“The White House has released a report on big data and the future of privacy. The report “Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values” makes several recommendations to the President: “(1) advance the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights; (2) pass national data breach legislation; (3) extend privacy protections to non-U.S. persons; (4) ensure data collected on students in schools is… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Category Archives: Legislation
Report Highlights Status of Independent Foreclosure Review Payment Agreement
News Release, April 30, 2014: “The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today released a status report on Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) Payment Agreements that required the large mortgage servicers to provide $3.9 billion in payments to 4.4 million eligible borrowers and $6.1 billion in other loss mitigation and foreclosure prevention assistance. Because servicers… Continue Reading
House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee Mark Released
“The House Armed Services Committee today released legislative language scheduled to be considered by the Subcommittee on Readiness at their markup tomorrow. By releasing the legislative language ahead of the mark, Chairman McKeon is complying with House disclosure rules and overseeing the most transparent process in Congress for composing national security legislation. Read the Readiness Subcommittee Mark.… Continue Reading
CRS – Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force
Declarations of War and Authorizations for the Use of Military Force: Historical Background and Legal Implications. Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney. Matthew C. Weed, Analyst in Foreign Policy Legislation. April 18, 2014 “From the Washington Administration to the present, Congress and the President have enacted 11 separate formal declarations of war against foreign nations in five different wars. Each declaration… Continue Reading
Estimates of illegal and unreported fish in seafood imports to the USA
“Illegal and unreported catches represented 20–32% by weight of wild-caught seafood imported to the USA in 2011, as determined from robust estimates, including uncertainty, of illegal and unreported fishing activities in the source countries. These illegal imports are valued at between $1.3 and $2.1 billion, out of a total of $16.5 billion for the 2.3… Continue Reading
First-ever public domain database for submitting emails to members of Congress launched
“EFF and Sunlight Foundation published an open call for help testing a tool and populating an open data format that would make it easier for everyday people to contact members of Congress. We already had a prototype, but we needed volunteers to conduct tests on each and every Congressional website. We expected the project would take about two… Continue Reading
2010-2014 Cetacean Unusual Mortality Event in Northern Gulf of Mexico
NOAA news release: “Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (as amended), an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) has been declared for dolphins and whales (cetaceans) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Texas/ Louisiana border through Franklin County, FL) from February 2010 through the present.These numbers are preliminary and may be subject to change. As of April 13, 2014, the UME involves… Continue Reading
Updated Estimates of Effects of Insurance Coverage Provisions of Affordable Care Act
“CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have updated their estimates of the budgetary effects of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that relate to health insurance coverage. The new estimates, which are included in CBO’s latest baseline projections, reflect CBO’s most recent economic forecast, account for administrative actions… Continue Reading
Investigative Report Highlights Google as Washington Lobbying Powerhouse
Tom Hamburger, Matea Gold, Washington Post: “…Google — once a lobbying weakling — has come to master a new method of operating in modern-day Washington, where spending on traditional lobbying is rivaled by other, less visible forms of influence. That system includes financing sympathetic research at universities and think tanks, investing in nonprofit advocacy groups across the political… Continue Reading
Policy Center: New Recommendations to Streamline U.S. Financial Regulatory Structure
“The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) today published a new report through its Regulatory Architecture Task Force with recommendations to make better sense of the fragmented U.S. financial regulatory system. The report is authored by the task force’s co-chairs Richard H. Neiman, former New York State Superintendent of Banks and member of the congressional Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) oversight panel; and Mark Olson, former… Continue Reading
Big Step for Public Access to Legislation
Via Daniel Schuman at CREW – “Earlier today, the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee made a major move towards improving public access to legislative information. In layman’s terms, the committee said that by the beginning of the next Congress information about the disposition of bills—where they are in the legislative process and who authored or… Continue Reading
Affordable Healthcare Act
Healthcare.gov – “You can read the Affordable Care Act by visiting the links below. The health care law, sometimes known as “Obamacare,” was signed March 23, 2010. Read the full law: The law has 2 parts: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. You can view them in PDF… Continue Reading
