November 12, 2021

Governors Spotlight: Criminal Justice Reform Package, Consumer Debt, Paid Leave, Grocery Tax & More

DE Gov Signs Criminal Justice Reform Package : Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) signed an eight-bill package aimed at addressing longstanding racial inequalities in the state criminal justice system. The bills are a part of the larger agenda Democrats unveiled in the aftermath of the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer in June of 2020. That officer, Derek Chauvin, was...

November 12, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: Reversal of J&J Opioid Ruling, Veto of Permanent Telehealth ‘Pay Parity’ in NJ & More

OK High Court Reverses J&J Opioid Ruling: In a 5-1 ruling, the Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s $465 million judgement against Johnson & Johnson, maintaining that the drugmaker violated the state's public nuisance law in its marketing of opioids. Such public nuisance claims are the basis for roughly 3,000 lawsuits that have been brought by state and local governments against drugmakers...

November 11, 2021

The Enduring Republican Grip on State Legislatures

Democrats lost more than a governorship in this month’s election, which cemented the party’s status as a persistent loser in state legislative elections. The headline story in Virginia was the defeat of former Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe by Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin, but Republicans also gained control of the House of Delegates, the lower house of the Virginia Legislature. With the...

November 09, 2021

The Challenges - and High Stakes - of Regulatory Compliance

STATE NET ® THOUGHT LEADERSHIP SERIES The state regulatory process can be a bewildering landscape for any organization seeking to have an inputon proposed rules that might impact its operations or merely stay in compliance with all applicable rules that are ultimately adopted. But failing to navigate that terrain effectively can be very costly. Monitoring Regulatory Activity Isn’t Easy The thousands...

October 29, 2021

Statehouse Potpourri (formerly known as Hot Issues): No Dogs Allowed, Energy Sources, Abortion Laws & More

Business The Wisconsin Senate approves SB 298 , a bill that would bar the Wolverine State from making rules against dogs entering businesses that sell pre-packaged food while still allowing pups to be banned from businesses that sell cooked food. It is now in the Assembly. The Pennsylvania House approves HB 1819 , which would, among several things, require job seekers to make a “good faith” attempt to...

October 29, 2021

Labor Week: TN, WY Lawmakers Taking Aim at Vaccine Mandates & More

TN Lawmakers Target COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: By the start of Tennessee’s special session on coronavirus legislation last week, nearly 100 bills had been filed. But the ones most likely to be passed are those sponsored by House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R), who rarely sponsor bills themselves. Measures carried by the two include those that would bar private entities from requiring...

October 29, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: TN Lawmakers Looking to Shield Doctors from Discipline for COVID-19 Misinformation & More

TN Lawmakers Move to Block State Medical Boards from Disciplining Doctors for Spreading COVID-19 Misinformation: Ahead of a special session on coronavirus legislation last week, Tennessee lawmakers prefiled a pair of bills ( HB 9020 c and HB 9028 c ) that would prevent the state Board of Medical Examiners and Board of Osteopathic Examination from disciplining doctors for their recommendations regarding COVID-19 treatment...

October 29, 2021

Governors Spotlight: Film Safety Protocols, Gubernatorial Emergency Powers, Transgender Restrictions & More

NM Gov Demands New Film Safety Protocols : In the wake of a tragic accidental shooting on the set of a movie being filmed near Santa Fe, New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said Hollywood needs to adopt strict new safety protocols to protect workers on set or the state will move to enact their own. “My full expectation is that the film and television industry will, at the conclusion of the investigation...

October 28, 2021

November Elections Eyed for Clues to 2022

A closely watched race for the Virginia governorship is going down to the wire with the election too close to call. In this year’s other governor’s election, Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy (D) leads by double digits over his Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli, a former state legislator who calls himself a “disciple of Lincoln.” Democrats also hold the early edge in the invisible election...

October 22, 2021

Labor Week: AZ, SC, UT at Risk of Losing Workplace Safety Regulation Authority, Workers’ Comp Cost Savings from Vaccine Mandate & More

OSHA Could Strip Workplace Safety Regulation Authority from AZ, SC, UT: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is poised to begin the process of revoking the authority of Arizona, South Carolina, and Utah to regulate workplace safety, due to the states’ failure to adopt certain coronavirus protection policies. The three states are among 21 that have OSHA-approved plans allowing them to regulate workplace...

October 22, 2021

Healthcare Roundup: OH Nursing Home Room Camera Bill, COVID Testing Lab Lawsuits & More

Nursing Home In-Room Camera Bill Advancing in OH: A bipartisan bill ( SB 58 ) passed unanimously by the Ohio Senate in May and now up for its third committee hearing in the state’s House would allow nursing home residents or their families to install cameras in their rooms. Ohio lawmakers have been considering the idea for almost a decade. But this year’s measure - titled Esther’s Law, after Esther...

October 22, 2021

Governors This Week: Oil Drilling Bans, Broadband Expansion, New Unemployment Rules & More

CA Regulators Move to Ban Oil Drilling Near Homes : California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposed new regulations on Thursday that would ban drilling new oil or gas wells near residential neighborhoods. Under the proposal, new wells could not be closer than 3,200 feet from homes, schools or health facilities. Existing wells within that zone would be allowed to continue, but would come under strict new controls, including...

October 21, 2021

The Rush to Influence Federal Vaccine Rules

The Biden administration is steadily working to finalize the rules for its proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate that will require at least 80 million U.S. workers to be vaccinated or test negative as a condition of employment. At the same time, a broad swath of businesses, labor unions, and conservative groups are working just as furiously to shape those rules to their own best advantage before they go into effect. As...

October 08, 2021

Hot Issues This Week: Business, Immigration & Social Policy

Business The U.S. Supreme Court rejects an appeal by trucking companies seeking to exempt drivers from a California labor law that would classify them as employees rather than independent contractors. The SCOTUS rejected without comment an appeal of a lower court ruling that said state law, not federal law, determines the employment status of about 70,000 truck owner-operators. The issue is not dead, however, as a federal...

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...