionals alike and creating a patchwork of requirements for employers operating in multiple states to navigate. Year Begins with Flurry of Vaccine Legislation Just a little more...

January 27, 2023

States Taking Lead on Regulating Data Privacy

With so much of our world online, data privacy has become a major concern for American policymakers. But in the absence of comprehensive federal legislation addressing data privacy, states are leading the way—creating compliance headaches for businesses. No U.S. Data Privacy Law — Yet In 2016, the European Union approved the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR, which established guidelines for collecting...

January 27, 2023

State Lawmakers Target Vaccine Makers and Mandates, Abortion Pill Lawsuits in NC and WV & More

Flurry of Bills Targeting Vaccine Makers and Mandates: Already this year lawmakers in 18 states have introduced over 80 measures dealing with vaccine policy, according to Dorit Reiss, a professor at the University of California Hastings College of Law. Most of the legislation was introduced by conservative lawmakers and is targeted at those who make or mandate vaccines. Measures introduced in at least 10 states would...

January 27, 2023

Congressman’s Apt Call for AI Regulation, Google Ad Tech Lawsuit & More

U.S. Rep Introduces Unique Measure Calling for Regulation of AI U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) introduced a resolution last week calling on Congress to establish a nonpartisan commission to make recommendations about how to regulate artificial intelligence. What made the bill unusual was that it was written entirely by the online AI chatbot ChatGPT, which has been drawing a lot of attention lately. Lieu gave the chatbot...

January 27, 2023

CA Fast-Food Worker Law on Hold, Paid Leave Coming to IL & More

CA’s New Fast-Food Industry Law on Hold Implementation of a landmark law passed last year in California ( AB 257 ) aimed at improving working conditions for fast-food employees and potentially increasing their minimum wage up to $22 per hour has been put on hold, pending the outcome of a referendum on the law next year. California’s secretary of state announced last week that opponents of the law, including...

January 13, 2023

Hospitals’ Problematic Use of Volunteer Staff, MT Lawmakers’ Full Health Agenda & More

U.S. Hospital Use of Volunteers May Violate Federal Rules: Volunteer workers have become an integral part of the labor force at hospitals across the country. According to analysis of federal and other data by Kaiser Health News, hospitals may use over $5 billion worth of free volunteer labor each year. Some labor experts say using volunteers puts hospitals, especially for-profit ones, at risk of violating federal...