EveryLibrary Institute: “In 2023-2024, we anticipate that many legislators whose bills failed the last session will reintroduce language in this session and anti-access activists will be inspired to sponsor their own regressive initiatives. The EverLibrary Institute is releasing a new Policy Brief “Opposing Attempts to Criminalize Libraries and Education Through State Obscenity Laws” to help… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legislation
Visualizing Congressional Productivity
Center for Data Innovation: The Economist has created a visualization tracking productivity in the U.S. Congress. The visualization shows the number of major bills passed in every session of Congress from 1947 to 2023 as well as the party that held control over the House, Senate, and presidency during each session. In the visualization, bills… Continue Reading
How Policymakers Can Thwart the Rise of Fake Reviews
Center for Data Innovation: As businesses compete for customers in the digital economy, some use deceptive tactics to manipulate consumer reviews about their goods or services, or those of their competitors, including by posting fake reviews. These fake reviews can damage honest companies’ reputation and deceive consumers into purchasing goods or services of substandard quality.… Continue Reading
Emergency measures needed to rescue Great Salt Lake from ongoing collapse
BYU Report – Great Salt Lake is facing unprecedented danger. “Without a dramatic increase in water flow to the lake in 2023 and 2024, its disappearance could cause immense damage to Utah’s public health, environment, and economy. This briefing provides background and recommends emergency measures. The choices we make over the next few months will… Continue Reading
The History of the House – McCarthy loses speaker bid in third vote
Update, January 7, 2022 – McCarthy elected House speaker after historic battle with GOP rebels “The House has a webpage devoted to its history titled History, Art & Archives. “This site is a collaborative project between the Office of the Historian and the Clerk of the House’s Office of Art and Archives. Together, the offices… Continue Reading
How much money will you get with the Inflation Reduction Act?
This savings calculator from Rewiring of America [in English and Spanish] allows homeowners to calculate how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will permit them to save thousands of dollars on the upfront costs of electric machines (how we power our cars, heat our air and water, cook our food, dry our clothes and get our… Continue Reading
Subpoenaed Fossil Fuel Documents Reveal an Industry Stuck in the Past
The Intercept: “…As part of its investigation into climate disinformation, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed documents in November 2021 from four of the world’s largest oil companies; their U.S. trade association, the American Petroleum Institute; and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The chamber did not comply with the subpoena, but the rest submitted a variety… Continue Reading
New Biden administration guidance closes ‘ghost guns’ loophole in federal rule
Yahoo News: “The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) issued an open letter to federal firearms dealers on Tuesday saying a rule that went into effect in August applies to certain partially completed pistol frames and parts kits, subjecting them to regulation. The August rule from the Department of Justice subjected gun kits to regulation and provided… Continue Reading
Disability as Metaphor in American Law
Dorfman, Doron, Disability as Metaphor in American Law (April 26, 2022). 170 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1757 (2022), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4094398 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4094398 In recent decades, the term disability has become associated with the legally protected minority group of people living with impairments and the social oppression directed at this group. Yet in… Continue Reading
Bipartisan bill awards Congressional Gold Medal to last living Nuremberg prosecutor
JNS: “U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) on Thursday were joined by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in announcing their bipartisan bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Ferencz, the last living Nuremberg trials prosecutor. Over the course of his life, Ferencz has advocated… Continue Reading
No free PACER as U.S. lawmakers exclude proposal from spending bill
Reuters: “U.S. lawmakers have left a proposal to make the federal judiciary’s PACER online court records system free out of a sprawling, $1.66 trillion spending measure unveiled on Tuesday, a setback for advocates as the current Congress nears its end. Supporters of the Open Courts Act had been pushing to get the stalled, bipartisan legislation… Continue Reading
New Senate Appropriations Bill Includes Reform to Electoral Count Act
$75 Million for Election Security: Brennan Center Reacts – “The Senate just released an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2023. It includes the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act and $75 million in funding for election security and infrastructure. Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, had the following reaction:… Continue Reading
