Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Category Archives: Legislation

Tracking Federal Awards: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources

Tracking Federal Awards: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources Updated July 30, 2021 – “USAspending.gov, available at https://www.USAspending.gov, is a government source for data on federal awards by state, congressional district (CD), county, city, and zip code. The awards data in USAspending.gov are provided byfederal agencies and represent contracts, grants, loans, and other forms of financial assistance.… Continue Reading

LC Upcoming US Law Webinars – August 2021

In Custodia Legis: [In August 2021], the Law Library of Congress will present a webinar on federal statutes. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the legislative process and how to trace federal statutes from their publication in the U.S. Code to their origins as bills. Participants will also learn about the difference between… Continue Reading

New Browse, Updated Bill Alerts, and More: Congress.gov New, Tip, and Top for July 2021

In Custodia Legis: “Earlier this month, Margaret shared the exciting news that we added bills and resolutions from 1799-1873 to Congress.gov. There was also a press release to highlight this new feature of content from Century of Lawmaking. We previously added Key Word in Context (KWIC) to Legislative Text on the Quick Search Form. With… Continue Reading

Senate Bill Aims to Create National Database of Restrictive Property Covenants

WSJ (paywall – see alternative full text): “A new bill backed by a slate of Senate Democrats would allocate competitive grants to colleges and universities to analyze, digitize and map historic housing discrimination records, creating the first national database of its kind. The focus of the effort is to research covenants attached to housing deeds,… Continue Reading

LSC Eviction Laws Database

Legal Services Corporation – “An online tool that allows users to explore the entire legal process of eviction – from pre-filing to post-judgment – in communities across the country. As directed by Congress, a key component of Legal Services Corporation’s (LSC) Effect of State & Local Laws on Evictions Study is to better understand the… Continue Reading

House Bill Would Create Long-Awaited Software and Data Roles at Federal Agencies

NextGov: “The federal government would finally be able to hire specifically for “software development,” “software engineering,” “data management,” and “knowledge management” positions under new legislation before the House. Over multiple administrations, the federal government has tried to get better at hiring and retaining tech-savvy employees but continues to meet challenges, including the lack of specific… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 18, 2021

Via LLRX – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish… Continue Reading

SCOTUS Interpretation of CFAA A Win for Collecting Data With Web Scraping

Center for Data Innovation: “Web scraping—the use of automated tools to extract data from websites—helps businesses, researchers, and others quickly and efficiently gather publicly available information from the Internet, such as consumer product reviews or social media posts, that would otherwise require significant labor to collect. Unfortunately, uncertainty about the legality of scraping under the… Continue Reading

A Low Carbon Fuel Standard: In Brief

CRS: A Low Carbon Fuel Standard: In Brief July 7, 2021: “One policy option Congress may examine is a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS). An LCFS is a policy that requires transportation fuels to meet a certain energy-related GHG target (e.g., a specific carbon intensity) within a specified jurisdiction and time frame. Some states have… Continue Reading

Library of Congress Adds ‘A Century of Lawmaking’ to Congress.gov

Update Increases Accessibility, Readability of Bills and Resolutions Dating from 1799 – “The Library of Congress announced today that U.S. congressional records dating back to the days of printing presses and the telegraph are now easily accessible on mobile devices. With this latest update of Congress.gov — the official website for U.S. federal legislative information… Continue Reading

Domestic Terrorism: Overview of Federal Criminal Law and Constitutional Issues

CRS Report – Domestic Terrorism: Overview of Federal Criminal Law and Constitutional Issues, July 2, 2021: “Federal statute defines domestic terrorism to include dangerous criminal acts intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence or affect government policy or conduct within the jurisdiction of the United States. Despite the federal statutory definition,… Continue Reading

Join NYT Today for Netting Zero Virtual Event Series on Climate Change

“Each episode of Netting Zero brings together New York Times journalists with climate experts from business, policy, government, and civil society. Join us on July 1 to discuss our built environment – The New York Times  Thursday, July 11:30 p.m. E.T. | 10:30 a.m. P.T. | 6:30 p.m. B.S.T.  In the past year, as cities… Continue Reading