By Cindy Gillespie Each week, our Health Policy team recaps recent health care developments in two reports, Weekly Health Care Wrap-Up and Health Insurance Exchanges: State of the States. Weekly Health Care Wrap-Up. Click here for our weekly look at regulatory developments affecting health care at the federal and state level. In this week’s edition, we focus… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: February 2012
Governors Update: Judging Performance
Posted in GovernorsBy Rollin Downs In 2010, 37 states had gubernatorial elections with 26 of those resulting in newly elected governorships. Governing Magazine, which provides intelligence and analysis on management, policy, and politics to help guide and inspire innovative leaders across state and local government, recently published four installments focused on the 26 newly elected governors. They… Continue Reading
Campaign Finance Update: Court Defines “Express Advocacy”
Posted in Government Ethics, Political LawBy David Fine On Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a major campaign finance opinion in Colorado Ethics Watch v. Senate Majority Fund, LLC. The Court held that “express advocacy” for purposes of Colorado campaign finance law, covers only those communications that explicitly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate in an upcoming… Continue Reading
EU Releases New Data Protection Regulations: Who Will it Affect?
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data PrivacyBy Dan Caprio The European Commission recently published a proposal for the Data Protection Reform Package, including proposals for the new Data Protection Regulation and Police and Criminal Justice Data Protection Directive. In addition to leading to a uniform and coherent data protection law applicable in all EU Member States, the new regulation will also introduce… Continue Reading
Weekly Health Policy Update: FY13 Budget, SGR Formula, and ACA-compliant Exchanges
Posted in Health PolicyBy Cindy Gillespie Each week, our Health Policy team recaps the most recent health care developments in two reports, Weekly Health Care Wrap-Up and Health Insurance Exchanges: State of the States. Weekly Health Care Wrap-Up. Click here for our weekly look at regulatory developments affecting health care at the federal and state level. In this week’s edition,… Continue Reading
Will LNG Exports be the Next Divisive Energy Issue?
Posted in Energy Policy, Legislation (Federal)By Andrew Shaw In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, a piece of legislation intended to streamline the process from approving applications for LNG import terminals. The legislation provided the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) with exclusive authority to approve the construction, expansion, or operation of an LNG terminal. At the time,… Continue Reading
FY 2012 Requests for TIFIA Loans Outpace Amount Available 12-to-1
Posted in Budget, TransportationBy Mike Wojnar The TIFIA Joint Program Office at the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has announced that 26 potential applicants have submitted letters of interest requesting more than $13 billion in TIFIA loans for Fiscal Year 2012. With around $120 million available for TIFIA subsidies, USDOT can theoretically support about $1 billion in TIFIA loans. While this… Continue Reading
The Stock Act: Congress Acts Against ‘Insider Political Trading’…on Capitol Hill
Posted in Government Ethics, Political LawBy Stefan Passantino Proponents of ethics reform and increased political transparency in Washington don’t often see reform proposals pass through Congress by overwhelming margins, and rarely does anyone bemoan an excess of “political intelligence” in Washington. But with Congressional passage of the so-called ‘STOCK Act’ last week, that is exactly what happened. The impetus to act… Continue Reading
New Revenues Make Up Half of Obama Budget Savings
Posted in Budget, Tax PolicyBy Joe Dowley Although key details have yet to emerge on corporate tax proposals, the President’s just-released budget calls for half of its $3 trillion in cuts over ten years to come from revenues. Nearly two-thirds of this $1.5 trillion would come as a result of permitting the Bush-era (2001 and 2003) tax cuts for families… Continue Reading
Congress Sends FAA Authorization to President
Posted in Legislation (Federal), TransportationBy Michael Wojnar 1,590 Days and 23 Extensions… No, it’s not a song title from a hit Broadway show; rather, it’s the length of time and effort it took lawmakers on Capitol Hill to complete their work on a long-term extension of the nation’s aviation programs. The House passed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conference report last… Continue Reading
Gifts to Government Officials: If in Doubt, Seek an Advisory Opinion
Posted in Government EthicsBy David Fine The Colorado Constitution contains a strict ban on gifts to government officials. A matter recently decided by the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) illustrates why government officials in Colorado should seek an advisory opinion from the Commission before engaging in conduct that might violate the state’s constitutional provisions regulating interactions between government… Continue Reading
President Obama Unveils New Small Business “Start-up” Proposals
Posted in Budget, Legislation (Federal), Tax PolicyBy Joe Dowley The Administration unveiled new proposals yesterday aimed at encouraging small business “start-ups” that build upon earlier-passed temporary tax breaks. The proposals are an effort to reach out to the part of the business sector which is responsible for “most new jobs” in the economy, according to a White House press release. The… Continue Reading
The New NAFTA
Posted in Canada-U.S. Relations, Cross-border Investment, National Security & Defense, TradeBy Scotty Greenwood Those who follow trade policy are well aware of the example set by Canada, the United States, and Mexico over 20 years ago to facilitate commerce on our continent. More recently, Canada and the U.S. have been looking for ways to dust off and improve the commerce between the northern part of… Continue Reading