UPDATE: Who’s the Boss at the CFPB? – Valerie C. Brannon Legislative Attorney Jared P. Cole Legislative Attorney. January 11, 2018. “Update: On January 10, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied Leandra English’s request for a preliminary injunction, ruling that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (Vacancies Act) authorized the President to… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legislation
Bill Would Establish Cybersecurity Inspections, Impose Mandatory Penalties, and Compensate Consumers for Stolen Data
“United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) today introduced the Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act to hold large credit reporting agencies (CRAs) – including Equifax – accountable for data breaches involving consumer data. The bill would give the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) more direct supervisory authority over data security at CRAs,… Continue Reading
Trump Justice Department Pushes for Citizenship Question on Census, Alarming Experts
ProPublica: “Two members of Congress are pushing back against a proposal by the Justice Department to add a question on citizenship to the 2020 census. In a letter sent to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who has the authority to decide on census questions, Reps. Jose Serrano and Grace Meng, both New York Democrats, call on… Continue Reading
Smart Toys and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998
Smart Toys and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 – CRS Legal Sidebar – Gina Stevens, Legislative Attorney. January 8, 2018: “A growing number of devices in American households, including televisions, appliances, security systems, and heating and cooling devices, rely on Internet connectivity to perform a range of functions. And the “Internet of… Continue Reading
Receive an Email when Member of Congress has New Remark Printed in CR
In Custodia Legis – “Congress.gov alerts are emails sent to you when a measure (bill or resolution), nomination, or member profile has been updated with new information. You can also receive an email after a Member has new remarks printed in the Congressional Record. Here are instructions on how to get an email after a Member… Continue Reading
California Senate to Hear EFF’s License Plate Cover Bill
EFF – “Across the country, private companies are deploying vehicles mounted with automated license plate readers (ALPRs) to drive up and down streets to document the travel patterns of everyday drivers. These systems take photos of every license plate they see, tag them with time and location, and upload them to a central database. These… Continue Reading
Acquisition Reform in the FY2016 – FY2018 National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs)
CRS report via FAS – Acquisition Reform in the FY2016-FY2018 National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAAs) Moshe Schwartz, Specialist in Defense Acquisition. January 4, 2018″Congress has long been interested in defense acquisition and generally exercises its legislative powers to affect defense acquisitions through Title VIII of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), entitled Acquisition Policy, Acquisition… Continue Reading
Membership of the 115th Congress: A Profile
CRS report via FAS – Membership of the 115th Congress: A Profile. Jennifer E. Manning, Senior Research Librarian, January 3, 2018: “This report presents a profile of the membership of the 115th Congress (2017-2018) as of January 3, 2018. Statistical information is included on selected characteristics of Members, including data on party affiliation, average age,… Continue Reading
GPO Completes Digitization of Historical Congressional Record 1873-1890
“In cooperation with the Library of Congress, the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has completed the digitization of all historical issues of the Congressional Record dating to the first appearance of this publication on March 5, 1873. The final release of this project, covering the period 1873-1890, is being made available to the public free… Continue Reading
Federal Fraud Recoveries Decline in Fiscal Year 2017
POGO: “On the Thursday before Christmas, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released its annual fraud recovery numbers. The DOJ announced it had recouped $3.7 billion through settlements and judgments in False Claims Act cases in fiscal year 2017. This amount is nearly 23 percent lower than the previous fiscal year, but roughly in line with FY… Continue Reading
New IRS guideline on prepaying your property tax
Prepaying Your Property Tax? I.R.S. Cautions It Might Not Pay Off – “…The tax bill that President Trump signed into law last week sharply limited the itemized deductions for state and local taxes while raising the standard deduction for individuals and couples. Those rules do not take effect until 2018, however. That has led some… Continue Reading
Notifications on Committee Action on Legislation
Via In Custodia Legis – this guide by Adrienne Keys, specialist in legislative information systems management within the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. “Did you know that by using Congress.gov, you can receive notifications of committee action on legislation? Use the Legislation Advanced Search form to create a saved search and set up email… Continue Reading
