By Paul McHale Although President Obama made only brief reference to Afghanistan during Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, it now looks like the issue of “talking to the Taliban” will be a major fault line in the 2012 Presidential election. The Obama Administration has been pushing hard to ignite serious negotiations with the… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: January 2012
State Legislature Reapportionment: Colorado Case Study
Posted in 2012 Elections, Legislatures (State), Political LawBy David Fine The State of Colorado’s recently completed legislative reapportionment is a case study in a difficult political and legal process that gets relatively little attention, but is critical to representation around the country. Just as at the federal level, state reapportionment happens once per decade following the census. Often, as in Colorado, state… Continue Reading
Data Privacy Outlook for 2012
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, Legislation (Federal)By Dan Caprio The next few weeks will be very active on the data privacy front with the release of three-long awaited reports from the European Commission, the White House, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). On January 14, I spoke about these reports and what we can expect in privacy in 2012 in a keynote… Continue Reading
U.S. Mayors: Challenges and Opportunities in the Current Environment
Posted in Energy Policy, Infrastructure, Mayors, Public-Private PartnershipsBy Bandele McQueen Last week, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) convened its 80th Annual Winter Meeting in Washington, DC. The conference was said to be one of the best yet with strong participation, a stout lineup of speakers, and a dynamic leadership team that will transition from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to Philadelphia Mayor… Continue Reading
EPA Defends Controversial Power Plant Regulations
Posted in 2012 Elections, Energy Policy, Legislation (Federal)By Andrew Shaw Last week, EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy provided remarks on new Clean Air Act (CAA) rules for utilities at an ICF International breakfast. McCarthy offered a vigorous defense of EPA’s Utility MACT and Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR). Both of these rules face opposition among some in Congress and industry. Last… Continue Reading
Data Privacy Day: Thursday, January 26
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data PrivacyBy Dan Caprio In recognition of Data Privacy Day next week, the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) is sponsoring “The Intersection of Privacy & Security” at the George Washington Law School on Thursday, January 26. The event is free and open to the public and promises to be a very timely discussion with the expected release of the White House privacy position… Continue Reading
U.S. Debt Ceiling: Is Another Increase Inevitable?
Posted in Budget, Legislation (Federal), Tax PolicyBy Jim Schweiter On Thursday, January 12, the Obama Administration notified Congress that the United States is within $100 billion of reaching the federal debt ceiling, triggering a process that will result in the raising of the debt ceiling by an additional $1.2 trillion. It’s important to understand the federal debt limit and the process… Continue Reading
Health Insurance Exchanges: 2012 State-Level Picks
Posted in Health PolicyBy Frank Micciche The January edition of Inside Health Insurance Exchanges, the only national publication dedicated exclusively to the topic, includes our Exchange team’s recent projections for state-level activity in 2012. The report anticipates that more than a dozen states will actively undertake the construction of an exchange regardless of how the Supreme Court rules… Continue Reading
Save Yourself A Lot Of Pain: Double Check Your LD-203 Filing Procedures
Posted in 2012 Elections, Lobbying Compliance, Political LawBy Randy Nuckolls One of the biggest areas of noncompliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) is in the area of failure to file proper LD-203 semiannual contribution reports. Often failure to submit reports is a simple oversight. Nonetheless, such failures to report will lead to notices of noncompliance from the House and Senate or even… Continue Reading
Campaign Finance: States Propose Rule Rewrites
Posted in 2012 Elections, Government Ethics, Political LawBy David Fine The Colorado Secretary of State has proposed a significant rewrite of Colorado’s campaign finance rules. The Secretary has received public comment and my guess is that final rules will be promulgated in the near future. The rules may generate litigation and will require careful study to ensure compliance going into the 2012 elections. Once… Continue Reading
MLK Holiday: A Tribute to Congressman John Lewis
Posted in UncategorizedBy Eric Tanenblatt In honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday, we offer reflections by two former U.S. Representatives, Buddy Darden and David Skaggs, both of whom served with Congressman John Lewis.
2012 Federal Cyber Market Outlook and DHS Industry Day, January 26, 2012
Posted in CybersecurityBy Dan Caprio Cybersecurity is set to be a top federal growth market in 2012. To protect federal information systems and networks, federal agencies will dedicate more funds to cybersecurity. According to a recent study by government IT consultant Deltek, the annual market demand for cybersecurity-related products by the U.S. Government is projected to spike from USD$9.2 billion in… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Upholds Law Banning Foreign Nationals from Spending to Influence U.S. Elections
Posted in Political LawBy David Fine Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court upheld a federal law that bans foreign nationals from spending to influence U.S. elections. See Bluman v. Federal Election Commission. The Court upheld the decision of a three-judge panel without comment. Congress had strengthened the law in question in 2002 in response to contributions by foreign… Continue Reading
State Attorneys General: Key Players in 2012
Posted in 2012 Elections, Attorneys GeneralBy Thurbert Baker I expect 2012 to be an important year for Attorneys General (AG) across the U.S. and for the business community that follows AG news and trends. As the former Attorney General for the State of Georgia – a role I was privileged to have for 13 years – and former President of… Continue Reading
Governor Nathan Deal’s 2012 State of the State Address: Competitive Solutions for Georgia
Posted in GovernorsBy Rollin Downs Tonight at 7:00 pm, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal delivers his second State of the State address in the House chamber of the Georgia State Capitol, outlining his priorities to the Georgia General Assembly and the nearly ten million citizens of the State of Georgia. Watch the address LIVE here. In his first year… Continue Reading
NCSL Releases Its “Top 12” Legislative Issues for 2012
Posted in Health Policy, Legislatures (State)By Frank Micciche Earlier this month, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) released a Top 12 list of issues it believes will be front and center in the 46 states where legislative sessions will be held in 2012 (Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas do not meet in regular session during even-numbered years). While… Continue Reading
Are You in Compliance? It’s LDA Reporting Time Again
Posted in 2012 Elections, Lobbying Compliance, Political LawBy Randy Nuckolls January is a big month for filing Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) reports. Shake off those post holiday blues, get back to the gym to get in shape, and get ready to file your various reports. In January, Registrants under the Federal LDA must file quarterly reports for the 4th quarter of 2011… Continue Reading
A View from Canada: People-to-People Ties Are the Heart of Our Connection
Posted in Canada-U.S. Relations, Cross-border Investment, TradeBy Colin Robertson Did you know that with nearly 20 million ‘visitations’ in 2010, Canada was the number one source of tourists for the United States and it is reckoned that they spent well over US$15 billion dollars during their visits? Canada is significantly ahead of Mexico (13 million) and is also #1 in terms of… Continue Reading
Climate Change Round-Up
Posted in Climate, Energy PolicyBy Eric Tanenblatt Check out these latest posts on California’s Air Resources Board low carbon fuel standard and “Top 5 U.S. Climate & Energy Questions in 2012“ from our sister blog, “Climate Change Insights: A forum for critical analysis of climate law and policy.”
Health Insurance Exchanges: On the Horizon
Posted in Health Policy, Legislatures (State)By Cindy Gillespie and Frank Micciche For all you health insurance exchange watchers, we’ve put together a “Look Ahead to 2012” that gives a sense of the current landscape, the big decisions to come, and what steps, if any, each state may take toward establishing an exchange this year. Keep reading for a sample, or click… Continue Reading
2012 Health Policy Outlook: It’s All About 2013
Posted in 2012 Elections, Governors, Health Policy, Legislation (Federal), Legislatures (State)By Cindy Gillespie and Elizabeth Carpenter If we had to pick a theme for 2012, we’d pick one phrase: ”It’s all about 2013″. Presidential election years always have an enormous impact on Congressional and federal action, but the economic issues and the public’s anti-Congress and anti-Washington sentiment make this an election year where Washington is likely… Continue Reading
Energy Policy: Will 2012 See Any Progress?
Posted in Energy Policy, Legislation (Federal)By Andrew Shaw The last several years have started with promise for progress on energy policy. In 2009, a new President, who had campaigned on establishing mandatory limits on greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions, was sworn into office. In 2010, the year began with a push by a bipartisan group of Senators, including John Kerry (D-MA),… Continue Reading
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo: 2012 State of the State Address Recap
Posted in Governors, Public-Private PartnershipsBy Mike Klein and Juanita Scarlett This afternoon, Governor Andrew Cuomo delivered his second State of the State address before 2,500 attendees at a convention center near the capitol in Albany. The Governor outlined his plan to continue building a “New” New York. In his speech, the Governor mentioned the need for bipartisanship and an… Continue Reading
2012 Crystal Ball: Can This Congress Accomplish Anything Regarding the Nation’s Debt Crisis?
Posted in 2012 Elections, Budget, Legislation (Federal), Tax PolicyBy Joe Dowley Some might argue that it already has. It has put in place a budgetary “sword of Damocles” – a scheduled January 2013, 10-year “sequestration” – $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts largely to defense and other popular discretionary spending. It was passed by this Congress and its existence will dominate all other legislative activities… Continue Reading