Library of Congress Magazine: "The Law Library and CRS, working with the Library's web services experts, maintain THOMAS, the Internet-accessible database that makes legislative information-bills, resolutions, treaties and the Congressional Record-available to Congress and the public. Congress.gov, a beta website operated jointly by the Library of Congress, the House, the Senate and the other legislative branch sources, provides the same information through mobile devices and eventually will replace THOMAS. The Law Library responds to all queries related to THOMAS and the Congress.gov beta site. "Since the launch of the public legislative information system known as THOMAS in 1995, Congress has relied on the Library to make the work of Congress available to the public in a coherent, comprehensive way," said Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) at the September 2012 launch of the Congress.gov beta site. "The Library staff has a strong working relationship with the House, Senate and the Government Printing Office, which will enable the Library to successfully develop the next generation legislative information website."

EPIC: "The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved an Amendment to the immigration bill to limit the range of drones surveillance in the United States. The immigration bill grants the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection authority to operate surveillance drones continuously within the border region. Senator Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) Amendment reduces the patrol area of surveillance drones from 100 miles around the border to 25 miles. More than two-thirds of the US population lives within 100 miles of the border. In February 2013, EPIC petitioned the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to suspend the border drone surveillance program pending the establishment of concrete privacy regulations. The petition followed the production of documents to EPIC under the Freedom of Information Act demonstrating that the border drones had the ability to intercept electronic communications and identify human targets. For more information, see EPIC: Domestic Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Drones."

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll - April 2013: "As government officials, community organizations and advocates gear up the consumer information and assistance efforts that will surround this fall’s open enrollment for the health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), much of the public remains confused about the status of the health law, according to the April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. Four in ten Americans (42 percent) are unaware that the ACA is still the law of the land, including 12 percent who believe the law has been repealed by Congress, 7 percent who believe it has been overturned by the Supreme Court and 23 percent who don’t know whether or not the ACA remains law. And about half the public says they do not have enough information about the health reform law to understand how it will impact their own family, a share that rises among the uninsured and low-income households. When it comes to where they are getting information about the law, Americans most commonly cite friends and family, “newspapers, radio news or other online news sources”, and cable news. About one in ten report getting information from a health insurer, their doctor, an employer, or a non-profit organization. Similar shares say they have gotten information from “federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services” or “state agencies such as your state Medicaid office”."

News release: "The Federal Trade Commission has issued its annual letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on FTC enforcement and related activities regarding the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Consumer Leasing Act (CLA), Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). This year's letter also discusses the Dodd-Frank Act, and the Commission’s and CFPB’s memorandum of understanding that set forth a framework for coordinating certain law enforcement, rulemaking, and other activities. The letter notes that the FTC retains its authority to enforce the TILA, CLA, EFTA, and ECOA, among other things. The letter also addresses certain FTC initiatives regarding automobile financing advertising, payday lending, mortgage lending advertising, mobile payments, and separate FTC staff comments filed with the CFPB on integrating TILA and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act disclosures and on general purpose reloadable cards."

Annual Energy Outlook 2013: "The projections in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA's) Annual Energy Outlook 2013 (AEO2012) focus on the factors that shape the U.S. energy system over the long term. Under the assumption that current laws and regulations remain unchanged throughout the projections, the AEO2013 Reference case provides the basis for examination and discussion of energy production, consumption, technology, and market trends and the direction they may take in the future. It also serves as a starting point for analysis of potential changes in energy policies."

Did my wife's cosmetics give her breast cancer? Inside a regulatory disaster zone by John Wasik - Washington Monthly, May 6, 2013.

CFPB: Student Loan Affordability Analysis of Public Input on Impact and Solutions, May 8, 2013

Gary Somerset: "The U.S. Government Printing Office’s (GPO) Federal Digital System (FDsys) has achieved the milestone of 500 million document retrievals. FDsys is a one-stop site for authentic, published information on the three branches of the Federal Government. Retrievals are measured by the number of times content is viewed or downloaded from FDsys. GPO launched FDsys in January 2009 and since that time it has expanded to include 800 thousand searchable titles. Examples of content found on FDsys include: the post-President Kennedy’s assassination tape recordings, President Nixon’s Watergate grand jury testimony, the Budget of the U.S. Government, the Congressional Record, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, and congressional bills, hearings, and reports. GPO is continually adding content and working with agencies on new collection opportunities."

News release: "U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) announced a new plan that would prevent any one financial institution from becoming so large and over leveraged that it could put our economy on the brink of collapse or trigger the need for a federal bailout...Despite receiving assistance from taxpayers in 2008, today, the nation’s four largest banks—JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo—are nearly $2 trillion larger today than they were before the crisis. Their growth has been aided by an implicit guarantee—funded by taxpayers and awarded by virtue of their size—as the market knows that these institutions have been deemed “too big to fail.” This allows the nation’s largest megabanks to borrow at a lower rate than regional banks, community banks, and credit unions. This funding advantage, which has been confirmed by three independent studies in the last year, is estimated to be as high as $83 billion per year.Despite receiving assistance from taxpayers in 2008, today, the nation’s four largest banks—JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo—are nearly $2 trillion larger today than they were before the crisis. Their growth has been aided by an implicit guarantee—funded by taxpayers and awarded by virtue of their size—as the market knows that these institutions have been deemed “too big to fail.” This allows the nation’s largest megabanks to borrow at a lower rate than regional banks, community banks, and credit unions. This funding advantage, which has been confirmed by three independent studies in the last year, is estimated to be as high as $83 billion per year. Together, Brown and Vitter have successfully pressed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study of the economic benefits that the “too-big-to-fail” megabanks receive as a result of actual or perceived taxpayer funded support."

Survey of Federal Whistleblower and Anti-Retaliation Laws, Jon O. Shimabukuro, Legislative Attorney; L. Paige Whitaker, Legislative Attorney; Emily E. Roberts, Law Librarian. April 22, 2013

News release: "The Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), today advanced legislation to promote a global Internet free from government control. The bill, approved by voice vote, contains the same language that unanimously passed the House and Senate last year, elevating it to official U.S policy rather than merely a sense of the Congress in light of continued international efforts to regulate the Internet. “Governments’ hands-off approach has enabled the Internet to grow at an astonishing pace and become perhaps the most powerful engine of social and economic freedom and job creation the world has ever known. Under the current multi-stakeholder governance model, non-regulatory institutions manage and operate the Internet by developing best practices with public and private sector input," said Chairman Walden. During the proceedings, Chairman Walden also clarified the intent of the legislation and agreed to continue to work with the minority to seek bipartisan consensus. Click here to view Walden’s full remarks. On February 5, 2013, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and the Foreign Affairs Subcommittees on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade and Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations held a joint hearing to discuss efforts by some countries to expand international regulation of the Internet. In the 112th Congress, the House and Senate adopted resolutions with overwhelming bipartisan support opposing efforts at the World Conference on International Telecommunications to drag the Internet within the purview of the International Telecommunications Union, a U.N. agency."

The Recess Appointment Power After Noel Canning v. NLRB: Constitutional Implications. Todd Garvey, Legislative Attorney, David H. Carpenter, Legislative Attorney - March 27, 2013

CRS - The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: A Primer on TANF Financing and Federal Requirements. Gene Falk, Specialist in Social Policy - April 2, 2013

News release: "The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday announced approval of a final rule that establishes the requirements for determining when a company is "predominantly engaged in financial activities." The requirements will be used by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) when it considers the potential designation of a nonbank financial company for consolidated supervision by the Federal Reserve. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, a nonbank financial company can be designated by the FSOC for supervision by the Federal Reserve only if it is "predominantly engaged in financial activities." A company is considered to be predominantly engaged in financial activities if 85 percent or more of the company's revenues or assets are related to activities that are defined as financial in nature under the Bank Holding Company Act. Additionally, the FSOC may issue recommendations for primary financial regulatory agencies to apply new or heightened standards to a financial activity or practice conducted by companies that are predominantly engaged in financial activities."

Consider the Source - 100 Years of Broken-Record Opposition to the Minimum Wage. National Employment Law Project / Cry Wolf Project March 2013

EFF: "Law professor and historian Tim Wu has called the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) the “worst law in technology.” The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has described the government’s interpretation of it “expansive,” “broad,” and “sweeping.” And Orin Kerr, former federal prosecutor and law professor, has detailed how the government could use it to put "any Internet user they want [in jail]." So it's pretty surprising to see that now, instead of reining in the CFAA’s dangerous reach, the House Judiciary Committee is floating a proposal to dramatically expand it and is reportedly planning to rush it to the floor of Congress during its April “cyber” week...Techdirt’s Mike Masnick posted a new draft and analysis of the CFAA expansion bill on Monday."

"...the House Agriculture Committee approved seven legislative proposals amending Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The bills are the culmination of the committee's oversight efforts of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as it writes rules for Dodd-Frank. All but one of the bills advanced on a voice vote. H.R. 992, the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act, was approved by a vote of 31-14. The bills include the following:

• H.R. 634, the Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stabilization Act, ensures that end-users can continue to use derivatives to manage business risks without being subject to costly margin requirements.
  
• H.R. 677, the Inter-Affiliate Swap Clarification Act, ensures that transactions between affiliates within a single corporate group are not regulated as swaps.
  
• H.R. 742, the Swap Data Repository and Clearinghouse Indemnification Correction Act of 2013, would allow data sharing between U.S. and international regulators and swap data repositories without adding an unnecessary layer of legal bureaucracy.
  
• H.R. 992, the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act, amends Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Act to limit the swap desk push-out requirement so that it only applies to certain swaps based on certain asset-backed securities and does not disadvantage U.S. institutions compared to their international counterparts who have no similar restrictions.
  
• H.R. 1003 would require the CFTC to assess the costs and benefits of its actions.
  
• H.R. 1038, the Public Power Risk Management Act, would allow producers, utility companies, and other non-financial entities to continue entering into energy swaps with government-owned utilities without danger of being required to register with the CFTC as a swap dealer.
  
• H.R. 1256, the Swap Jurisdiction Certainty Act, would direct the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt a joint rule on how they will regulate cross-border swaps transactions as part of the new requirements created in the Dodd-Frank Act."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Trade Facilitation, Enforcement, and Security. Vivian C. Jones, Specialist in International Trade and Finance; Marc R. Rosenblum, Specialist in Immigration Policy, March 22, 2013

Citizens, Values and Cultural Concerns: What Americans Want from Immigration Reform, "authored by PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones, PRRI Research Director Daniel Cox, and PRRI Research Associate Juhem Navarro-Rivera, along with Brookings Senior Fellows E.J. Dionne, Jr. and William Galston, explores general sentiment toward immigrant communities, opinions on the impact that immigrants have on American culture and public support for specific policy approaches to immigration reform. The report also explores support for immigration policy among religious groups and the political implications of the issue for and within both the Democratic and Republican parties."

Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification, Andorra Bruno, Specialist in Immigration Policy. March 19, 2013

Guns, Excise Taxes, and Wildlife Restoration, M. Lynne Corn, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy; Jane G. Gravelle, Senior Specialist in Economic Policy. March 12, 2013

Guns, Excise Taxes, and Wildlife Restoration. M. Lynne Corn, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy; Jane G. Gravelle, Senior Specialist in Economic Policy. March 12, 2013

"The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau or CFPB) proposes to amend the regulation defining larger participants of certain consumer financial product and service markets by adding a new section to define larger participants of a market for student loan servicing. The Bureau proposes this rule pursuant to its authority, under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, to supervise certain nonbank covered persons for compliance with Federal consumer financial law and for other purposes. The Bureau has the authority to supervise nonbank covered persons of all sizes in the residential mortgage, private education lending, and payday lending markets. In addition, the Bureau has the authority to supervise nonbank “larger participant[s]” of markets for other consumer financial products or services, as the Bureau defines by rule. The proposal (Proposed Rule) would identify a market for student loan servicing and define “larger participants” of this market that would be subject to the Bureau’s supervisory authority."

• Recent college graduates in the U.S. labor force: data from the Current Population Survey, Thomas Luke Spreen
• Hispanic/Latino fatal occupational injury rates, Christen G. Byler
• State labor legislation enacted in 2012, John J. Fitzpatrick, Jr. and James L. Perine
• Entire February 2013 Monthly Labor Review in one PDF file

U.S. Immigration Policy: Chart Book of Key Trends, Ruth Ellen Wasem, Specialist in Immigration Policy, March 7, 2013

Firearm Legislation and Firearm-Related Fatalities in the United States. Eric W. Fleegler, MD, MPH; Lois K. Lee, MD, MPH; Michael C. Monuteaux, ScD; David Hemenway, PhD; Rebekah Mannix, MD, MPH

• "Results: Over the 4-year study period, there were 121 084 firearm fatalities. The average state-based firearm fatality rates varied from a high of 17.9 (Louisiana) to a low of 2.9 (Hawaii) per 100 000 individuals per year. Annual firearm legislative strength scores ranged from 0 (Utah) to 24 (Massachusetts) of 28 possible points. States in the highest quartile of legislative strength (scores of ≥9) had a lower overall firearm fatality rate than those in the lowest quartile (scores of ≤2) (absolute rate difference, 6.64 deaths/100 000/y; age-adjusted incident rate ratio [IRR], 0.58; 95% CI, 0.37-0.92). Compared with the quartile of states with the fewest laws, the quartile with the most laws had a lower firearm suicide rate (absolute rate difference, 6.25 deaths/100 000/y; IRR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.48-0.83) and a lower firearm homicide rate (absolute rate difference, 0.40 deaths/100 000/y; IRR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.38-0.95).
  
• Conclusions and Relevance: A higher number of firearm laws in a state are associated with a lower rate of firearm fatalities in the state, overall and for suicides and homicides individually. As our study could not determine cause-and-effect relationships, further studies are necessary to define the nature of this association."

EFF: "Last year, Maryland became the first state to explicitly prohibit employers from forcing applicants or workers to disclose their personal names or passwords as a condition of employment. California followed soon after with its own measure, which further bars private employers from even requesting access to their workers social-media accounts. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, some 28 states are weighing legislation addressing the issue in one regard or another in 2013. Broadly speaking, an individual should not have to open up their online private lives to get or keep a job. Not only is it an invasion of the job-seeker’s privacy, but such practices expose personal information belonging to friends and family members who thought they were communicating privately within a closed network."

"EPIC Appellate Advocacy Counsel Alan Butler testified before the Maryland House Judiciary Committee on H.B. 887, a location privacy bill that will establish a search warrant requirement for the collection of private location information. Mr. Butler discussed the current state of location tracking and privacy under the state and federal constitutions. The Maryland bill will require a warrant for location tracking and an annual report on electronic surveillance reports, similar to the federal wiretap reports. EPIC recently submitted amicus briefs in State v. Earls and In re US regarding location privacy. For more information, see EPIC: Locational Privacy and EPIC: State v. Earls."

"Sequestration, sometimes called the sequester, is a process that automatically cuts the federal budget across most departments and agencies. Congress included the threat of sequestration in the Budget Control Act of 2011 as a way to encourage compromise on deficit reduction efforts. Congress couldn’t agree on a budget by the deadline set in the Budget Control Act, so mandatory budget cuts were scheduled to go into effect on January 2, 2013. Congress stopped the cuts from happening by passing the American Taxpayer Relief Act on January 2. This law pushed the budget cuts back until March 1, 2013. If Congress cannot agree on a budget to reduce the deficit by March 1, then sequestration would happen and $85 billion in spending cuts would go into effect. These reports give detailed information about the amount that programs may be cut and which programs are exempt from sequestration:

• White House Report Required by the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012
  
• CRS - Budget "Sequestration" and Selected Program Exemptions and Special Rules, January 10, 2013

CRS - Unauthorized Aliens: Policy Options for Providing Targeted Immigration Relief, Andorra Bruno, Specialist in Immigration Policy, February 13, 2013

"The history of the U.S. Congress is documented in the official records of Congress, the private and personal papers of members of Congress, and many other sources. Official records and some personal papers are located in the National Archives at the Center for Legislative Archives, but most personal papers are geographically dispersed in repositories around the country. The best printed sources for locating congressional papers are:

• Guide to Research Collections of Former Members of the United States House of Representatives, 1789-1987
  
• Guide to Research Collections of Former United States Senators, 1789-1995"

Unemployment Insurance: Legislative Issues in the 113th Congress, January 25, 2013

Amy Ngai, Sunlight Foundation: "Do you ever find yourself looking up state legislative information? Instead of hopping from one legislative website to the next, Open States allows you to search and explore legislative data from all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico -- from a single site. The free tool also lets you identify your state legislator, review their votes, track bills and discover upcoming events at your state house."

News release: "Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced a final rule that will make purchasing health coverage easier for consumers. The policies outlined today will give consumers a consistent way to compare and enroll in health coverage in the individual and small group markets, while giving states and insurers more flexibility and freedom to implement the Affordable Care Act. Today’s rule outlines health insurance issuer standards for a core package of benefits, called essential health benefits, that health insurance issuers must cover both inside and outside the Health Insurance Marketplace. Through its standards for essential health benefits, the final rule released today also expands coverage of mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment, for millions of Americans. A new report by HHS, also released today, details how these provisions will expand mental health and substance use disorder benefits and federal parity protections for 62 million more Americans."

"When you apply for a mortgage, it can sometimes be hard to understand how much of a monthly payment you can afford. That's why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau introduced the Ability-to-Repay rule, which requires lenders to ensure that you can pay back the loan (plus interest) over the long term."

Taxation of Unemployment Benefits, Julie M. Whittaker, Specialist in Income Security, February 7, 2013

Integration of Drones into Domestic Airspace: Selected Legal Issues. Alissa M. Dolan, Legislative Attorney - Richard M. Thompson II, Legislative Attorney, January 30, 2013

EFF: "Representative Zoe Lofgren has posted on Reddit a modified draft of Aaron's Law, a proposal to update the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and wire fraud law in honor of our friend Aaron Swartz and to make sure that the misguided prosecution that happened to him doesn't happen to anyone else. We're very pleased with the proposal's progress and we're hopeful about the future of this important bill."

2012 Immigration-Related Laws and Resolutions in the States (Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2012)

Congressional Redistricting and the Voting Rights Act: A Legal Overview - L. Paige Whitaker, Legislative Attorney, January 31, 2013

CRS - Unemployment Insurance: Legislative Issues in the 113th Congress, January 25, 2013

Tracey Samuelson, Marketplace for Monday, January 28, 2013: "If consumers want to “unlock” their cell phones in order to take their phone from one cellular network to another, they now need to ask the permission of their carrier. Starting January 26, unlocking phones without the provider’s OK is against the law. But perhaps the most surprising part of these changes is that they came from the Library of Congress, a government department better known for its archives than its regulatory abilities. But in addition to cataloging gems from the country’s past -- everything from old musical performances to little-remembered presidential speeches -- the Library of Congress also oversees copyrights."

CDT: "The privacy protections guarding the care and handling of your medical records just got stronger… a lot stronger. The new rules bolster prohibitions against use of a patient's medical records without consent for marketing communications; extend federal privacy and security protections to contractors (and subcontractors) of doctors, hospitals and insurers; improved your right to be notified when your medical records are lost, stolen or otherwise compromised; and clarifies your right to receive a copy of your medical records when you ask for it. The new protections stem from the long-awaited final regulations to implement most of the improvements to federal health privacy protections enacted by Congress in the HITECH provisions of the 2009 economic stimulus legislation."

The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework, Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, January 10, 2013

Bee Health: The Role of Pesticides, December 11, 2012

Private-Sector Mandates in Federal Legislation, January 15, 2013

Social Security: The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), Christine Scott, Specialist in Social Policy. January 8, 2013

Tax Provisions in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA), Jim Nunns and Jeff Rohaly. January 9, 2013

"With the tax side of the fiscal cliff narrowly averted, CCH has issued a new Tax Briefing: American Taxpayer Relief Act, covering provisions of the new legislation. The American Taxpayer Relief Act allows the Bush-era tax rates to sunset after 2012 for individuals with incomes over $400,000 and families with incomes over $450,000; permanently “patches” the alternative minimum tax (AMT); revives many now-expired tax extenders, including the research tax credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit; and provides for a maximum estate tax of 40 percent with a $5 million exclusion. The Act also delays the mandatory across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration."

"Visualizing Health Policy | December 26, 2012. Medicare's Role and Future Challenges, Kaiser Family Foundation. This month's Visualizing Health Policy provides a step-by-step guide through the options and requirements for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act beginning in 2014, including coverage through an employer, coverage through a health insurance exchange, and coverage through Medicaid." For a complete view, there is a PDF version.

The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework. Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney. December 17, 2012

"The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established new rules for the volume of television commercials that started on December 13, 2012. The new regulation, known as the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, requires commercials to have the same average volume as the programs they accompany. The CALM Act requires TV stations, cable operators or other multichannel video program distributors to apply specific FCC practices to commercials they transmit. If you hear a commercial louder than the TV show it accompanies, you can file a complaint with the FCC by providing detailed information about the commercial. Learn more about the CALM Act."

"Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) (also called “Producer Takeback”) is a product and waste management system in which manufacturers – not the consumer or government – take responsibility for the environmentally safe management of their product when it is no longer useful or discarded. When manufacturers take responsibility for the recycling of their own products they:

• Use environmentally safer materials in the production process
  
• Consume fewer materials in the production process
  
• Design the product to last longer and be more useful
  
• Create safer recycling systems
  
• Are motivated to keep waste costs down
  
• No longer pass the cost of disposal to the government and the taxpayer
  
• Do we have Producer Responsibility in the US? Some companies are taking responsibility voluntarily for their old products. While we don’t have a national policy requiring producer responsibility, many States are passing laws requiring it within their states. Learn more about state legislation."

News release: "The Federal Trade Commission issued a report to Congress explaining steps the agency has taken in connection with new rules on debit card transactions that were put in place last year by the Federal Reserve Board as required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The FTC shares authority to investigate and enforce the new Dodd-Frank requirements with other financial regulators. The Commission’s enforcement work generally focuses on the conduct of payment card networks and certain other non-bank entities. Regulations related to payment card network exclusivity and routing became fully effective in April 2012."

Legislative Procedures for Adjusting the Public Debt Limit: A Brief Overview, Bill Heniff Jr. Analyst on Congress and the Legislative Process. November 26, 2012

CRS - Presidential Appointee Positions Requiring Senate Confirmation and Committees Handling Nominations, November 15, 2012

Presidential Reorganization Authority: History, Recent Initiatives, and Options for Congress, December 11, 2012:

CRS - Right to Work Laws: Legislative Background and Empirical Research, Benjamin Collins, Analyst in Labor Policy. December 6, 2012

The following reports are via FAS:

• Iran’s Ballistic Missile and Space Launch Programs, Steven A. Hildreth, Specialist in Missile Defense. December 6, 2012
  
• Syria's Chemical Weapons: Issues for Congress, December 5, 2012
  
• Egypt: Background and U.S. Relations, December 6, 2012
  
• Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians, December 6, 2012
  
• Detention of U.S. Persons as Enemy Belligerents, December 4, 2012
  
• Right to Work Laws: Legislative Background and Empirical Research, December 6, 2012

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Davis Polk - "As of December 3, 2012, a total of 237 Dodd-Frank rulemaking requirement deadlines have passed. This is 59.5% of the 398 total rulemaking requirements, and 84.6% of the 280 rulemaking requirements with specified deadlines.

• Of these 237 passed deadlines, 144 (61%) have been missed and 93 (39%) have been met with finalized rules. Regulators have not yet released proposals for 33 of the 144 missed rules.
  
• Of the 398 total rulemaking requirements, 133 (33.4%) have been met with finalized rules and rules have been proposed that would meet 133 (33.4%) more. Rules have not yet been proposed to meet 132 (33.2%) rulemaking requirements."

News release: "In 1996, while debating the intricacies of a bill that would massively overhaul the telecommunications laws of the United States, two astute Congressmen introduced an amendment that would allow the Internet to flourish. The amendment - which would become Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA 230) - stated that "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." In other words, online intermediaries that host or republish speech - blogs, review sites, social networks, and more - are protected against a range of laws that might otherwise be used to hold them legally responsible for what others say and do. CDA 230 is crucial to the free flow of expression online. While the rest of the Communications Decency Act, an attempt by the government to regulate indecent content online, was found unconstitutional by the courts, Section 230 survived. As Judge Wilkinson put it in the seminal CDA 230 case, Zeran v. America Online, "Section 230 was enacted, in part, to maintain the robust nature of Internet communication, and accordingly, to keep government interference in the medium to a minimum." Websites could edit, filter, and screen content if they wanted without being held liable for the content itself...To better inform everyone on the Internet of the importance of this law, we have created an extensive guide to CDA 230.."

• Basic Federal Budgeting Terminology, November 26, 2012
• Overview of the Authorization-Appropriations Process, November 26, 2012
• Baselines and Scorekeeping in the Federal Budget Process, November 26, 2012
• Budget Reconciliation Legislation: Development and Consideration, November 26, 2012
• Entitlements and Appropriated Entitlements in the Federal Budget Process, November 26, 2012
• Legislative Procedures for Adjusting the Public Debt Limit: A Brief Overview, November 26, 2012

Guidance Regarding Methods for De-identification of Protected Health Information in Accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act(HIPAA) Privacy Rule

CRS - Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions. Eric A. Fischer, Senior Specialist in Science and Technology, November 9, 2012

Mary Agnes Carey and Jenny Gold: "Now that President Barack Obama has won a second term, the Affordable Care Act is back on a fast track. Some analysts argue that there could be modifications to reduce federal spending as part of a broader deficit deal; for now, this is just speculation. What is clear is that the law will have sweeping ramifications for consumers, state officials, employers and health care providers, including hospitals and doctors. While some of the key features don't kick in until 2014, the law has already altered the health care industry and established a number of consumer benefits. Here's a primer on parts of the law already up and running, what's to come and ways that provisions could still be altered."

CRS - The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: Title VII, Derivatives,November 6, 2012

CRS - Climate Change and Existing Law: A Survey of Legal Issues Past, Present, and Future, Robert Meltz, Legislative Attorney, October 25, 2012

• This report surveys existing law for legal issues that have arisen, or may arise in the future, on account of climate change and government responses thereto. At the threshold of many climate-change-related lawsuits are two barriers — whether the plaintiff has standing to sue and whether the claim being made presents a political question. Both barriers have forced courts to apply amorphous standards in a new and complex context. Efforts to mitigate climate change—that is, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions — have spawned a host of legal issues. The Supreme Court resolved a big one in 2007 — the Clean Air Act (CAA), it said, does authorize EPA to regulate GHG emissions. Quite recently, a host of issues raised by EPA’s efforts to carry out that authority were resolved in the agency’s favor by the D.C. Circuit. Another issue is whether EPA’s “endangerment finding” for GHG emissions from new motor vehicles will compel EPA to move against GHG emissions under other CAA authorities. Still other mitigation issues are (1) the role of the Endangered Species Act in addressing climate change; (2) how climate change must be considered under the National Environmental Policy Act; (3) liability and other questions raised by carbon capture and sequestration; (4) constitutional constraints on land use regulation and state actions against climate change; and (5) whether the public trust doctrine applies to the atmosphere."
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U.S. Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Philip A.Wallach. October 26, 2012. Governance Studies at Brookings.

"FDA is advising medical professionals not to use products from a New England company being investigated in connection with a multistate meningitis outbreak."

Christina Ortiz: "After watching the U.S. Presidential debates, it's clear the country could really use a non-combative way to discuss issues and disseminate information. Sites like Procon.org do this for national issues, ranging from legalizing marijuana to illegal immigration, but sometimes the most heated political discussions happen on the local scene. Instead of relying on fact-checking websites, the University of Washington started the Living Voters Guide, a site dedicated educating voters on issues and referendums in Washington state."

Annual Report of the CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman, October 16, 2012: "The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act established an ombudsman within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Pursuant to the Act, the ombudsman shall prepare an annual report and make appropriate recommendations to the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Secretary of Education, and Congress. This report is the first annual report meeting the requirement set forth in the Act...Outstanding student loan debt is now over $1 trillion, with private student loans accounting for more than $150 billion. There are at least $8 billion of private student loans in default, representing more than 850,000 individual loans. Private student loans are issued by banks and credit unions, state-affiliated and non-profit agencies, schools, and other financial companies. Like in the mortgage market, creditors often employ third party servicers to collect payments from private student loan borrowers. Many of these servicers are also active in the federal student loan market."

Rural Water Infrastructure - Additional Coordination Can Help Avoid Potentially Duplicative Application Requirements, GAO-13-111, Oct 16, 2012

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: A Primer on TANF Financing and Federal Requirements, Gene Falk, Specialist in Social Policy. October 10, 2012

Unemployment: Issues in the 112th Congress, Jane G. Gravelle, Thomas L. Hungerford, Linda Levine. October 5, 2012

News release includes links to public section resolution plan bank documents: "The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires that bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more and nonbank financial companies designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council for supervision by the Federal Reserve submit resolution plans annually to the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Each plan, commonly known as a living will, must describe the company's strategy for rapid and orderly resolution under the Bankruptcy Code in the event of material financial distress or failure of the company."

Noncitizen Eligibility for Federal Public Assistance: Policy Overview and Trends, by Ruth Ellen Wasem, Specialist in Immigration Policy. September 27, 2012

News release: "The use of 21st century technology to bring significant savings in textbook costs for California college students will be made possible under two measures the Governor signed into law today. The companion bills by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, SB 1052 and SB 1053, will establish development of open source digital textbooks for 50 lower division courses which college students can electronically access for free, or for a modest cost of $20 per printed textbook. “The current cost of traditional textbooks is so high, some college students are forced to struggle through a required class without the textbook, forced to drop classes or sometimes even drop out of college altogether. There’s absolutely no reason a basic biology, statistics or accounting textbook, for example, should cost $200,” said Steinberg. “The Governor has shown great vision in signing this legislation as a way to help tens of thousands of students and families with the increasing expenses of higher education. Any avenue towards reducing those costs opens more doors for our students, and that in turn continues development of the educated workforce we need to fuel California’s economic engine.”

Payments of Penalties for Being Uninsured Under the Affordable Care Act, September 2012

"Congress.gov makes federal United States legislative information freely available to the public. Launched Sept. 19, 2012, this version of the site is an initial beta release of Congress.gov, created as a successor to THOMAS.gov, the current public site for legislative information. The Congress.gov beta site contains legislation from the 107th Congress (2001) to the present, member of Congress profiles from the 93rd Congress (1973) to the present, and selected member profiles from the 80th through the 92nd Congresses (1947 to 1972). Over the next two years, Congress.gov will be adding information and features, eventually incorporating all of the information currently available on THOMAS.gov. (To compare the scope of legislative information available on THOMAS.gov and the scope of legislative information on the beta site, see Coverage Dates for Legislative Information.)"

Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top Tax Rates Since 1945. Thomas L. Hungerford, Specialist in Public Finance, September 14, 2012

Whistleblower Protections Under Federal Law: An Overview. Jon O. Shimabukuro, Legislative Attorney and L. Paige Whitaker, Legislative Attorney, September 13, 2012

Pensions and Retirement State Legislation Database - "Current legislation on pensions and retirement is available in a searchable database. You can search 2012 pensions and retirement bills by topic, primary author, state, bill number, status or keyword. The database is updated every two weeks." [Via Pew and the National Conference of State Legislatures]

The National Labor Relations Act: Background and Selected Topics, Jon O. Shimabukuro, Legislative Attorney, September 7, 2012

Matthew Broaddus, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Researching Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Resources for Congressional Staff. Jerry W. Mansfield, Information Research Specialist, August 31, 2012

Internet Firearm and Ammunition Sales. Vivian S. Chu, Legislative Attorney, August 28, 2012

"On June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case challenging the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Court upheld the constitutionality of the ACA's individual mandate, which requires most people to maintain a minimum level of health insurance coverage beginning in 2014. A majority of the Court also found the ACA's Medicaid expansion unconstitutionally coercive of states, while a different majority of the Court held that this issue was fully remedied by limiting the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary's enforcement authority. The ruling left the ACA's Medicaid expansion intact in the law, but the practical effect of the Court's decision makes the Medicaid expansion optional for states. This policy brief provides background on the Medicaid program and the legal challenge to the Medicaid expansion under health reform, and summarizes the controlling and dissenting opinions of the Court regarding the Medicaid expansion."

CRS - Health Insurance Exchanges Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), August 15, 2012

News release: "he Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted a rule mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to require companies to publicly disclose their use of conflict minerals that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or an adjoining country. The regulatory reform law directed the Commission to issue rules requiring certain companies to disclose their use of conflict minerals that include tantalum, tin, gold, or tungsten if those minerals are “necessary to the functionality or production of a product” manufactured by those companies. Companies are required to provide this disclosure on a new form to be filed with the SEC called Form SD."

Building public trust in uses of Health Insurance - Portability and Accountability Act de-identified data, Deven McGraw, Center for Democracy & Technology

"The nation has made significant progress expanding high-speed Internet access in recent years, but further implementation of major reforms newly adopted by the Federal Communications Commission is required before broadband will be available to the approximately 19 million Americans who still lack access, according to the FCC’s Eighth Broadband Progress Report. In an era when broadband is essential to innovation, jobs, and global competitiveness, the Report concludes that the FCC – and the nation – must continue to address obstacles impeding universal broadband deployment and availability Congress in Section 706 the Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires the FCC to report annually on whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” The Report chronicles major strides taken by providers and policymakers to accelerate deployment, including: Billions invested by the communications industry in broadband deployment, including next-generation wired and wireless services."

LLSDC's Legislative Source Book "was first placed on the Internet in the year 2000 and has since grown to more than 40 items of interest. However, this is the first time that it has had a restructuring that breaks down the bulleted items into more manageable, general categories - Research Guides and Explanations, Resource Lists & Links, Tables of Information, and Other. Much thanks goes to Sue Ann Orsini of Fried Frank Harris & Jacobson LLP for her design and Web skills in this endeavor. We hope you like it and find it more user friendly." [Rick McKinney, Source Book Principal Editor and Assistant Law Librarian, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, DC]

JAMA: "This month's (August 2012) Visualizing Health Policy takes a look at who is covered by Medicaid and the important role that Medicaid plays in the lives of many Americans, Medicaid's role under the Affordable Care Act, how growth in per capita Medicaid spending is slower than growth in private health care spending, how Medicaid improves access to needed health care, and which groups receive the majority of Medicaid spending. For a more complete view, select the PDF available in the upper right article toolbar."

"Treasury and the independent regulators have made meaningful progress implementing the law, which is vital to restoring trust in the underlying safety, stability, and integrity of the financial system, and to rebuilding a pro-growth, pro-investment environment. To outline the progress made, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has developed an overview of where reform stands and the changes it has effected on the financial system to date. The overview - Reforming Wall Street, Protecting Main Street: An Update on Wall Street Reform."

Combining the Mobile Workforce and Telecommuter Tax Acts, Edward A. Zelinsky. Yeshiva University - Cardozo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 371 State Tax Notes, Vol. 65, No. 319, August 2012 [via SSRN]

Gun Control Legislation, William J. Krouse, Specialist in Domestic Security and Crime Policy. August 3, 2012

Receipt of Unemployment Insurance by Higher-Income Unemployed Workers
(“Millionaires”), Donald Hirasuna, Analyst in Labor Policy. August 2, 2012

Two Years On, Reassessing The Cost Of Dodd-Frank For The Largest U.S. Banks, August 9, 2012

Via NIH: "The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, enacted on April 4, 2012, contains several requirements for employees who file a Public Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 278). The following resources are provided for filers and ethics officials. Filers should consult with their IC's ethics officials if they have questions.

• STOCK Act Summary (pdf, 1 page): This document provides a summary of the requirements affecting NIH OGE-278 filers and the effective date of each section.
  
• Your Public Financial Disclosure Form (OGE-278) (pdf, 2 pages): Suggestions for filers to ensure that reports are accurate and complete, and to avoid over-reporting.
  
• Helpful Hints for Filers and Reviewers (pdf, 2 pages): Additional suggestions for filers and reviewers of the OGE-278.
  
• Questions and Answers for Filers (pdf format, 2 pages)
  
• Sample Broker Statements and OGE-278 Assets Page (pdf, 2 pages). This document provides sample filer and spouse statements, and the OGE-278 Assets and Income page (Schedule A) showing their reportable consolidated holdings.
  
• Slide Presentation to IC Directors and Ethics Officials: PowerPoint Slides or Acrobat pdf format (5 pages)

"Two years ago [July 2010], President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - the most significant set of financial reforms since the Great Depression. The landmark law is designed to help protect Americans from the excessive risk, fragmented oversight, and poor consumer protections that played leading roles in bringing about the recent financial crisis. Treasury and the independent regulators have made meaningful progress implementing the law, which is vital to restoring trust in the underlying safety, stability, and integrity of the financial system, and to rebuilding a pro-growth, pro-investment environment. To outline the progress made, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has developed an overview of where reform stands and the changes it has effected on the financial system to date. For a copy of the overview, please click here."

News release: "The Federal Trade Commission is publishing a Federal Register Notice seeking public comments on additional proposed modifications to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule. In updating the Rule to keep current with technology advances, in September 2011, the FTC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on proposed changes to the Commission's COPPA Rule. The Commission received 350 comments. In response to those comments and informed by its experience in enforcing and administrating the Rule, the FTC now proposes to modify certain definitions to clarify the scope of the Rule and strengthen its protections for the online collection, use, or disclosure of children's personal information."

Via CDT: "The chart below compares on civil liberties grounds three bills that seek to promote cybersecurity and it updates a similar chart we issued on April 4, 2012 based on prior versions of all three bills. The Senate is set to consider the Cybersecurity Act, S. 3414 (“Lieberman-Collins” bill), introduced on July 19. The chart shows that the Lieberman bill better protects privacy than do either of the competing bills, and that it should be further improved by dropping monitoring and countermeasures language. The leading alternative Senate bill, SECURE IT, S. 3342, was re-introduced by Senator McCain and other co-sponsors on June 27 (“SECURE IT”). Despite a White House veto threat, the House passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, H.R. 3523 (“CISPA”) on April 26 on a vote of 248-168. It will be reconciled with cybersecurity legislation that the Senate passes. (Lieberman-Collins and SECURE IT include cybersecurity measures unrelated to information sharing that are not reflected in this chart.)

Estimates for the Insurance Coverage Provisions of the Affordable Care Act Updated for the Recent Supreme Court Decision, July 24, 2012

"CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have estimated the direct spending and revenue effects of H.R. 6079, the Repeal of Obamacare Act, as passed by the House of Representatives on July 11, 2012. H.R. 6079 would repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with the exception of one subsection that has no budgetary effect. This estimate reflects the spending and revenue projections in CBO’s March 2012 baseline as adjusted to take into account the effects of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the ACA. For various reasons discussed in the report, the estimated budgetary effects of repealing the ACA by enacting H.R. 6079 are close to, but not equivalent to, an estimate of the budgetary effects of the ACA with the signs reversed."

"The Basel Action Network (BAN) announced today that the world's largest electronics recycler, Sims Recycling Solutions, Inc. (SRS) has signed a contract with Orion Registrars to certify each of its 14 North American electronics processing sites to the e-Stewards® Standard over the next 18 months. The e-Stewards Certification is known as the “gold standard” for environmentally sound and socially responsible electronics recycling in an industry too often plagued with irresponsible actors. e-Stewards Certified Recyclers undergo rigorous onsite audits to ensure they never allow the export of hazardous electronic waste (e-waste) to developing countries throughout their recycling chain, while preventing the unauthorized release of personal and corporate data from old computers...In addition to e-Stewards certification, both SRS and BAN support the passage of the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act. This proposed federal legislation would prohibit the export of toxic e-waste from the U.S. to developing countries and ensure that the U.S acts in accordance with the waste trading rules established by the United Nations Environment Program's Basel Convention. [Jackie Royce]

Mortality and Access to Care among Adults after State Medicaid Expansions, Benjamin D. Sommers, M.D., Ph.D., Katherine Baicker, Ph.D., and Arnold M. Epstein, M.D. New England Journal of Medicine, July 25, 2012

Individual Mandate and Related Information Requirements under ACA, Janemarie Mulvey, Specialist in Health Care Financing - Hinda Chaikind, Section Research Manager, July 2, 2012

State of the Financial Services Industry - July 17, 2012. Focus on fortress balance sheets; too big to fail; the cumulative weight of new rules; and economic benefits of big banks

Via American Banker Association - Davis Polk: Two Years of Dodd-Frank

News release: "The Financial Stability Oversight Council (the Council) today voted unanimously to designate eight financial market utilities (FMUs) as systemically important under Title VIII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act). This action, the first designations made by the Council, represents another key step towards creating a safer, more resilient financial system. The authority to designate FMUs—often referred to as the “plumbing of the financial system” for their role in clearing and settling transactions between financial institutions—is an important component of Wall Street Reform and is one of a number of tools now available to constrain risk and help protect against future financial crises."

Via LLRX.com - Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide - Completely Updated - July 2012

Copyright and Innovation: The Untold Story by Michael A. Carrier via SSRN

Health Care: Constitutional Rights and Legislative Powers. Kathleen S. Swendiman, Legislative Attorney, July 9, 2012

Center for Economic and Policy Research: "The U.S. health care system is possibly the most inefficient in the world: We spend twice as much per person on health care as other advanced countries, but we have worse health outcomes, including a lower life expectancy. The government, through programs like Medicare and Medicaid, pays for approximately half of the country's health care, almost all of which is actually provided by the private sector. Thus, the bulk of our projected rising budget deficits are due to skyrocketing private health care costs. The CEPR Health Care Budget Deficit Calculator shows that if the U.S. can get health care costs under control, our budget deficits will not rise uncontrollably in the future. But if we fail to contain health care costs, then it will be almost impossible to prevent exploding future budget deficits. The Calculator lets you see what projected U.S. budget debts would be if we had the same per person health care costs as any of the countries listed below, all of which enjoy longer life expectancies than the U.S. (Life expectancies are listed in parentheses.) The blue line shows projected deficits based on baseline projections from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO). This includes the projected impact of cost savings associated with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The red line shows where the deficits would be if health care costs in the U.S. were to follow a path that does not include the projected cost savings from the ACA. By default, health care costs for other countries is based on the current health care share of GDP. You may also choose to base it on current health-care expenditures per person."

CRS - ACA: A Brief Overview of the Law, Implementation, and Legal Challenges, July 3, 2012

Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions. Eric A. Fischer, Senior Specialist in Science and Technology, June 29, 2012

"[June 27, 2012] the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released information revealing the existence of hundreds of previously unknown coal ash dumps nationwide. The information comes pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) by Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice. The data released...by the EPA reveal that there are at least 451 more coal ash ponds than previously acknowledged—significantly increasing the known threat from coal ash. The EPA had admitted to 710 ponds, and today’s numbers increase that total to at least 1,161. In addition, the agency previously did not know how many ponds were unlined. [The] data indicate that at least 535 ponds (46 percent) operate without a liner to prevent hazardous chemicals from reaching drinking water sources.

"The Affordable Care Act puts in place strong consumer protections, provides new coverage options and gives you the tools you need to make informed choices about your health. In this section, learn about how the law affects you.

• Read the Full Law: Read the full text of the Affordable Care Act or browse and download the law by section.
  
• Key Features of the Law: Read this section to learn more about your rights and protections, insurance choices, and insurance costs. Get information on important benefits and programs available to seniors and small businesses.
  
• Timeline: What’s Changing and When: The health care law puts in place reforms that will roll out through 2014 and beyond. Use the timeline or a printable list of key features in chronological order to learn what’s changing and when.
  
• Information for You: Use this section to learn how the law helps different groups of people from young adults to seniors and pregnant women to families with children. Find audience-specific resources, videos, and top things to know.
  
• Implementation Resources: Find out how the health care law is being carried out across the country. Find links to regulations, authorities, grants, letters, reports, and other information related to the Affordable Care Act."
  
• Official text of Supreme Court decision; text with annotations via Bloomberg Law - Natl. Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, Nos. 11-393, 11-398 and, 11-400, 2012 BL 160004 (U.S. June 28, 2012); and extensive analysis and links to a wide range of commentary and analysis, via SCOTUSBlog, and the persistent URL (PURL) via GPO.
  
• The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) published a chart identifying the four issues the Court addressed in its decision on the Affordable Care Act, the legal arguments for and against each issue, and a very brief statement of the Court's respective ruling on each.

What a Supreme Court Decision to Eliminate the Individual Mandate Could Mean for Coverage and Costs, The Urban Institute Health Policy Center, June 22, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. Without the mandate, the ACA would be less effective in reducing the number of uninsured and cutting the cost of uncompensated care. However, even if the High Court rejects the mandate, policies such as late enrollment penalties and excluding care for pre-existing conditions for a period of time could preserve high levels of coverage in the ACA. As enacted, the ACA would cut the number of uninsured nearly in half—from 50 million to 26 million, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center. However, if the High Court eliminates the mandate but retains all other provisions of the health reform law, the number of uninsured will fall by much less—to 40 million. Overall health spending would change relatively little under the ACA, with or without the mandate. However, government, employer, and individual spending would fall slightly without the mandate because fewer people would have coverage. Uncompensated care would fall from $78 billion without the ACA to $39 under the full health reform. But without the individual mandate, the ACA would reduce uncompensated care to only $59 billion."

CRS - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): A Legal Analysis, David H. Carpenter, Legislative Attorney, June 7, 2012

Via Daniel Schuman, The Sunlight Foundation: "SCOUT is a new free alert service that allows you search and create email or text alerts on legislation shaping issues you care about in Congress and across all fifty states. Scout also makes it easy to search federal regulations and what is actually said by lawmakers in the Congressional Record.

• Set up alerts and subscribe to receive updates from Congress, state legislatures and more via email or SMS text.
  
• Search through every bill and regulation in the federal government.
  
• Be notified when Congress plans to vote on a bill.
  
• Follow and search bills in all 50 states; powered by the Open States project.
  
• Import an RSS feed to complement issue alerts."

Unauthorized Alien Students: Issues and “DREAM Act” Legislation, Andorra Bruno, Specialist in Immigration Policy, June 19, 2012

News release: "The House Appropriations Committee today released the fiscal year 2013 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, which will be considered in subcommittee tomorrow. The bill provides annual funding for the Treasury Department, the Executive Office of the President, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, the Small Business Administration, the General Services Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and several other independent agencies. The bill includes a total of $21.15 billion in funding for these agencies, which is $376 million below last year’s level and $2 billion below the President’s request. Compared to fiscal year 2010, the last year of Democrat control of Congress, the bill cuts $3 billion, or nearly 13%. When adjusted for inflation, the legislation is virtually equal to the 2008 funding level."

Daniel Schuman and Eric Mill: "House Appropriators may deal a tremendous blow to prospects for improving public access to legislative information. In a draft report expected to accompany the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill for 2013...appropriators misunderstand how data can be "authenticated," and kick responsibility for improving public access to legislative data to a non-public task force with no set reporting date. Unless corrected, this draft report represents a tremendous step backward for transparency, and fails to seriously grapple with the history of efforts to free legislative information for widespread public use."

DavisPolk Regulatory Tracker, State of Play to Date, June 2012:

• "As of June 1, 2012, a total of 221 Dodd-Frank rulemaking requirement deadlines have passed. This is 55.5% of the 398 total rulemaking requirements, and 78.9% of the 280 rulemaking requirements with specified deadlines.
  
• Of these 221 passed deadlines, 148 (67.0%) have been missed and 73 (33.0%) have been met with finalized rules. Regulators have not yet released proposals for 21 of the 148 missed rules.
  
• Of the 398 total rulemaking requirements, 110 (27.6%) have been met with finalized rules and rules have been proposed that would meet 144 (36.2%) more. Rules have not yet been proposed to meet 144 (36.2%) rulemaking requirements."
  
• Related postings on financial system
Permanent Link

News release: "This morning, the House Judiciary Committee held an important hearing on the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) and the scope of the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program. The FAA, which gutted privacy protections governing the interception international phone calls and e-mail to and from the United States, is set to expire at the end of the year, and Attorney General Eric Holder says it is his “top priority” to see it renewed."

"The Federal Reserve System is preparing an inventory of historical materials (PDF) to enhance transparency through improved web access to records of the Federal Reserve's past. The initiative is motivated by the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Federal Reserve Act in December 2013 and the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Federal Reserve Banks in November 2014. The inventory will serve as a resource for researchers, academics, and others interested in studying the history of the nation's central bank. The initial inventory captures the Federal Reserve's first efforts to create a single point of access to historical records, documents, and other materials such as photographs and audio and video recordings related to the Federal Reserve System and its leaders. This inventory identifies materials that are currently available from a variety of sources, including the websites of the Reserve Banks and the Board of Governors, the Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research, websites housed at universities, and other private collections. It also includes information about material that is not yet available online that will be considered for digitization and posting."

The Military Lending Act Five Years Later - Impact On Servicemembers, the High-Cost Small Dollar Loan Market, and the Campaign against Predatory Lending, Jean Ann Fox, Consumer Federation of America - May 29, 2012

News release: "The Federal Trade Commission testified before Congress about the agency’s efforts to protect consumer privacy, including the FTC’s support for implementation of a “Do Not Track” mechanism that would allow consumers to control the tracking of their online activities across websites, and other approaches recommended in its recent privacy report. In delivering Commission testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said the current time is a “critical juncture” for consumer privacy, and described the FTC’s recent privacy report, including its call for final implementation of a Do Not Track mechanism. The testimony notes that the Commission recommends Congress consider enacting general privacy legislation, and that it enact data security and breach notification legislation and targeted legislation to address data brokers."

Intelligence Authorization Legislation: Status and Challenges - Richard F. Grimmett, Specialist in International Security. May 21, 2012
It is the purpose of this report to assess the effects of the absence of intelligence authorization legislation subsequent to FY2005 and indicate the substantial but limited effects of the FY2010 Intelligence Authorization Act (P.L. 111-259). It is recognized that the statutory requirements have been met by the catchall provisions in appropriations acts. The report will not focus on the reasons why Congress did not pass intelligence authorization; it is sufficient to note that Members did not choose to compromise disagreements either amongst themselves or with the White House on issues they considered important. In the absence of authorization legislation, intelligence
activities continue to be carried out, and expensive and complex intelligence systems continue to be approved; but the process is somewhat different from that intended when the intelligence committees were established in the late 1970s and there are significant implications for congressional oversight of intelligence activities and, arguably, for the nation’s intelligence effort as a whole."

Table Egg Production and Hen Welfare: The UEP-HSUS Agreement and H.R. 3798, May 14, 2012

Not Coming to America: Why the US is Falling Behind in the Global Race for Talent - May 22, 2012, "is a first-ever comparative study of the immigration reforms other countries employ to boost their economies and lure the high and low-skilled workers needed for continued economic growth. The report by the Partnership for a New American Economy and Partnership for New York City identifies risks facing the US economy if it does not reform its immigration laws and explores the recruitment strategies Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Singapore and the United Kingdom use to attract the workers needed to grow their economies. The report also tells the stories of individuals recruited to other countries by immigration reforms that made it easy for them to contribute to their new country’s economy and concludes by recommending six immigration reforms the US can adopt to resume its position as the magnet for the world’s most talented and necessary workers."

Legislative History Research: A Basic Guide, Julia Taylor - Section Head - ALD Section and Information Research Specialist, June 15, 2011

Follow up to previous postings on fracking, news that Vermont became the first state to ban the practice - Gov. Peter Shumlin: "This bill, [H. 464 - An act relating to hydraulic fracturing wells for natural gas and oil production], will ensure we do not inject chemicals into groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy. It is a big moment. I hope other states will follow us. The science on fracking is uncertain at best. Let the other states be the guinea pigs. Let the Green Mountain State preserve its clean water, its lakes, its rivers and its quality of life."

The 2012 list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® - From pollution to fracking to dams and dredging, this year we’re highlighting issues that have a direct impact on our clean water, public health, and wildlife. Every year since 1986, this report has put a spotlight on ten rivers at risk. With the 2012 list, we have zeroed in on key actions and, working with our local partners – and you - we are going to get decision-makers to do the right thing."

House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security - Hearing on the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance (GPS) Act - Statement for the Record of Professor Matt Blaze, May 17, 2012

United States Census Directors Blog: "Our country faces important Federal funding challenges linked to the current recession and its aftermath. On the Census Bureau’s part, we have been striving to cut administrative costs, reengineer our survey processes, and find innovative ways to squeeze every cent of taxpayer money we get...It is also my duty to inform the country of the impact of budgets on the scope and quality of the nonpartisan statistical information the Census Bureau provides. This blog post provides information about the implications of the recent budget passed by the House of Representatives. The Appropriations Bill eliminates the Economic Census, which measures the health of our economy. It terminates the American Community Survey, which produces the social and demographic information that monitors the impact of economic trends on communities throughout the country. It halts crucial development of ways to save money on the next decennial census. In the last three years the Census Bureau has reacted to budget and technological challenges by mounting aggressive operational efficiency programs to make these key statistical cornerstones of the country more cost efficient. Eliminating them halts all the progress to build 21st century statistical tools through those innovations. This bill thus devastates the nation’s statistical information about the status of the economy and the larger society."

Racial Profiling: Legal and Constitutional Issues, Jody Feder - Legislative Attorney, April 16, 2012

Follow up to previous posting on fracturing, on May 4, 2012 "the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released draft underground injection control (UIC) program permitting guidance for class II wells that use diesel fuels during hydraulic fracturing activities. EPA developed the draft guidance to clarify how companies can comply with a law passed by Congress in 2005, which exempted hydraulic fracturing operations from the requirement to obtain a UIC permit, except in cases where diesel fuel is used as a fracturing fluid...Natural gas plays a key role in our nation's clean energy future and the process known as hydraulic fracturing is one way of accessing that vital resource. Hydraulic fracturing is used by gas producers to stimulate wells and recover natural gas from sources such as coalbeds and shale gas formations. Hydraulic fracturing is also used for other applications including oil recovery. Over the past few years, several key technical, economic, and energy policy developments have spurred increased use of hydraulic fracturing for gas extraction over a wider diversity of geographic regions and geologic formations. Along with the expansion of hydraulic fracturing, there have been increasing concerns about its potential impacts on drinking water resources, public health, and environmental impacts in the vicinity of these facilities."

Analysis of the Clean Energy Standard Act of 2012, May 2012

Cybersecurity: Authoritative Reports and - Resources, Rita Tehan
Information Research Specialist, April 26, 2012

Via LLRX.com - A Technical Examination of SOPA and PIPA - The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) are the subject of this Infographic, by Spencer Belkofer, Lumin Consulting. See also his related Infographic on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA).

Requiring Individuals to Obtain Health Insurance: A Constitutional Analysis, April 6, 2012

List of CBO publications that analyze the budgetary impact of the Budget Control Act of 2011, (P.L. 112-25).

News release: "As more fully explained in this statement, the Board confirms that banking entities by statute have two years from July 21, 2012, to conform all of their activities and investments to section 619 [Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the so-called Volcker Rule], unless that period is extended by the Board. During the conformance period, banking entities should engage in good-faith planning efforts, appropriate for their activities and investments, to enable them to conform their activities and investments to the requirements of section 619 and final implementing rules by no
later than the end of the conformance period. This may include complying with reporting or record keeping requirements if such elements are included in the final rules implementing section 619 and the agencies determine such actions are required during the conformance period."

Follow up to posting on SOPA’s Evil Twin Sister – CISPA, via Electronic Frontier Foundation, Cybersecurity Bill FAQ: The Disturbing Privacy Dangers in CISPA and How To Stop It, by Trevor Timm

Via LLRX.com - SOPA’s Evil Twin Sister – CISPA: Well known graphic artists Jake O'Neil and Spencer Belkofer created this infographic out of a sense of urgency to visualize the salient information with as many communities as possible. This bill, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011, has not garnered the media coverage of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), but its high impact implications target key legal issues involving privacy and intellectual property.

Kaiser Health Reform: ACA Federal Funds Tracker - "This online tool tracks funds received by the states, local governments, employers, community organizations, and other entities to implement provisions in the Affordable Care Act. Click on any state for a profile of its health reform-related grant information. Learn more about the Federal Funds Tracker tool by clicking on the (?) icon."

Small Business Size Standards: A Historical Analysis of Contemporary Issues, Robert Jay Dilger, Senior Specialist in American National Government, April 10, 2012

Detention of U.S. Persons as Enemy Belligerents - Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, April 11, 2012

The Law Library of Congress, Translation of National Legislation into English, March 2012 - Global Legal Research Center

"Track pension and retirement bills in NCSL's new Pension Legislation Database. Bills from the 2012 legislative session are searchable by state, topic, keyword, status or sponsor."

A Review of CBO's Activities in 2011 Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, March 30, 2012

Turning to Fairness: Insurance Discrimination Against Women Today and the Affordable Care Act, The National Women’s Law Center, March 2012.

News release: "The Federal Trade Commission, the nation's chief privacy policy and enforcement agency, issued a final report setting forth best practices for businesses to protect the privacy of American consumers and give them greater control over the collection and use of their personal data. In the report, Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: Recommendations For Businesses and Policymakers, the FTC also recommends that Congress consider enacting general privacy legislation, data security and breach notification legislation, and data broker legislation."

Constitutional Authority Statements in Congress, Hanah M. Volokh, Emory University School of Law - Florida Law Review, Forthcoming

Changes in federal and state unemployment insurance legislation in 2011, Loryn Lancaster - Monthly Labor Review, February 2012.

"This brief provides a side-by-side comparison of recent proposals to transform Medicare into a premium support program and slow the future growth in Medicare spending. These proposals each would convert Medicare from a defined benefit program, in which beneficiaries are guaranteed coverage for a fixed set of benefits, to a defined contribution or "premium support" program, in which beneficiaries are provided a fixed federal payment to help cover their health care expenses. The brief compares the premium support provisions of these proposals, including how the level of premium support for beneficiaries would be determined; whether traditional Medicare would remain an option; what protections would be provided for low-income beneficiaries; and whether and how the proposals would cap federal spending on Medicare. These differences have important implications for Medicare beneficiaries, the federal budget, health care providers and private health plans.

• Sens. Richard Burr and Tom Coburn, in "The Seniors' Choice Act," released on February 16, 2012;
  
• Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Paul Ryan, as proposed in "Guaranteed Choices to Strengthen Medicare and Health Security for All: Bipartisan Options for the Future," released on December 15, 2011;
  
• Former Senator Pete Domenici and Dr. Alice Rivlin, in the "Domenici-Rivlin Protect Medicare Act," initially released on November 1, 2011; and
  
• Rep. Ryan in "The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America's Promise," released on April 5, 2011, and scored by the Congressional Budget Office.
  
• The descriptions in this side-by-side comparison are based on summaries released by sponsors of each proposal; legislative language is not available at this time.

News release: "The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a rule proposal to help protect investors from identity theft by ensuring that broker-dealers, mutual funds, and other SEC-regulated entities create programs to detect and respond appropriately to red flags. The SEC issued the proposal jointly with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Section 1088 of the Dodd-Frank Act transferred authority over certain parts of the Fair Credit Reporting Act from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to the SEC and CFTC for entities they regulate. The proposed rules are substantially similar to rules adopted in 2007 by the FTC and other federal financial regulatory agencies that were previously required to adopt such rules."

"As of today, March 16, 2012, the transition from GPO Access to GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys) is complete. FDsys now is GPO's only Web site for online official and authentic Government information from all three branches of the Federal Government. After ushering GPO into the online world 16 years ago, GPO Access has been archived and taken off line. As part of the transition process, no new content has been added to GPO Access since November 2011."

Updated Estimates for the Insurance Coverage Provisions of the Affordable Care Act, March 2012

Naval Oceanography Portal: "Starting in 2007, daylight time begins in the United States on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. On the second Sunday in March, clocks are set ahead one hour at 2:00 a.m. local standard time, which becomes 3:00 a.m. local daylight time. On the first Sunday in November, clocks are set back one hour at 2:00 a.m. local daylight time, which becomes 1:00 a.m. local standard time. These dates were established by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. no. 109-58, 119 Stat 594 (2005). Not all places in the U.S. observe daylight time. In particular, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not use it. Indiana adopted its use beginning in 2006."

"A new brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation assesses the potential benefits and drawbacks to states from implementing a Basic Health Program under the Affordable Care Act. The law gives states the option of creating a Basic Health Program, using federal tax money to subsidize insurance coverage for low-income residents who would otherwise be eligible to purchase coverage through a state exchange. Such a program would give states the ability to provide more affordable coverage for these low-income residents and improve continuity of care for people whose income fluctuates above and below Medicaid levels. The brief discusses the potential impact of a Basic Health Program on the effectiveness of state exchanges and strategies to manage these effects. It also offers a framework for states looking to assess the financial feasibility of the Basic Health Program, highlighting key considerations in estimating the amount of federal funding they will receive and the costs of implementing the program."

News release: "New research paper finds that most farmers support the long-standing conservation compact that has helped protect the rich soil and clean water that sustain food, farming and public health. Conservation Compliance: A Retrospective…and Look Ahead by conservationist Max Schnepf concludes through a comprehensive review of public opinion polls that the farming community has consistently supported the historic deal between taxpayers and farmers that was struck in the 1985 farm bill. Under it, growers agreed to keep soil from washing away and chemicals out of waterways in return for generous taxpayer support. Seven polls taken in the last 30 years show that a solid majority of farmers believe that bargain is a fair one. “The conservation compact was a godsend for agricultural and conservation groups and farmers,” Schnepf writes. “In the 10 years following the 1985 farm bill, farmers did more to curb soil erosion than at any time since the infamous Dust Bowl years of the 1930s.” Schnepf notes that Environmental Working Group’s 2011 report, Losing Ground, found that high prices, intense competition for farmland leases and ethanol mandates have put unprecedented pressure on land and water. As a result, the historic gains in soil conservation the compact achieved are being lost...EWG released a series of web-based ads and Schnepf’s paper ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled hearing of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, which will focus on Strengthening Conservation Through the 2012 Farm Bill."

News release: "The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued two revised publications addressing veterans with disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)...The revised guides reflect changes to the law stemming from the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which make it easier for veterans with a wide range of impairments – including those that are often not well understood -- such as traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to get needed reasonable accommodations that will enable them to work successfully. [Prior to the ADA Amendments Act, the ADA’s definition of the term “disability” had been construed narrowly, significantly limiting the law’s protections.]

Covering People with Pre-existing Conditions - Report on the Implementation and Operation of the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan Program, February 23, 2012

"Petition Requests FAA to Conduct a Rulemaking on Drones and Privacy
EPIC, joined by more than 100 organizations, experts, and members of the public, has sent a petition to the Federal Aviation Administration, urging the agency to address the privacy threats associated with the increased use of drones in the United States. Congress recently passed legislation requiring the Agency to assess the safety of drones used by commercial and government operators. The petition asserts that "The privacy threat posed by the deployment of drone aircraft in the United States is great. The public should be given the opportunity to comment on this development." For more information, see EPIC: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Drones."

"ABA is leveraging our unmatched resources and staff experts to help bankers navigate the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act and the biggest re-write of financial regulations in decades. Search ABA's DFA Resources. From news and policy analysis to compliance how-to's and staff training, ABA offers everything your bank will need to understand and comply with scores of new rules.

"Today the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues posted on its website hundreds of supporting documents related to its investigation into the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) studies conducted in Guatemala in the 1940s. The documents include a spreadsheet that Commission staff painstakingly created to document the research subjects in Guatemala. In addition, the Commission has posted a Spanish translation of its report, "Ethically Impossible" STD Research in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948. As the world is now aware, the PHS research involved intentionally exposing and infecting vulnerable populations to sexually transmitted diseases without the subjects’ consent. The revelation of the research led to an apology from President Obama to the President of Guatemala. It also resulted in a request from President Obama to the Commission for a thorough fact finding investigation into the U.S. PHS studies...The Commission completed its historical investigation and sent its final report to the White House last September. The full report posted now includes hyperlinks to the supporting historical documents cited in the endnotes."

News release: "Regulation of medical devices­—a $350 billion industry that includes such products as heart and brain stents, artificial hips and implantable defibrillators—is at a crossroads. With a major reauthorization bill up for debate, members of Congress already have introduced 14 bills (as of Feb. 14, 2012) that aim to accelerate devices’ path to the market, often by weakening measures intended to ensure patient safety. Relaxing review standards for medical devices, as proposed by recently introduced bills, would be exactly the wrong course of action, further weakening an inadequate system. Recalls are rising. The average number of high-risk recalls in 2011 was more than double than in recent years. Congress should reject the medical device industry’s lobbying requests and devise an approval process for medical devices that prioritizes patients’ lives and health over companies’ profits."

• Report - Substantially Unsafe - Medical Devices Pose Great Threat to Patients; Safeguards Must be Strengthened, Not Weakened
  
• Read Public Citizen's Statement to the Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, February 15, 2012

White House: "We live in a 21 5t century economy, but we have a Government organized for the 20th century. Our economy has fundamentally changed but the Federal Government has not. The Federal Government needs to be leaner, smarter, and more consumer-friendly to give our communities, businesses, and workers the tools they need to thrive and to strengthen American competitiveness and innovation. Today, I am submitting to the Congress the enclosed legislative proposal, the Reforming and Consolidating Government Act of 2012. This legislation would reinstate an authority granted to past Presidents to streamline and reform the Executive Branch. The Reforming and Consolidating Government Act of 2012 would modify this longstanding authority by requiring that any reorganization reduce the number of agencies or cut costs. This authority is essential to creating a 21st century Government that is fiscally responsible, works ever more efficiently and effectively for the American people, and helps make America more competitive."

"The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have reviewed the conference agreement for H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, as posted on the Web site of the House Committee on Rules on February 16, 2012. The attached table provides CBO’s and JCT’s estimates of the legislation’s budgetary effects. According to CBO’s and JCT’s estimates, enacting H.R. 3630 would change revenues and direct spending to produce increases in the deficit of $101.1 billion in fiscal year 2012 and $89.3 billion over the 2012-2022 period. The bill would reduce revenues by $77.6 billion over the 2012-2022 period and increase direct spending by $11.7 billion over that period, according to CBO’s and JCT’s estimates."

Federal Reserve - Comments

Detention of U.S. Persons as Enemy Belligerents, Jennifer K. Elsea, Legislative Attorney, February 1, 2012.

CRS - Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry, Marc R. Rosenblum, Specialist in Immigration Policy, January 6, 2012

Wired Campus by Josh Fischman: "Elsevier, the global publishing company, is responsible for The Lancet, Cell, and about 2,000 other important journals; the iconic reference work Gray’s Anatomy, along with 20,000 other books—and one fed-up, award-winning mathematician. Timothy Gowers of the University of Cambridge, who won the Fields Medal for his research, has organized a boycott of Elsevier because, he says, its pricing and policies restrict access to work that should be much more easily available. He asked for a boycott in a blog post on January 21, and as of Monday evening, on the boycott’s Web site The Cost of Knowledge, nearly 1,900 scientists have signed up, pledging not to publish, referee, or do editorial work for any Elsevier journal. The company has sinned in three areas, according to the boycotters: It charges too much for its journals; it bundles subscriptions to lesser journals together with valuable ones, forcing libraries to spend money to buy things they don’t want in order to get a few things they do want; and, most recently, it has supported a proposed federal law (called the Research Works Act) that would prevent agencies like the National Institutes of Health from making all articles written by its grant recipients freely available."

Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline: Legal Issues, January 23, 2012

Presidential Signing Statements: Constitutional and Institutional Implications - Todd Garvey, Legislative Attorney. January 4, 2012

• Credit Rating Agencies - Alternative Compensation Models for Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations, GAO-12-240, Jan 18, 2012
• Dodd-Frank Act - Hybrid Capital Instruments and Small Institution Access to Capital, GAO-12-237, Jan 18, 2012
• Real Estate Appraisals - Appraisal Subcommittee Needs to Improve Monitoring Procedures, GAO-12-147, Jan 18, 2012
• Real Estate Appraisals - Survey of State Appraiser Regulatory Agencies (GAO-12-198SP, January 2012), an E-supplement to GAO-12-147 GAO-12-198SP

Sunlight Foundation: "Making good on part of the House of Representative's commitment to increase congressional transparency, today the House Clerk's office launched http://docs.house.gov/, a one stop website where the public can access all House bills, amendments, resolutions for floor consideration, and conference reports in XML, as well as information on floor proceedings and more. Information will ultimately be published online in real time and archived for perpetuity. The Clerk is hosting the site, and the information will primarily come from the leadership, the Committee on House Administration, the Rules Committee, and the Clerk's office. The project has been driven by House Republican leaders as part of an push for transparency. Important milestones include the adoption of the new House Rules in January 2011 that gave the Committee on House Administration the power to establish standards for publishing documents online, an April 2011 letter from the Speaker and Majority Leader to the Clerk calling for better public access to House information, a Committee on House Administration hearing in June 2011 on modernizing information delivery in the House, a December 2011 public meeting on public access to congressional information, and finally the late December adoption of online publication standards."

Via The Thicket: "National Conference of State Legislatures's (NCSL) new 2012 Presidential Primary Calendar, and its companion, a state-ordered table, 2012 State and Presidential Primary and Caucus Dates...Jennie Bowser created the lists and checked them against a multitude of official sources. She says, “this year, it was more complicated than ever to assemble this data.” Here are a few of the complications:

• State legislatures decide the dates of primaries (except in the states where parties do);
  
• Political parties decide the dates of caucuses (except in the states where the legislature does);
  
• The two major parties don’t always use the same dates in a given state;
  
• More states changed their dates this year than in any of the last three presidential cycles (and Texas’ date could still change); and,
  
• Some primaries are “beauty contests” only, designed to bring attention to a state but not to choose delegates to the national conventions where presidential nominees are officially selected.
  
• To understand all the vagaries in presidential nominating events, the National Association of Secretaries of State has just released a comprehensive report, NASS 2012 Presidential Primaries Guide. In it, you’ll learn the state-by-state details on how the date is chosen, how the primary is funded, who can vote in the primary, and where to find official results."

Follow up to previous posting on ALA - PIPA, SOPA and the OPEN Act Quick Reference Guide, via the White House, Combating Online Piracy while Protecting an Open and Innovative Internet

PIPA, SOPA and the OPEN Act Quick Reference Guide, Corey Williams, American Library Association

National Infrastructure Bank: Overview and Current Legislation, December 14, 2011. "Several bills to establish a national infrastructure bank have been introduced in the 112th Congress. This report examines three such bills, the Building and Upgrading Infrastructure for Long-Term Development Act (S. 652), the American Infrastructure Investment Fund Act of 2011 (S. 936), and the National Infrastructure Development Bank Act of 2011 (H.R. 402). These proposals share three main goals:

• increasing total investment in infrastructure by encouraging new investment from nonfederal sources;
  
• improving project selection by insulating decisions from political influence; and
  
• encouraging new investment with relatively little effect on the federal budget through a mostly self-sustaining entity."

EPA Needs to Manage Nanomaterial Risks More Effectively - Report No. 12-P-0162 December 29, 2011

Budgetary Effects of the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, as Posted on the Website of the House Committee on Rules on December 22, 2011

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, December 2011: "The October downturn in the share of Americans with a favorable view of the health reform law, a dip driven by an erosion of support among Democrats, has been fully reversed in December, with support among Democrats rebounding and overall national opinion on the law returning to the roughly even split seen in Kaiser polls for most of 2011. Forty-three percent of Americans expressed unfavorable views of the law in December (compared to 51% and 44% in October and November, respectively), while 41 percent had favorable views (compared to 34% in October and 37% in November). Partisan divisions persist with 64 percent of Democrats backing the law and just as many Republicans (69%) opposing it. The December poll is the latest in a series designed and analyzed by the Foundation’s public opinion research team.

• Findings
  
• Chartpack
  
• Timeline

News release: "In 2011, state legislators introduced 1,607 bills and resolutions relating to immigrants and refugees in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. This is a significant increase compared with 2010, when 46 states considered more than 1,400 bills and resolutions pertaining to immigrants. Even though more bills were introduced this year, however, 11 percent fewer were enacted. As of Dec. 7, 2011, 42 states and Puerto Rico had enacted 197 new laws and 109 new resolutions, for a total of 306. Fifteen additional bills passed but were vetoed by governors. Five states—Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah—crafted omnibus laws following the example of Arizona’s 2010 bill, SB 1070. These laws include provisions that: require law enforcement to attempt to determine the immigration status of a person involved in a lawful stop; allow state residents to sue state and local agencies for noncompliance with immigration enforcement; require E-Verify (an employment eligibility verification system); prohibit the harboring or transporting of unauthorized aliens; and make it a violation for failure to carry an alien registration document. Alabama’s HB 56 also requires schools to verify students’ immigration status, but the provision was enjoined by the U.S. District Court."

Report on the Troubled Asset Relief Program - December 2011: "In October 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of Public Law 110-343) established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to enable the Department of the Treasury to promote stability in financial markets through the purchase and guarantee of "troubled assets." Section 202 of that legislation requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to submit semiannual reports on the costs of the Treasury’s purchases and guarantees of troubled assets. The law also requires the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to prepare an assessment of each OMB report within 45 days of its issuance. That assessment must discuss three elements:

• The costs of purchases and guarantees of troubled assets,
  
• The information and valuation methods used to calculate those costs, and
  
• The impact on the federal budget deficit and debt."
  
• See also CBO's Troubled Asset Relief Program: Infographic, December 16, 2011

Smart Grid Legislative and Regulatory Policies and Case Studies, December 12, 2011 [299 pages, PDF]

Changes in Health Insurance Coverage in the Great Recession, 2007-2010. Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured

How SOPA Affects Students, Educators, and Libraries: "...Libraries represent another educational group that could face fallout from SOPA. The Library Copyright Alliance, a group whose members include the American Library Association and two other major library organizations, has also written a letter to the House of Representatives raising major issues with the bill. Alarmingly, the librarians point to “three pending copyright infringement lawsuits against universities and their libraries relating to their use of digital technology,” reflecting “a growing tension between rights holders and libraries, and some rights holders’ increasingly belligerent enforcement mentality.” That same enforcement mentality, under SOPA, could lead to criminal prosecutions of libraries, even for activities that are a fair use and conducted without the intention of commercial gain."

News release: "Results released today [12/14/11] by the National Center for Health Statistics demonstrate that the extension of dependent coverage up to age 26 has increased the number of young adults with health insurance, by even more than prior analyses had suggested.[1] This policy, enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act, took effect for insurance plan renewals beginning on September 23, 2010, and was designed to address the fact that young adults have traditionally been the age group least likely to have health insurance. These new estimates show that from September 2010 to June 2011, the percentage of adults 19 to 25 with insurance coverage increased from 64% to 73%, which translates into 2.5 million additional young adults with coverage.[2] This shows a marked continuation of the coverage gains from the Affordable Care Act; estimates based on data from earlier in the year showed that this provision of the Act had led to the extension of coverage to one million young adults.[3]"

H.R. 1905 - Iran Threat Reduction Act of 2011

Smart Grid Legislative and Regulatory Policies and Case Studies, December 12, 2011

Response to Questions About the Effects of a Tax on Financial Transactions That Would Be Imposed by the Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act, December 12. 2011

The Dodd-Frank Act and Housing Finance, Levitin, Adam J., Pavlov, Andrey D. and Wachter, Susan M., (November 17, 2011). Yale Journal on Regulation, Forthcoming; U of Penn, Inst for Law & Econ Research Paper No. 11-35.

Cost Estimate for H.R. 3630, Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011 - December 9, 2011

CBO - Spending Patterns for Prescription Drugs Under Medicare Part D, December 2011: "The centerpiece of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Medicare Modernization Act) was the creation of Medicare Part D, a subsidized pharmaceutical benefit that went into effect in 2006. That additional coverage—which provides outpatient prescription drug insurance to seniors and to people under age 65 with certain disabilities—constituted the most substantial expansion of the Medicare program since its inception in 1965. In 2010, the federal government spent $62.0 billion on Part D, representing 12 percent of total federal spending for Medicare that year."

CRS - Governmental Tracking of Cell Phones and Vehicles: The Confluence of Privacy, Technology, and Law. Richard M. Thompson, Law Clerk, December 1, 2011

CRS - Congressional Lawmaking: A Perspective On Secrecy and Transparency - Walter J. Oleszek, Senior Specialist in American National Government, November 30, 2011

• Compact of Free Association: Proposed U.S. Assistance to Palau for Fiscal Years 2011- 2024, GAO-12-249T, Nov 30, 2011
• Earned Import Allowance Program for Haiti, GAO-12-204R, Nov 30, 2011
• Medicare Advantage: Enrollment Increased from 2010 to 2011 while Premiums Decreased and Benefit Packages Were Stable, GAO-12-93, Oct 31, 2011
• Mental Health and Substance Use: Employers' Insurance Coverage Maintained or Enhanced Since Parity Act, but Effect of Coverage on Enrollees Varied, GAO-12-63, Nov 30, 2011
• Private Health Insurance: Early Indicators Show That Most Insurers Would Have Met or Exceeded New Medical Loss Ratio Standards, GAO-12-90R, Oct 31, 2011
• Recovery Act: Status of Science-Related Funding, GAO-12-279T, Nov 30, 2011
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program: Additional Improvements to Fraud Prevention Controls Are Needed, GAO-12-205T, Nov 30, 2011
• Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Program: Additional Improvements to Fraud Prevention Controls Are Needed, GAO-12-152R, Oct 26, 2011
• Small Business Administration: Progress Continues in Addressing Reforms to the Disaster Loan Program, GAO-12-253T, Nov 30, 2011
• Veterans Administration Procurement: Protests Concerning Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Preferences Sustained, GAO-12-278T, Nov 30, 2011

Cost Estimate for S. 1867, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, November 29, 2011

Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from July 2011 Through September 2011, November 2011

A Year Later, Little Progress on Digitizing Legislative Documents, Daniel Schuman: "A year ago today, Congress' Joint Committee on Printing directed that three sets of vital legislative and legal documents be published online "as quickly as possible." We've reviewed how well that order was implemented, and the results are not encouraging. Of the three documents, there's only apparent progress on one. The vital documents are the Constitution Annotated, the Congressional Record, and the Statutes at Large. The Government Printing Office is responsible for publishing them, and shares that responsibility to a certain extent with the Library of Congress and its subsidiary agencies, the Congressional Research Service and the Law Library of Congress. These agencies are custodians of America's heritage, and have an important obligation to make it available to every citizen. Here's how they've performed..."

Legislative History of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act Public Law 109-435, James I. Campbell Jr.,
September 2007. Includes a summary of the evolution of the bill over 10 years, the public law, congressional debates, most recent committee reports (and related bills), and presidential signing statement. 1077 pages.

Tax Reform Options: Promoting Retirement Security by Jack VanDerhei, Employee Benefit Research Institute: "Currently, the combination of worker and employer contributions in a defined contribution plan is capped by the federal tax code at the lesser of $49,000 per year or 100 percent of a worker’s compensation (participants over age 50 can made additional “catch-up” contributions). As part of the effort to lower the federal deficit and reduce federal “tax expenditures,” two major reform proposals have surfaced that would change current tax policy toward retirement savings:

• A plan that would end the existing tax deductions for 401(k) contributions and replace them with a flat-rate refundable credit that serves as a matching contribution into a retirement savings account.
  
• The so-called “20/20 cap,” included by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform in their December 2010 report, The Moment of Truth, which would limit the sum of employer and worker annual contributions to the lower of $20,000 or 20 percent of income, the so-called “20/20 cap.”

• Dodd-Frank Act Regulations: Implementation Could Benefit from Additional Analyses and Coordination, GAO-12-151, Nov 10, 2011
• Financial Audit: IRS's Fiscal Years 2011 and 2010 Financial Statements, GAO-12-165, Nov 10, 2011
• Financial Audit: Office of Financial Stability (Troubled Asset Relief Program) Fiscal Years 2011 and 2010 Financial Statements, GAO-12-169, Nov 10, 2011
• Medicaid: Prototype Formula Would Provide Automatic, Targeted Assistance to States during Economic Downturns, GAO-12-38, Nov 10, 2011

"The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is pleased to share a new paper published in First Monday, Why parents help their children lie to Facebook about age: Unintended consequences of the ‘Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act,’ authored by Berkman community members danah boyd, Eszter Hargittai, Jason Schultz, and John Palfrey.

News release: "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sued the Department of Justice (DOJ) today for answers about "secret interpretations" of the USA PATRIOT Act, signed into law ten years ago today. Several senators have warned that the DOJ is using Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act to support what government attorneys call a "sensitive collection program" that may be targeting large numbers of Americans. Section 215 allows for secret court orders to obtain "tangible things" when the FBI certifies they are relevant to a government investigation. The list of possible "tangible things" the government can obtain is seemingly limitless, and could include everything from driver's license records to Internet browsing patterns. Section 215 also limits the court's discretion to deny the order and prevents the recipient of an order from disclosing its existence."

News release: "The Center for Biological Diversity released a new report today outlining the best ways to ensure that plants and animals protected under the Endangered Species Act get the help they need and that’s required by law. The report, A Future for All: A Blueprint for Strengthening the Endangered Species Act, includes 20 important policy recommendations for the Obama administration to improve implementation of the Endangered Species Act. The proposals range from addressing global warming and safeguarding critical habitat to protecting species from harm and fully funding efforts to protect them from extinction...Today’s report follows an announcement earlier this year that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service are developing new regulations for the Endangered Species Act to ensure they are “up-to-date, clear, and effective.” So far, details of the changes have yet to be released. “A Future for All” outlines some of the most pressing recommendations for implementing the Act."

News release: "By exploiting loopholes in the law, the chemical industry for decades has systematically subverted Environmental Protection Agency efforts to protect public health, a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council found. As a result, the industry has made enormous profits while delaying restrictions on unsafe chemicals, largely by ginning up scientific uncertainties, according to the NRDC study, released today. "These industry tactics have prolonged the exposure of millions of people to toxic chemicals such as TCE, formaldehyde and styrene, which can cause serious harm," said Jennifer Sass, senior scientist with NRDC's Health Program. Trichloroethylene, or TCE, is a solvent used for metal degreasing; formaldehyde is a cancer-causing agent used to manufacture plywood, particle boards and glues; and styrene is a toxic substance found in plastics, latex paint, synthetic rubbers and polyesters....The NRDC report, The Delay Game: How the Chemical Industry Ducks Regulation of the Most Toxic Substances, is a case-study of how the chemical industry has stymied government action that would protect the public from exposure to TCE, formaldehyde and styrene. The study highlights the need to update the 35-year old Toxic Substances Control Act, so that the EPA can test, assess and regulate chemicals in a timely manner in order to protect public health. Because the law has never been updated, the public has been exposed to thousands of chemicals in consumer products that have never been tested for safety by EPA."

News release: "Concerned that the pairing of the new Kindle Fire tablet with its must-use Silk browser means Amazon could track each Web click of Kindle Fire users Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) [October 14, 2011] sent a letter to Amazon’s CEO asking for responses to questions about tablets users’ privacy and security...In May 2011, Reps. Markey and Joe Barton (R-Texas) introduced the Do Not Track Kids Act of 2011, bipartisan legislation that amends the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 to extend, enhance and update the provisions relating to the collection, use and disclosure of children’s personal information. The legislation also establishes new protections for the personal information of children and teens."

News release: "The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday requested public comment on a proposed regulation implementing the so-called "Volcker Rule" requirements of section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 619 generally contains two prohibitions. First, it prohibits insured depository institutions, bank holding companies, and their subsidiaries or affiliates (banking entities) from engaging in short-term proprietary trading of any security, derivative, and certain other financial instruments for a banking entity's own account, subject to certain exemptions. Second, it prohibits owning, sponsoring, or having certain relationships with, a hedge fund or private equity fund, subject to certain exemptions. The act also prohibits banking entities from engaging in an exempted transaction or activity if it would involve or result in a material conflict of interest between the banking entity and its clients, customers, or counterparties, or that would result in a material exposure to high-risk assets or trading strategies, in each case as defined by the rule. The act similarly prohibits banking entities from engaging in an exempted transaction or activity if it would pose a threat to the safety and soundness of the banking entity or to the financial stability of the United States. The proposal, which was developed jointly with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, clarifies the scope of the act's prohibitions and, consistent with statutory authority, provides certain exemptions to these prohibitions. It is anticipated these agencies will issue a comparable proposal today or in the near future."

Governors Highway Safety Administration, Cell Phone Laws and Texting, October 2011 - "This chart outlines all state cell phone and text messaging laws. Some local jurisdictions may have additional regulations. Enforcement type is shown in parenthesis.

• Handheld Cell Phones: 9 states, D.C. and the Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving. Except for Maryland, all laws are primary enforcement—an officer may cite a driver for using a handheld cell phone without any other traffic offense taking place.
  
• All Cell Phone Use: No state bans all cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) for all drivers, but many prohibit all cell phone use by certain drivers - Novice Drivers: 30 states and D.C. ban all cell phone use by novice drivers. School Bus Drivers: Bus drivers in 19 states and D.C. may not use a cell phone when passengers are present.
  
• Text Messaging: 34 states, D.C. and Guam ban text messaging for all drivers. 31 states, D.C., and Guam have primary enforcement; the others, secondary. Novice Drivers: An additional 7 states prohibit text messaging by novice drivers. School Bus Drivers: 3 states restrict school bus drivers from texting while driving.
  
• Some states such as Maine, N.H. and Utah treat cell phone use and texting as part of a larger distracted driving issue. In Utah, cellphone use is an offense only if a driver is also committing some other moving violation (other than speeding)."

News release: An operator who allegedly sent millions of illegal spam text messages to consumers is banned from sending any unsolicited text messages, under a settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission entered by a federal court. According to the FTC complaint filed in February 2011, the marketer sent a “mind-boggling” number of unsolicited commercial text messages pitching mortgage modification services to consumers, and misrepresented that he was affiliated with a government agency. The FTC alleged that many consumers had to pay fees to their mobile carriers to receive the unsolicited text messages. The FTC also alleged that the marketer advertised his text message blasting services by sending consumers illegal spam. The agency charged him with violating the FTC Act and the CAN-SPAM Act."

News release: "Buried in President Obama’s deficit reduction plan (see page 28) is a proposal to allow debt collectors “to contact delinquent debtors via their cellular phones” when collecting debts owed to or guaranteed by the federal government. The proposal will not help reduce the deficit and is harmful for consumers, the National Consumer Law Center warned...Currently, debt collection calls to cell phones are limited because collectors must check their phone number lists against a list of known cell phones and cannot call those numbers unless the consumer has provided that number as a way of reaching them. Though the proposal is limited to debts owed or guaranteed by the federal government, millions of consumers will be affected, including graduates who can’t pay their loans due to the terrible job market, homeowners who are behind in mortgages, and people who are in tax disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. Families who have lost their homes to foreclosure could be exposed to cell phone calls for years if the delinquency on their mortgage is sold to debt buyers."

Obama Aims For $1.5 Trillion In New Tax Revenue To Reduce Deficit, September 21, 2011

News release: "State personal income growth slowed to 1.1 percent, on average, in the second quarter of 2011, down from 2.1 percent in the first quarter, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Growth rates ranged from 2.2 percent in Nebraska and South Dakota to 0.7 percent in the states of Washington and Georgia. Inflation, as measured by the national price index for personal consumption expenditures, decreased to 0.8 percent in the second quarter from 1.0 percent in the first quarter of 2011. The deceleration in the second quarter brought personal income growth back to the rate prevailing in the last two quarters of 2010. Personal income growth had been boosted 0.8 percentage point in the first quarter by a reduction in the personal contribution rate for social security, one of the provisions of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010."

House Committee on the Judiciary: Background on H.R. 1249, the America Invents Act: "On June 23 the House overwhelmingly approved HR 1249, the America Invents Act, by a vote of 304-117. H.R. 1249 updates our patent system to encourage innovation, job creation, and economic growth. The last major patent re­form was nearly 60 years ago. Since then, U.S. innovators have developed cell phones and launched the Internet. And yet the laws protecting the technologies of today are stuck in the past. The current system is bogged down by frivolous lawsuits and uncertainty regarding patent owner­ship. America’s innovators spend years and millions of dollars defending their claims to patent owner­ship. Meanwhile, our competitors are busy developing new products that expand their businesses and grow their economies. This year, for the first time, China is expected to become the world’s number one patent publisher, surpassing the U.S. and Japan in the total and basic number of patents. Our outdated patent system has become a barrier to innovation. We cannot expect America’s innovators and job creators to keep pace with the global marketplace with the patent system of the past. We need a system that ensures patent certainty, approves good patents quickly and weeds out bad patents effectively."

Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future - The President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction, September 19, 2011

News release: "The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, which gives parents control over what personal information websites may collect from children under 13. The FTC proposes these amendments to ensure that the Rule continues to protect children’s privacy, as mandated by Congress, as online technologies evolve. The Commission proposes modifications to the Rule in five areas: definitions, including the definitions of “personal information” and “collection,” parental notice, parental consent mechanisms, confidentiality and security of children’s personal information, and the role of self-regulatory “safe harbor” programs."

Industrial Organization and Systemic Risk: An Agenda for Further Research, Federal Reserve Governor Daniel K. Tarullo At the Conference on the Regulation of Systemic Risk, Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D.C., September 15, 2011

President Proposes $447 Billion Jobs Package, Updated: September 15, 2011: "President Obama has challenged Congress to immediately pass the American Jobs Act of 2011 – a $447 billion jobs package, including payroll tax cuts and tax credits to encourage hiring, along with extended 100 percent bonus depreciation, which would be paid for by limiting deductions for higher income taxpayers and changing the taxation of carried interest. The President described his jobs package during a speech to a Joint Session of Congress on September 8 and unveiled the legislative text on September 12."

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll - "The August 2011 tracking poll examines the views of Americans without health insurance, with a particular focus on how they think the health reform law will affect them. Findings from the poll include:

• Although estimates are that 32 million uninsured Americans will gain coverage under the ACA, only about half of non-elderly Americans currently without coverage say they are familiar with the chief components in the law designed to achieve this goal.
  
• Perhaps because awareness of these coverage expansions is low, nearly half (47%) of the uninsured do not expect to be affected at all by the health reform law, either positively or negatively. But three in ten (31%) do say it will help them get health care. Fourteen percent expect to be hurt by the law, mainly because they worry they will be required to buy coverage they cannot afford.
  
• With health reform somewhat less in the news as the debt ceiling debate took center stage, there has been a decline in public awareness about provisions that advocates have touted as key benefits of health reform.
  
• On another health policy issue in the news, two-thirds of Americans (66%) say they support the recent decision by the Department of Health and Human Services to require health insurance plans to pay for the full cost of birth control and other preventive services for women under the new law, and 24 percent of the public oppose the decision.
  
• Overall public opinion about the ACA once again remains largely unchanged. Thirty-nine percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of the law, 44 percent have an unfavorable one and another 17 percent don’t know enough to register an opinion."
Permanent Link

Estimated Impact of Automatic Budget Enforcement Procedures Specified in the Budget Control Act, September 12, 2011

President Obama's message to Congress, and the text of American Jobs Act of 2011

The Library of Congress - THOMAS: "This site was begun in September 2001 as a way of keeping the public readily apprised of legislation related to the terrorist attack on the United States that month. The selection, made by hand, is necessarily subjective, as the September 11th attack had a ripple effect on legislation in the second session of the 107th Congress, making boundaries difficult to draw. The site will not be updated after the conclusion of the 107th. Not included here are appropriations and authorization bills, which may include provisions relevant to our response to terrorism, but included are some bills related to bio-terrorism and not September 11th."

worldAtWork: Tracking Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Updated September 8, 2011: "On Wednesday, July 21, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The Act calls for sweeping reforms, not just for the financial services industry, but for all publicly-traded companies. With many of the provisions in this bill subject to forthcoming regulations and guidance, this page is dedicated to bringing you the most up-to-date information about regulations and guidance that have been issued that will affect the implementation of this bill."

"The government apps and mobile sites allow you to access official information on various topics from the palm of your hand. Learn more about apps."

"The United States Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives." [Richard McKinney]

Sequestration Update Report for Fiscal Year 2012 - August 12, 2011

Privatization of GPO, Defunding of FDsys, and the Future of the FDLP, by jajacobs

"In the first half of 2011, state legislators introduced 1,592 bills and resolutions relating to immigrants and refugees in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The number of bill introductions is an increase of 16 percent compared to the first half of 2010, when 46 states considered 1,374 bills and resolutions pertaining to immigrants. As of June 30, 2011, 40 state legislatures enacted 151 laws and adopted 95 resolutions for a total of 246. 44 state legislatures passed 191 laws and adopted 128 resolutions, for a total of 314. An additional five bills were vetoed. The 2011 total of laws and resolutions is a decrease of 22 percent. Twelve additional bills passed but were vetoed by governors. As of June 30, an additional 10 bills were pending governors’ approval – these bills are not included in this report of enacted laws. For the same period in 2010, As in previous years, law enforcement, identification/driver’s licenses and employment remained the top issues addressed in state legislation related to immigrants. Several states – Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Utah – enacted sex offender registries that include a requirement of proof of citizenship or immigration documents. Montana required that the DMV use the SAVE program to verify a driver's license or an ID applicant's lawful presence. E-Verify legislation was enacted in 9 states: Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia. Florida added an E-Verify requirement by executive order. Eighteen states now have an E-Verify requirement."

Budget Control Act of 2011 (Engrossed Amendment House - EAH)[S.365.EAH]. Pub. L. No. 112-25, 140 Stat. 240

EPIC: "The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted to approve a bill that will require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to retain data on every customer to allow the government to identify and track their online activity for one year. EPIC Director Marc Rotenberg testified against the bill at the subcommittee hearing, and his arguments were cited by committee members including Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). After two days of deliberation, the bill was passed with an amendment to require ISPs to retain even more information: not only internet protocol addresses, but also customer names, addresses, phone records, type and length of service, and credit card numbers. This retention is a radical contradiction of the core American value that we are innocent until proven guilty, said Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)."

Deficit Reduction: $586.112 billion - "The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) and Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) have closely examined the defense budget for waste, fraud, and abuse and for programs in which there are cheaper yet effective alternatives or in which cancellation or delay poses an acceptable level of risk according to national security experts. The following list details more than $500 billion in deficit reductions, including cuts to wasteful weapons systems, limits on out-of-control contract spending, and reforms to costly entitlement programs. All of the recommendations save taxpayers’ money and maintain our national security. All budget estimates are 10-year projections or less, based on government or credible academic sources. We chose conservative estimates to avoid overstating the scale of the potential deficit reduction."

ACLU news release: "Today, we’re releasing a report, Drastic Measures Required: Congress needs to Overhaul U.S. Secrecy Laws and Increase Oversight of the Secret Security Establishment...we lay out the scope of the problem and analyze its unfortunate consequences for the operation of our government, for our national security, and for our democracy at large. The report asserts that Congress must overhaul U.S secrecy laws and increase its oversight of the secret security establishment in order to rein in the out-of-control secrecy that is poisoning our democracy. We present a number of detailed recommendations for how, exactly, Congress should act to reform the “state secrets privilege,” strengthen Congressional oversight of national security programs, and regulate the use of classification by the executive branch."

Library Journal: "On July 22, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2551, the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2012 by a vote of 252 - 159. Unless the Senate acts, the bill would reduce GPO's budget for FY12 by 20 percent to $108.1 million. Within the GPO budget is the appropriation for the Office of Superintendent of Documents' Salaries and Expenses, which funds the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). This appropriation would be reduced 16 percent, to $33.5 million, eliminating funding for the Federal Digital System (FDsys)."

The Clean Air Act and Health — A Clearer View from 2011. NEJM | July 6, 2011 | Jonathan M. Samet, M.D.

Kaiser Family Foundation: "Many of the debt-reduction plans being considered by Congress and the Administration include proposals that would achieve substantial savings from the Medicare program over time. This updated side-by-side summary compares the key Medicare provisions found in five major debt-reduction plans put forward by the White House, Congress and independent, bipartisan commissions. The five plans are: the President's Framework for Shared Prosperity and Shared Fiscal Responsibility; the House Concurrent Budget Resolution; the Senate "Gang of Six" Proposal; the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (Bowles-Simpson); and the Bipartisan Policy Center Debt Reduction Task Force (Domenici-Rivlin). The summary also includes brief descriptions of Medicare proposals in other deficit reduction proposals from American Enterprise Institute; Cato Institute; Center for American Progress, Sen. Tom Coburn; Congressional Progressive Caucus; Dr. Bill Galston and Ms. Maya MacGuineas; Heritage Foundation; Institute for America's Future; Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Sen. Coburn; Our Fiscal Security; Dr. Alice Rivlin and Chairman Paul Ryan; Republican Study Committee; Roosevelt Institute Campus Network; and Chairman Ryan."

Study on the Resolution of Financial Companies under the Bankruptcy Code, July 2011

News release: "The Federal Reserve Board is seeking comment on a notice that outlines the regulations previously issued by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) that the Federal Reserve will continue to enforce after assuming supervisory responsibility for savings and loan holding companies (SLHCs). Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, supervisory and rule-writing authority for SLHCs and their non-depository subsidiaries will transfer from the OTS to the Board on July 21, 2011. The Board requests comments on the notice by August 31, 2011. The Board intends to issue an interim final rule soon that will include technical, nomenclature, and other changes to certain OTS regulations to accommodate the transfer of supervisory authority to the Board and to address modifications made by the Dodd-Frank Act."

"The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is adopting amendments to its regulations governing organization and functions, availability and release of information, post-employment restrictions for senior examiners, and assessment of fees to incorporate the transfer of certain functions of the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) to the OCC pursuant to Title III of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The OCC also is amending its rules pertaining to preemption and visitorial powers to implement various sections of the Act; change in control of credit card banks and trust banks to implement section 603 of the Act; and deposit-taking by uninsured Federal branches to implement section 335 of the Act."

• Children's Television Act: FCC Could Improve Efforts to Oversee Enforcement and Provide Public Information, GAO-11-659, July 14, 2011
• Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands - Status of Transition to Federal Immigration Law, GAO-11-805T, July 14, 2011
• Defense Logistics: Oversight and a Coordinated Strategy Needed to Implement the Army Workload and Performance System, GAO-11-566R, July 14, 2011
• DOD Civilian Personnel: Competency Gap Analyses and Other Actions Needed to Enhance DOD's Strategic Workforce Plans, GAO-11-827T, July 14, 2011
• Dodd-Frank Act: Eleven Agencies' Estimates of Resources for Implementing Regulatory Reform, GAO-11-808T, July 14, 2011
• EPA Health Risk Assessments: Sustained Management and Oversight Key to Overcoming Challenges, GAO-11-824T, July 14, 2011
• Information Technology: Continued Attention Needed to Accurately Report Federal Spending and Improve Management, GAO-11-831T, July 14, 2011
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Contracts Awarded and Consultants Retained by Federal Departments and Agencies to Assist in Implementing the Act, GAO-11-797R, July 14, 2011.
• DHS Science and Technology: Additional Steps Needed to Ensure Test and Evaluation Requirements Are Met, GAO-11-596, July 14, 2011

"The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act established the federal premerger notification program, which provides the FTC and the Department of Justice with information about large mergers and acquisitions before they occur. The parties to certain proposed transactions must submit premerger notification to the FTC and DOJ. Premerger notification involves completing an HSR Form, also called a “Notification and Report Form for Certain Mergers and Acquisitions,” with information about each company’s business. The parties may not close their deal until the waiting period outlined in the HSR Act has passed, or the government has granted early termination of the waiting period. For more information about the program, read our Introductory Guides. The FTC administers the premerger notification program, and the staff of the Premerger Notification Office is available to answer questions about how and when to file."

NRDC: "With Congress about to consider eliminating 2007 lighting efficiency standards before they even take effect, a new analysis shows the standards would save the country more than $12.5 billion annually when fully implemented in 2020. Americans' energy costs would be reduced by an average of 7 percent or about $85 per household each and every year when the standards are fully in place, according to the analysis. More efficient light bulbs also would eliminate the need for 33 large power plants – and the pollution they would generate - according to the analysis. The full analysis with state-by-state breakdowns of savings is here."

Resolution policies and frameworks – progress so far, July 2011

Medicare’s Payments to Physicians: The Budgetary Impact of Alternative Policies, June 4, 2011

News release: "[June 29, 2011] U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) announced the Senate’s passage of bipartisan legislation to clear the backlog of stalled executive nominations by permanently exempting a range of positions from Senate confirmation. The legislation, which passed 79 to 20, will reduce gridlock and increase the productivity of the Senate. The legislation now moves to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to pass. Once enacted into law, the bill would eliminate the need for the Senate to vote on roughly 170 executive nominations and 3,000 noncontroversial Officer Corps positions. In all, the bill, combined with a separate Senate resolution that was also expected to pass today, reduces or streamlines the number of positions requiring full Senate confirmation by one-third...A list of positions exempted from Senate confirmation—sorted by the Senate committee of jurisdiction—appears in this release."

News release: "A bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators introduced bills in the House and Senate Thursday to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the federal government’s national and homeland security missions by encouraging the government-wide integration of Executive Branch employees working in those areas. The Interagency Personnel Rotation Act of 2011, S.1268 and H.2314, would promote the rotation of certain homeland and national security employees to continue the important work of breaking down government stovepipes and eliminating communications roadblocks."

The Orderly Liquidation of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. under the Dodd-Frank Act, FDIC Quarterly, Early release for the upcoming 2011, Volume 5, No. 2

A Brief Guide to the European Union and Its Legislative Processes, June 2011 - "The EU, created by the Treaty of Maastricht1, is a union of 27 independent states. It was founded to enhance political, economic and social cooperation. Its origins date back to the 1950s and the establishment of three organisations:

• European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) established by the Treaty of Paris
  
• European Economic Community (EEC) and European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) established by the Treaties of Rome
  Under the Treaty of Maastricht, these three organisations (collectively, under the Treaty of Brussels4, the ‘European Communities’) were brought together to comprise the first of three conceptual pillars, which together formed the EU.
  
• The Treaty also renamed the EEC the ‘European Community’ (EC), reflecting the determination of the Member States to expand the European Communities’ powers to non-economic domains."

• June 16, 2011 - Governor Daniel K. Tarullo - Capital and liquidity standards - Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
• June 15, 2011 - Michael R. Foley, Senior Associate Director, Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation, Banking supervision - Before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.
• June 15, 2011 - Michael S. Gibson, Senior Associate Director, Division of Research and Statistics ,Implementation of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, Before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C.

Legislative Review 2011 by John Gramlich, Stateline Staff Writer: "Holding a lock on the governorship and both houses of the legislature in 20 states, GOP conservatives advanced an agenda that may change the face of state government for decades. They honored pledges not to raise taxes by enacting huge spending cuts to balance budgets in Florida and Texas. They put tough abortion limits back on the agenda, passing laws in Alabama, Kansas and Oklahoma. Most famously, Republicans in Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin put new restrictions on the rights of public employees, whose protests made national news for a month. Though Democrats proved powerless to stop those changes, they moved a profoundly different agenda in the 11 states where they enjoy total control of state government. Arguing that budget cuts could only go so far, Democrats pushed tax increases in Connecticut, Illinois and Maryland. Meanwhile, Vermont approved a health care law supported by liberals that could prove far more expansive in scope than the controversial overhaul passed in Congress last year."

News release: [On May 31, 2011] New York "Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced he was filing a lawsuit against the federal government for its failure to commit to a full environmental review of proposed regulations that would allow natural gas drilling – including the potentially harmful fracking technique – in the Delaware River Basin. Last month, the Attorney General notified the federal government that if it did not commit to conducting an environmental review before the regulations authorizing gas drilling are finalized, he would take legal action to compel such a study...In April, just one day before a blowout at a Pennsylvania natural gas drilling site caused gallons of chemical-laced water to spill over neighboring land and into a stream, the Attorney General demanded that the federal government comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The law requires federal agencies to conduct a full review of actions that may cause significant environmental impacts. Despite the legal requirement, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) – with the approval of its supporting federal agencies – proposed regulations allowing natural gas development in the Basin without undertaking any such review. Represented by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Brigadier General Peter A. DeLuca, the involved federal agencies include the Army Corps, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Environmental Protection Agency."

Implementing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: "This law creates a new, more effective regulatory structure, fills a host of regulatory gaps, brings greater public transparency and market accountability to the financial system and gives investors important protections and greater input into corporate governance." — SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro

News release: "Telework Exchange, a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the tangible value of telework, today announced the results of the Federal Telework Progress Report: Making the Grade?, which gauges Federal telework progress against the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 requirements, and notably the provisions within 180 days to build the foundation for a sustainable telework program. Underwritten by Juniper Networks, the report finds that those most responsible for telework programs, including official Telework Managing Officers (TMOs), are confident on meeting today's deadline in the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010. This report shows that Federal agencies are making positive strides in telework advancement. Notably, 86 percent of TMOs reported an increase in telework participation in the past six months. The full report...includes overall government-wide telework progress, top challenges, and peer-to-peer recommendations."

Follow up to previous postings on government implementation of whole body scanning technology at airports, via EPIC: "The House has approved the 2012 budget for the Transportation Security Administration, cutting $270 million from the amount originally requested by the Agency. The cuts include $76 million that had been designated for the purchase of 275 airport body scanners. Leading lawmakers and activists have called attention to the health risks associated with the scanners, as well as their invasiveness. Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) criticized the machines as “slow” and “ineffective.”

Regulating Systemically Important Financial Firms, Governor Daniel K. Tarullo At the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, D.C., June 3, 2011: "As the one-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act approaches, there will be much discussion about the progress that has been made in reforming financial regulation. Today I would like to get a head start on this exercise, concentrating on Dodd-Frank's requirement that the Federal Reserve Board establish special prudential standards for systemically important financial institutions or, as they are now generally known, "SIFIs." My focus will be on the requirement for more stringent capital standards, which has generated particular interest."

Dodd-Frank Rulemaking Progress Report - Progress as of June 1, 2011: "This Davis Polk Dodd-Frank Rulemaking Progress Report is the third in a series of reports that use empirical data to help market participants and policymakers assess the progress of the rulemaking and other work that has been done by regulators under the Dodd-Frank Act. Previous reports can be found here.

Truth in Lending Act and Amendments Legislative History: Links on Westlaw (WL - GAO Histories) and the Library of Congress (LC - THOMAS CRS Histories) with Public Law links on GPO's FDsys from 1995, Compiled and Maintained by Rick McKinney, Assistant Law Librarian, Federal Reserve Board Law Library, June 3, 2011

RollCall: "After two days of wrangling and last-minute deal-making in the Senate, Congress cleared a reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act on Thursday, and the Obama administration announced that the president signed the bill into law before provisions of the anti-terrorism act expired at midnight. A standoff over amendments in the Senate ate into the time needed to fly the enrolled bill to President Barack Obama, who is traveling in Europe. Instead of physically signing the bill, Obama planned to direct the use of an autopen to sign it, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said in an email shortly after the House cleared the bill. “Failure to sign this legislation poses a significant risk to U.S. national security,” Shapiro said in the email. Autopens generate a facsimile of an individual’s signature and are frequently used by Members of Congress for signing constituent correspondence and other letters. The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel advised in 2005 that the president may sign a bill by autopen."

CBO: Analysis of a Permanent Prohibition on Implementing the Major Health Care Legislation Enacted in March 2010 - May 26, 2011

Fact Sheet: "The Securities and Exchange Commission [May 18, 2011] voted unanimously to propose new rules and amendments intended to increase transparency and improve the integrity of credit ratings. The proposed rules would implement certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and enhance the SEC’s existing rules governing credit ratings and Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs). “In passing the Dodd-Frank Act, Congress noted that credit ratings applied to structured financial products proved inaccurate and contributed significantly to the mismanagement of risks by financial institutions and investors,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. “Our proposed rules are intended to strengthen the integrity and improve the transparency of credit ratings.” Under the SEC’s proposal, NRSROs would be required to:

• Report on internal controls.
  
• Protect against conflicts of interest.
  
• Establish professional standards for credit analysts.
  
• Publicly provide – along with the publication of the credit rating – disclosure about the credit rating and the methodology used to determine it.
  
• Enhance their public disclosures about the performance of their credit ratings.
  
• The SEC’s proposal also requires disclosure concerning third-party due diligence reports for asset-backed securities."

"...the Administration has transmitted a cybersecurity legislative proposal to Capitol Hill in response to Congress’ call for assistance on how best to address the cybersecurity needs of our Nation. This is a milestone in our national effort to ensure secure and reliable networks for Americans, businesses, and government; fundamentally, this proposal strikes a critical balance between maintaining the government’s role and providing industry with the capacity to innovatively tackle threats to national cybersecurity. Just as importantly, it does so while providing a robust framework to protect civil liberties and privacy."

• Read the fact sheet
  
• Read about the Administration’s Cybersecurity Accomplishments
  
• Read the text of the legislative proposal.

The President’s Blueprint for Building a 21st Century Immigration System, May 2011

CRS - Law Enforcement Use of Global Positioning (GPS) Devices to Monitor Motor Vehicles: Fourth Amendment Considerations, February 28, 2011

FDLP Listserv: "On March 17, Public Printer Bill Boarman testified before the Senate appropriations subcommittee on the costs of producing Federal publications, such as the Congressional Record. Subsequently, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) made a YouTube video on the production of the Congressional Record to illustrate the production process for this important publication. With origins in the requirement of Article I of the Constitution that "Congress shall keep a journal of its proceedings...and from time to time publish the same," the Congressional Record contains the proceedings and debates of the Senate and House of Representatives. It has been called "a symbol of our democracy through which the people may observe the making of their laws and may hold their lawmakers accountable for their words and deeds."

Core Documents of U.S. Democracy: "To provide American citizens direct online access to the basic Federal Government documents that define our democratic society, a core group of current and historical Government publications was made available via GPO Access. These titles contain information which is vital to the democratic process and critical to an informed electorate. Because this page is mainly a collection of links from various web sites it will not migrate to FDsys and is recreated here." [Carolyn Ottoson, West Texas A&M University]

"Rep. Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Barton (R-TX) released a discussion draft of the "Do Not Track Kids Act of 2011." This Act establishes enhanced protections for the use and disclosure of the personal information of children and teens online. In February, Rep. Speier (D-CA) introduced the broader Do Not Track Me Online Act. And in California, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to move their Do Not Track bill, SB 761, to the next stage in the Appropriations Committee. EPIC submitted a statement to Congress saying that an effective Do Not Track initiative must ensure that a consumer's decision to opt-out is "enforceable, persistent, transparent, and simple." For more information, see EPIC: Online Tracking and Behavioral Advertising."

Amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Set to Expire, May 27, 2011

Implementing Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 IT Purchasing Requirements: M-1l-20 - Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies from Jacob Lew, director of the Office of Management and Budget, April 28, 2011

The Orderly Liquidation of Lehman Brothers Holdings under the Dodd-Frank Act, April 18, 2011

Fact sheet: "The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to propose rules further defining the terms “swap,” “security-based swap,” and “security-based swap agreement.” The Commission also proposed rules regarding “mixed swaps” and books and records for “security-based swap agreements.” The rules were proposed jointly with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and stem from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act."

Majority And Minority Staff Report United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Wall Street And The Financial Crisis: Anatomy Of A Financial Collapse, April 13, 2011 - : "This 639 page report, which was part of a 2-year bi-partisan investigation by the U.S. Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations into the origins of the 2008 financial crisis. The goal of the report was to: "deepen the understanding of what happened; identify some of the root causes of the crisis; and provide a factual foundation for the ongoing effort to fortify the country against the recurrence of a similar crisis in the future." The report includes more than 150 interviews and depositions, and consultations with dozens of government, academic and private sector experts. In April 2010, the Subcommittee held four hearings examining four root causes of the financial crisis."

"the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (collectively “Commissions”) delivered to Congress a joint staff study on the “the feasibility of requiring the derivatives industry to adopt standardized computer-readable algorithmic descriptions which may be used to describe complex and standardized financial derivatives.” See Title VII, Sec. 719(b) of Dodd-Frank. Based on the public input, staff investigation and analysis, the joint study concludes that current technology is capable of representing derivatives using a common set of computer-readable descriptions. These descriptions are precise enough to use both for the calculation of net exposures and to serve as part or all of a binding legal contract."

Federal Reserve Governor Daniel K. Tarullo - Derivatives regulation, Before the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., April 12, 2011

Cost Estimate for H.R. 1473, The Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act of 2011 - April 12, 2011

State Trends: Legislative Victories from 2005 to 2010 - Removing Youth from the Adult Criminal Justice System, March 2011.

A Review of CBO's Activities in 2010 Under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act, March 31, 2011

Review of CBO's Cost Estimate for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives,March 30, 2011.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), Federal Health Information Technology Strategic Plan 2011 – 2015

News release: "The Federal Reserve Board on Friday adopted two rules that would expand the coverage of consumer protection regulations to credit transactions and leases of higher dollar amounts. The final rules amend Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) and Regulation M (Consumer Leasing) to implement a provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Effective July 21, 2011, the Dodd-Frank Act requires that the protections of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA) apply to consumer credit transactions and consumer leases up to $50,000, compared with $25,000 currently. This amount will be adjusted annually to reflect any increase in the consumer price index."

Welcome to the State Legislative Tracking Database on Health Reform: Search 2011 legislation by state, topic, keyword, status, and/or primary sponsor.

Shaving Off Dollars and Cents: "House Republicans announced a two-week spending bill designed to avert a government shutdown March 4. The measure would cut several programs already targeted by the White House for elimination, producing a total of $1.24 billion in savings. Cutting certain earmarks would realize $2.7 billion more in reductions."

Via Capital.net, the guide - Congress by the Numbers, 112th Congress, 1st Session, includes the following resources: Congress Seating Charts - Congressional Schedule - Congressional leadership and committees - Leadership of the current Congress - with photos, and more.

News release: "Senator Charles E. Schumer, joined by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, announced today the introduction of legislation that would provide greater reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for individuals with mental illness, domestic violence records, and drug abusers, by increasing the penalties for states that fail to adequately turn over records for those who are prohibited from owning a gun. The legislation will also require that all gun sales, including those by private sellers, be subject to a background check, effectively ending the gun show loophole. The legislation, based on a proposal put forward by the coalition of Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns is designed to help prevent the next mass shooting. The Senator made the announcement one week into the coalition’s Nationwide Drive to Fix Gun Checks, a campaign featuring a mobile billboard truck that tolls the tragic count of Americans that have been murdered with guns since the Tucson shooting."

Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from October 2010 Through December 2010, February 23, 2011

Saving Oil and Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions through U.S. Federal Transportation Policy, by Cynthia J. Burbank, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Nick Nigro, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, February 2011

Subprime Foreclosures and the 2005 Bankruptcy Reform, Donald P. Morgan, Benjamin Iverson, and Matthew Botsch

Governor Daniel K. Tarullo, Assessing the regulatory, economic, and market implications of the Dodd-Frank derivatives title, Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., February 15, 2011

"The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday announced its approval of a final rule to implement the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that give banking firms a period of time to conform their activities and investments to the prohibitions and restrictions of the so-called Volcker Rule. The Volcker Rule generally prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading in securities, derivatives, or certain other financial instruments and from investing in, sponsoring, or having certain relationships with a hedge fund or private equity fund. The statute generally provides banking entities two years to bring their activities and investments into compliance and allows the Board to extend this conformance period under certain conditions. The Dodd-Frank Act requires that the Board issue rules implementing the Volcker Rule's conformance period. In developing the rule, the Board consulted with the Department of the Treasury, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The final rule is substantially similar to the proposal published in November."

"The Federal Trade Commission issued its annual report to the Federal Reserve Board on FTC enforcement activities regarding the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), Consumer Leasing Act, and Truth in Lending Act. This year’s report also discusses FTC activities under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, such as enforcement of new EFTA requirements and the FTC’s new authority over motor vehicle dealers."

State of Florida v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 10-cv-00091, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida (Pensacola)

Spending and Funding for Highways, Economic and Budget Issue Brief, January 20, 2011

News release: "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a new analysis showing that, without the Affordable Care Act, up to 129 million non-elderly Americans who have some type of pre-existing health condition, like heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis or cancer, would be at risk of losing health insurance when they need it most, or be denied coverage altogether. Under the full range of policies in the Affordable Care Act to be enacted by 2014, Americans living with pre-existing conditions are free from discrimination and can get the health coverage they need, and families are free from the worry of having their insurance cancelled or capped when a family member gets sick, or going broke because of the medical costs of an accident or disease. Repealing the law would once again leave millions of Americans worrying about whether coverage will be there when they need it."

News release: "The US Library of Congress chose the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University (LII) to help develop new methods to preserve, analyze, organize, and present Congressional legislative information and materials digitally. The project is headed by LII Director Thomas R. Bruce. Dave Shetland, Sara Frug, and Wayne Weibel will make up the rest of the LII’s team of experts. Long-time LII collaborators Metadata Management Associates will work with LII on this important project. “This project introduces the idea of a model that reflects the life cycle of legislation–a significantly different model than the one used in traditional library materials,” says Diane Hillmann, Partner at MMA. Hillmann’s team will be joined by John Joergensen, a law librarian at Rutgers University (Camden), and Robert Richards, each well known for their work in library-based legal informatics. The work and research LII provides Library of Congress will form the foundation of the Library’s plans to improve digital access to historical and current Congressional legislative information. Important Congressional documents — bills, Presidential documents, committee reports, public laws, and the United States Code among others — will be better organized and easier to find online for scholars, researchers, and average citizens, alike. The project will significantly improve public access to Congressional materials through THOMAS — Congress’ main electronic point of access for the public, as well as the Legislative Information System (LIS) used internally by the Senate and the House of Representatives."

Preliminary Analysis of H.R. 2, the Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act, January 6, 2011 Letter to the Honorable John Boehner

"A host of new laws ranging from fresh drinking water for students in California to outlawing the use of K2 in Illinois become effective Jan. 1, 2011. Forty-five state legislatures, the District of Columbia, Guam, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico met in regular session in 2010 and enacted 31,005 new laws. In 2011, all 50 states and territories will meet. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) found a host of those state laws—in at least 26 states ranging from controversial to clever—that will become effective on New Year's Day. In Montana, payday lenders will be limited in the amount of fees and interest rates they can charge to borrowers. In Minnesota, retailers will be banned from selling children’s cups and bottles that contain bisphenol A (BPA). And in Delaware, Kansas and Kentucky, drivers will be prohibited from texting while driving. Not all laws passed by state legislatures become effective on Jan. 1. State constitutions or statutes usually establish when laws go into effect. Sometimes, an effective date is written into the specific piece of legislation. This is not an exhaustive list, but a sampling of some new state laws (organized alphabetically by topic) effective on New Year’s Day."

"As 2010 draws to a close, the latest tracking poll shows the public still divided in their views of the health reform law, a sentiment largely unchanged since the law’s enactment in March. Forty-two percent of Americans say they have a generally favorable view of the law, while 41 percent have a generally unfavorable view of it. Seniors, generally more critical of the law than younger people, seem to be softening in their opposition as the national discussion shifts to the federal budget and deficit. The share of those aged 65 and up holding unfavorable views of health reform dropped to 40 percent in December, the lowest since the passage of the law. As the weak economy continues, the survey finds that a significant number of people are struggling to stay afloat financially. One in four say their household has had trouble paying medical bills over the past year, and 54 percent say they have delayed needed medical care because of cost. Newspapers, radio news, or other online news sources continue to be the most common channels through which Americans receive information about health reform, with two-thirds of Americans saying they learn about the law that way. Almost as many say they have gotten information about the law through friends and family (64%) and via cable TV news channels and websites (61%). Fifty-eight percent say they get such information through national broadcast network news channels and websites."

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: Changes to the Regulation of Derivatives and their Impact on Agribusiness, By Michael K. Adjemian and Gerald E. Plato, Outlook Report No. (AIS-89) 21 pp, November 2010

Selected CBO Publications Related to Health Care Legislation, 2009–2010, December 22, 2010.

NYT: "The Senate on Saturday struck down the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military, bringing to a close a 17-year struggle over a policy that forced thousands of Americans from the ranks and caused others to keep secret their sexual orientation. By a vote of 65 to 31, with eight Republicans joining Democrats, the Senate approved and sent to President Obama a repeal of the Clinton-era law, known as “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a policy critics said amounted to government-sanctioned discrimination that treated gay and lesbian troops as second-class citizens...Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, said as the debate opened. “If you love this country enough to risk your life for it, you shouldn’t have to hide who you are."

LLRX.com: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Financial Protection Act: A Brief Legislative History with Links, Reports and Summaries

Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output From July 2010 Through September 2010, November 24, 2010

Water Infrastructure Projects Designated in EPA Appropriations: Trends and Policy Implications, Claudia Copeland, Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy, October 28, 2010

The Status of the Basel III Capital Adequacy Accord, Walter W. Eubanks, Specialist in Financial Economics, October 28, 2010

Rulemaking Requirements and Authorities in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Curtis W. Copeland, Specialist in American National Government, November 3, 2010

"The FDsys": the new GPO Access - "GPO Access will be going away soon as the U.S. Government Printing Office rolls out the Federal Digital System (FDsys), an advanced digital system that will enable GPO to manage Government information from all three branches of the U.S. Government. Learn about the new system and its features, what content is available through it, and search strategies. Not only is FDsys a powerful tool for the public to access online, authoritative Federal information, but it also serves as a preservation repository for the content and a content management system for Federal agencies."

Fact Sheet: "The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted unanimously to propose new rules entailing how security-based swap transactions should be reported and publicly disseminated. The rules are proposed under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which generally authorizes the SEC to regulate security-based swaps. The proposed rules (Regulation SBSR) represent an important step in the SEC's continuing effort to increase the transparency of the security-based swap market and fulfill mandates under the Dodd-Frank Act."

A Long-Term Plan for Medicare and Medicaid, Alice Rivlin and Paul Ryan, November 17, 2010

"The Board is requesting comment on a proposed rule that would implement the conformance period during which banking entities and nonbank financial companies supervised by the Board must bring their activities and investments into compliance with the prohibitions and restrictions on proprietary trading and relationships with hedge funds and private equity funds imposed by section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”). Section 619 is commonly referred to as the “Volcker Rule.”

Choking the Recovery: Why New Growth Companies Aren't Going Public And Unrecognized Risks Of Future Market Disruptions - Harold Bradley and Robert E. Litan, Nov. 12, 2010 [The authors are Chief Investment Officer and Vice President for Research and Policy, respectively, at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation]

"Health Reform and Americans with Pre-existing Conditions - The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan was created to make health insurance available to you if you have had a problem getting insurance due to a pre-existing condition. The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan:

• Will cover a broad range of health benefits, including primary and specialty care, hospital care, and prescription drugs.
  
• Doesn’t charge you a higher premium just because of your medical condition.
  
• Doesn’t base eligibility on income."
  
• Related postings on Affordable Health Care

News release: "The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted unanimously to propose a whistleblower program to reward individuals who provide the agency with high-quality tips that lead to successful enforcement actions. The SEC’s proposed rule under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act maps out a simple, straightforward procedure for would-be whistleblowers to provide critical information to the agency. It conveys how would-be whistleblowers can qualify for an award through a transparent process that provides them a meaningful opportunity to assert their claim to an award."

Interagency Contracting: An Overview of Federal Procurement and Appropriations Law, October 01, 2010

Pay Equity Legislation, Jody Feder, Legislative Attorney, Linda Levine, Specialist in Labor Economics, September 20, 2010

CBO - Economic Effects of the March Health Legislation, Presentation at the Schaeffer Center of the University of Southern California, October 22, 2010

Analysis of Selected Provisions of the Domestic Manufacturing and Energy Jobs Act of 2010 — Oct 18, 2010

Opportunities for Community Development Finance in the Disability Market, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, September 2010.

The American Opportunity Tax Credit, Department of the Treasury, October 12, 2010: "The President created the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which he signed into law in February 2009. The AOTC replaces the Hope Scholarship credit for Tax Years 2009 and 2010, increasing the benefits for nearly all Hope credit recipients and many other students by providing a maximum benefit up to $2,500 per student – 100 percent of their first $2,000 in tuition and 25 percent of the next $2,000 –expanding the income range over which taxpayers can claim a credit, and making the credit partially refundable. If the AOTC is made permanent, as proposed in the President’s FY 2011 Budget, a student could receive a credit up to $10,000 over four years."

LLRX.com: FOIA Facts - Mid-Term FOIA Grade for the Obama Administration - Scott A. Hodes provides perspective, and an overall grade, to how the administration has done during the first half of its first term in regard to FOIA.

Basel and the Wider Financial Stability Agenda, October 10, 2010, William C. Dudley, President and Chief Executive Officer. Remarks at the 2010 Institute of International Finance Annual Membership Meeting, Washington, D.C.

"This new report from NCSL [National Center for State Legislatures], Projected Revenue Growth in FY 2011 and Beyond, shows that after several years of steep declines, state revenues are starting to pick up. State officials have anxiously awaited this turnaround for months or, in some cases, years. State revenue collections consistently underperformed forecasts throughout the recession, and they continued to struggle even after the recession ended. Lawmakers expect to have closed multi-year budget gaps exceeding $530 billion by the time the effects of the recession dissipate. And despite recent revenue improvements, more gaps loom as states confront the phase out of federal stimulus funds, expiring tax increases and growing spending pressures. This new report includes:

• State tax forecasts for FY 2011 compared to estimated FY 2010 collections. It includes projected growth for total taxes and information for personal income, sales, corporate income and miscellaneous taxes.
  
• Long-term tax collection forecasts, which cover projected tax growth for FY 2012, FY 2013 and FY 2014 for states with forecasts going out that far.
  
• Projected peak and return to peak revenue collections, which represent a more comprehensive view of state resources than what is accounted for by state own-source taxes. This discussion covers the peak fiscal year for general fund revenues and when states expect to return to those peak levels.
  
• A broader view of the state fiscal situation with state examples of the current and expected fiscal environment."

News release: The presidents of six leading research universities and two higher-education associations joined Vice President Joe Biden and White House science advisor Dr. John Holdren to discuss the scientific research and related activities that have been made possible by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Participating in the event held in the Roosevelt Room of the White House were France Córdova, president, Purdue University; Ron Daniels, president, The Johns Hopkins University; Elson Floyd, president,
Washington State University; Amy Gutmann, president, University of Pennsylvania; J. Bernard Machen, president, University of Florida; Mark Yudoff, president, University of California; Robert Berdahl, president, Association of American Universities; and M. Peter McPherson, president, Association of Public and Landgrant Universities. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus, contained $21.5 billion for scientific research, the purchase of capital equipment and science-related construction projects. While thousands of jobs have been created directly or retained as a result of this funding, the focus of this {September 21, 2010] discussion was on the basic research and discovery that would not have been possible if not for the ARRA. Although the investment was less than 3 percent of the $787 billion stimulus measure, the money represented an historic infusion of funding for research. It was also an affirmation of the essential role scientific inquiry and discovery play in both short-term recovery and long-term economic growth...university laboratories in every state in the nation, supported by the National Institutes of
Health with an infusion of ARRA funds, are conducting cutting-edge biomedical research [please check the links that reference specific research, that are included]."

News release: "Taking another step in its commitment to end disability discrimination in employment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced the filing of three new disability discrimination cases today, charging employers in Georgia, Maryland and Michigan with violations of the recently amended Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The cases — all filed under the broader and simplified definition of disability set forth in the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) — allege discrimination against qualified individuals with diabetes, cancer and severe arthritis."

100 Recovery Act Projects That Are Changing America, September 2010

House Rules Changes: Sunlight’s Proposals for the 112th Congress, September 16, 2010
"The rules of the House and Senate have extraordinary influence. The Constitution, in granting each chamber the ability to “determine the rules of its proceedings,” has allowed Congress to create the evolving set of processes, norms and standards by which it functions. The rules define legislative order, construct a leadership power structure, lay out the committee system and establish rules for conduct and disclosure. The Rules of the House are routinely changed every two years at the beginning of each new Congress. While recent reforms have created more disclosure than ever before, congressional transparency reforms must be considered an imperative for congressional leadership. And the robust use of technology can make disclosure into a better ethics enforcer, a more effective educator and a strong arbiter of public policy. The House must redouble its commitment to transparency, and deepen the relationship between constituents and representatives. The 112th Congress can be the most open and accountable Congress ever, and online transparency can help Congress reach that goal. Sunlight has pored through the Rules of the House and identified a series of reforms. While this list applies specifically to the House, they can apply largely to the Senate as well. To learn more about our other solutions for a more open government beyond rules reform, such as greater campaign finance disclosure, lobbying reform and executive branch transparency, see our Policy Agenda."

News release: "A panel of retired senior U.S. military officers, former Members of Congress, National Guard generals and academics with expertise in responding to domestic disasters today delivered to the Congress and the secretary of defense a far-reaching report that details how defense officials can better support the nation's response to a major disaster on United States soil. The congressionally mandated panel, supported by staff from the RAND Corporation, told lawmakers and the secretary that the United States has an urgent need to implement changes in the way the Department of Defense plans for and would respond to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) incident. In all, the report provides more than 40 recommendations for the president, the Congress, the secretary of defense, other federal Cabinet secretaries and governors about how to overcome obstacles that complicate the nation's ability to respond effectively to CBRNE incidents...The Advisory Panel on Department of Defense Capabilities for Support of Civil Authorities After Certain Incidents was mandated by Congress through the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008, as amended by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2009."

State Legislature Websites: Via the THOMAS site, this graphical map provides mouse-over and text based links to State Legislature Websites For U.S. States and Territories, as well as key links to Other State Legislative Information.

Center for Science in the Public Interest: "As the nation reels from the impact of a massive egg recall that has sickened well over 1,500 people, survivors of foodborne illness and consumer advocates say that antiquated laws and poor enforcement are to blame. According to a new report, the massive egg recall is only the latest—but largest—of 85 recalls that companies made while food safety reform legislation has been pending in the Senate, and since similar legislation passed the House in July of 2009. All told, at least 1,850 people have been sickened from foods subject to a recall, according to a report issued today by three consumer groups. And since foodborne illness is dramatically under reported, the actual toll of illness is almost certainly in the tens of thousands."

Agencies Issue Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Regarding Alternatives to the Use of Credit Ratings in the Regulatory Capital Guidelines, August 10, 2010

News release: "U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced the award of $115.3 million to 124 school districts to improve the quality of teaching American history in our nation's schools. The Teaching American History grant program aims to enhance teachers' understanding of American history through intensive professional development, including study trips to historic sites and mentoring with professional historians and other experts. Projects are required to partner with organizations that have broad knowledge of American history, such as libraries, museums, nonprofit historical or humanities organizations, and higher education institutions. History is one of the core academic subjects under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Teaching American History grants are funded for a three-year period. They will be awarded to school districts in 40 states, the District of Columbia, and American Samoa."

"CDT submits the following chart as an addendum to the written testimony of Leslie Harris, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Democracy and Technology before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection on The BEST PRACTICES Act of 2010 and Other Federal Privacy Legislation on July 22, 2010. The chart compares some of the key provisions in both bills, and issues CDT’s recommendations about the approach we believe privacy legislation should take."

• In a Previous Rate-Setting Proceeding for Some Sound Recordings, the Standard Addressing the Disruptive Impact on the Industries Contributed to a Lower Copyright Royalty Rate, but the Effect of Its Proposed Removal Is Unclear, GAO-10-828R, August 04, 2010
• Medicaid Managed Care: CMS's Oversight of States' Rate Setting Needs Improvement, GAO-10-810, August 04, 2010
• Recovery Act: Further Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Oversight of Broadband Stimulus Programs, GAO-10-823, August 04, 2010
• Social Security Administration: Cases of Federal Employees and Transportation Drivers and Owners Who Fraudulently and/or Improperly Received SSA Benefits, GAO-10-949T, August 04, 2010
• Social Security Administration: Cases of Federal Employees and Transportation Drivers and Owners Who Fraudulently and/or Improperly Received SSA Disability Payments, GAO-10-444, June 25, 2010

2010 Immigration-Related Laws and Resolutions in the States (January-June 2010), National Conference of State Legislatures

News release: "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a final rule establishing fiscal year (FY) 2011 policies and payment rates for inpatient services furnished to people with Medicare by acute care hospitals, long-term care hospitals (LTCHs), and certain excluded hospitals. Due to the timing of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively, the “Affordable Care Act”), CMS issued a FY 2011 IPPS/LTCH proposed rule, as well as a supplemental proposed rule that addressed certain changes made by the Affordable Care Act..The final rule applies to approximately 3,500 acute care hospitals paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS), and approximately 420 long-term care hospitals paid under the LTCH Prospective Payment System (PPS), for discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2010. It also updates the rate-of-increase limits for certain hospitals excluded from the IPPS that are paid on a reasonable cost basis subject to these limits. The updated rate-of-increase limits are effective for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 2010."

News release: "July 28, 2010, the House Financial Services Committee passed legislation to enable Americans to bet online and put an end to an inappropriate interference with their personal freedom. H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act of 2009 would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework under which Internet gambling operators could obtain licenses authorizing them to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the United States. The legislation comes in response to the enactment of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which restricted the use of the payments system for Americans who gamble online."

Governor Daniel K. Tarullo - International cooperation and financial regulatory modernization, Before the Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., July 20, 2010

The Volcker Rule - Obama’s economic adviser and his battles over the financial-reform bill, by John Cassidy: "Volcker believes that commercial banks, such as Citigroup and Wells Fargo, are worthy of receiving government assistance—and even, in extremis, taxpayer bailouts—because firms and consumers depend upon them for credit. In return for these enterprises being sheltered, they should refrain from risky activities such as proprietary trading and sponsoring hedge funds. “If you are going to be a commercial bank, with all the protections that implies, you shouldn’t be doing this stuff,” Volcker said to me. “If you are doing this stuff, you shouldn’t be a commercial bank.”

Follow up to Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - HR 11-517 and Senate passage of the bill by a 60-39 vote on July 15, 2010, via WSJ: "Buried in the bill's 800-odd pages are the most sweeping regulatory changes for ordinary investors in decades, affecting everything from mutual funds and retirement plans to single-stock investments and other holdings. The legislation has the potential to make brokers more accountable to their clients, shine light on hedge funds and improve the transparency of the complex derivatives on which many mutual funds and pension plans rely to hedge their risks."

The Budget Reconciliation Process: The Senate's "Byrd Rule", July 02, 2010

News release: "Today, in a bipartisan vote, (290 -131) the House of Representatives approved Congressman John Sarbanes’ Telework Improvements Act of 2010. This bill will expand telework opportunities for all federal workers, allowing employees to perform their duties and responsibilities from home or another work site removed from their regular place of employment. “I believe this legislation is necessary so that a formal telework policy can be enacted across the Federal Government and sustained into future Administrations,” said Congressman Sarbanes. “A robust telework program will not only improve government operations during a disaster, it could be used as a tool to reduce traffic congestion in the DC area. Telework has a positive impact on productivity, quality of life and the environment. If fully integrated, it can save taxpayers money by increasing efficiency, reducing federal office space and improving employee retention.” “Telework can be a great way to increase worker productivity, reduce traffic congestion, and protect the environment. This legislation will help the federal government make telework a priority when it is appropriate. It just makes sense,” said Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger. The government lost $71 million worth of productivity for each day it remained closed during the recent blizzards that blanketed our region, according to an updated estimate released by the Office of Personnel Management. This estimate was reduced from a projected loss of $100 million per day because roughly 30 percent of federal workers in the Washington area teleworked during the storm, OPM announced."

News release: "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that it is inviting the public to submit comments and information to help the agency implement a new federal law that requires the posting of calorie content and other nutrition information on menu items at certain chain restaurants and similar retail food operations and vending machines. The new law, Section 4205 of the Affordable Care Act signed into law March 23, 2010, sets new federal requirements for foods sold at certain restaurants, coffee shops, delis, movie theaters, bakeries, ice cream shops, and in vending machines. Prior to the new law, federal law required nutrition labeling on many packaged foods, which may be purchased in supermarkets and at other locations, and some states and local governments required nutritional labeling by restaurants in their jurisdictions. The new law requires restaurants and similar retail food establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations that offer substantially the same menu items to list calorie content information on menus and menu boards, including drive-through menu boards."

News release: "The Department of Justice challenged the state of Arizona’s recently passed immigration law, S.B. 1070, in federal court today. In a brief filed in the District of Arizona, the Department said S.B. 1070 unconstitutionally interferes with the federal government’s authority to set and enforce immigration policy, explaining that “the Constitution and federal law do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country.” A patchwork of state and local policies would seriously disrupt federal immigration enforcement. Having enacted its own immigration policy that conflicts with federal immigration law, Arizona “crossed a constitutional line.” The Department’s brief said that S.B. 1070 will place significant burdens on federal agencies, diverting their resources away from high-priority targets, such as aliens implicated in terrorism, drug smuggling, and gang activity, and those with criminal records. The law’s mandates on Arizona law enforcement will also result in the harassment and detention of foreign visitors and legal immigrants, as well as U.S. citizens, who cannot readily prove their lawful status."

• The United States of America v. The State of Arizona; and Janice K. Brewer, Governor of the State of Arizona, in her official capacity.” – U.S. v Arizona and Jan Brewer — Complaint
  
• U.S. v Arizona and Jan Brewer – Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction and memorandum of law

The White House Blog: The AP's Look at Health Reform: "Today, the Associated Press takes a look at the first stages of the Affordable Care Act and finds that millions will benefit from the new protections in the new law. The story notes:

“The first stage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is expected to provide coverage to about 1 million uninsured Americans by next year, according to government estimates… Many others - more than 100 million people - are getting new benefits that improve their existing coverage.”

News release: "U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings totaled 770,117 nationwide during the first six months of 2010 (Jan. 1-June 30), a 14 percent increase over the 675,351 total consumer filings during the same period a year ago, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC). The consumer filings for the first half of 2010 represent the highest total since 2005, when Congress enacted the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act to try and stem the tide of filings, although the number of monthly consumer filings has been steadily decreasing since March."

Follow up to postings on the Gulf Coast oil spill see H.R.5503 - Securing Protections for the Injured from Limitations on Liability Act. Sponsor: Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] (introduced 6/10/2010) Cosponsors (26). Latest Major Action: 7/1/2010. Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. House Reports: 111-521 Part 1

Follow up to Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, House of Representatives, 111th Congress, 2nd Session, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - House Report 111-517, dated June 29, 2010, ordered to be printed.

Follow up to previous postings on high speed rail in America, this news release: "President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden...[announced] that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is awarding $8 billion to states across the country to develop America’s first nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), these dollars represent an historic investment in the country’s transportation infrastructure, which will help create jobs and transform travel in America. The announcement is one of a number of job initiatives the President will lay out in the coming weeks that follow up on the continued commitment to job creation he discussed in last night’s State of the Union Address. A full list of the awards can be viewed HERE."

• Foreign Medical Schools: Education Should Improve Monitoring of Schools That Participate in the Federal Student Loan Program, GAO-10-412, June 28, 2010
• Financial Audit: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Funds' 2009 and 2008 Financial Statements, GAO-10-705, June 25, 2010
• Export Controls: Observations on Selected Countries' Systems and Proposed Treaties, GAO-10-557, May 27, 2010
• Information Technology: Management Improvements Are Essential to VA's Second Effort to Replace Its Outpatient Scheduling System, GAO-10-579, May 27, 2010
• Recovery Act: Increasing the Public's Understanding of What Funds Are Being Spent on and What Outcomes Are Expected, GAO-10-581, May 27, 2010

Follow up to postings on Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the "CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that enacting H.R. 4173 would increase revenues by $17.1 billion over the 2011-2015 period and by $26.9 billion over the 2011-2020 period and increase direct spending by $14.9 billion and $26.9 billion, respectively, over the same periods. In total, CBO estimates those changes would reduce budget deficits by $2.3 billion over the 2011-2015 period. The changes in revenues and direct spending from enacting H.R. 4173 would have no net effect on budget deficits for the full 2011-2020 period. Because enacting the legislation would affect direct spending and revenues, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. CBO has not prepared an estimate of the changes in discretionary spending that would arise from implementing the conference agreement."

House Financial Services Committee press release: "Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - Create a Sound Economic Foundation to Grow Jobs, Protect Consumers,Rein in Wall Street, End Too Big to Fail, Prevent Another Financial Crisis: "Americans have faced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Millions have lost their jobs, businesses have failed, housing prices have dropped, and savings were wiped out. The failures that led to this crisis require bold action. We must restore responsibility and accountability in our financial system to give Americans confidence that there is a system in place that works for and protects them. We must create a sound foundation to grow the economy and create jobs."

• BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT
  
• H.R. 4173, Conference Base Text
  
• H.R. 4173 Side by Side House - Senate Comparison
  
• H.R. 4173
  
• Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
  
• Related postings on financial system

Legislating Consumer Privacy Online & Off: Last month, Congressmen Rick Boucher and Cliff Stearns, respectively Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, released a discussion draft of legislation "to assure the privacy of information about individuals both on the Internet and offline." This is the most significant movement in over half a decade to craft privacy rules for consumers in the digital age."

The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 - This webpage links to facts sheets, summaries, comparisons and other relevant documents on this controversial legislation.

Follow up to Several State Attorneys General Announce Probes of Google Wireless Data Collection, via Privacy International, "Crime reference number 2318672/10 was today issued by London's Metropolitan Police, marking the commencement of investigations into Google for alleged criminal interception of Wireless communications content. Privacy International, which brought the complaint, has been briefed by police on the likely path the investigation will take. In the first instance police will conduct initial inquiries into the essential facts of the case before deciding which (if any) law may have been breached. In this case PI has brought the action under two laws - the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and the Wireless Telegraphy Act. The police will need to seek advice on which legislation to focus on, as each involves a different prosecution process."

News release: "House Financial Services Chairman Frank, on behalf of the House conferees, released the House offer on the titles listed below. The issues will be subject to debate when the House-Senate Conference Committee convenes in room SD-106, Dirksen Senate Office Building, at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow.

News release: "Today House and Senate conferees again met on the bill to bring accountability to Wall Street. The bill creates a new consumer financial protection watchdog, ends too big to fail bailouts, sets up an early warning system to predict and prevent the next crisis, and brings transparency and accountability to exotic instruments such as derivatives. A list of House and Senate offers and counter offers can be found by clicking here."

"The Design for America contest led to the most compelling, interesting visualizations of any of our contests. With about 72 entries, the design community stepped up and showed amazing ways for us to view government and imagine new ways for government to serve citizens. [The winners are here] The category most illustrative of how government could work is probably the best Redesign of a .Gov Website. We had a lot of great entries in the category - including this wonderful redesign of the Social Security Administration, and a great upgrade of DOL.gov, but the one that really took the cake was a redesign of IRS.gov. This design was great not only because it was strikingly beautiful, but because it used imagination. It didn't seem bound by what was currently on IRS.gov, but rather showed the viewer what the IRS could do. Amazing work. The transformation of complex process into great imagery was also something we hoped for here at Sunlight. The "How A Bill Becomes a Law" category didn't disappoint. Every entry in this category was amazing."

"CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimate that enacting H.R. 4173 would increase revenues by $12.1 billion over the 2011-2015 period and by $33.5 billion over the 2011-2020 period and increase direct spending by $25.0 billion and $53.2 billion over the same periods, respectively. In total, CBO estimates those changes would increase budget deficits by $12.9 billion over the 2011-2015 period and by $19.7 billion over the 2011-2020 period.1 In addition, CBO estimates that implementing the act would increase spending subject to appropriation by $4.6 billion over the 2011-2015 period and $13.2 billion over the 2011-2020 period. Because enacting the legislation would affect direct spending and revenues, pay-as-you go procedures apply. Pursuant to section 311 of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2009 (S. Con Res. 70), CBO estimates that the act would increase projected deficits by more than $5 billion in at least one of the four consecutive 10-year periods starting in 2021."

Follow up to Frank Announces House Offer to Base Text on Private Funds, Credit Rating Agencies, Thrifts and Insurance, this new announcement: "Chairman Frank, on behalf of the House conferees, released the House offer on the titles listed below. The issues will be subject to debate when the House-Senate Conference Committee convenes in room 2128 Rayburn at 11:00 a.m. [June 16, 2010].

• Title 9, subtitles A, B, F, H, I and J of base text: Investor protection/regulatory improvements
  
• Title 9, subtitles E and G of base text: Executive compensation/corporate governance
  
• Title 11 of base text: Fed audit and governance, and emergency liquidity provision
  
• Related postings on financial system

News release: "The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury today issued a new regulation that makes good on President Obama’s promise that Americans who like their health plan can keep it. The new regulation protects the ability of individuals and businesses to keep their current plan while providing important consumer protections that give Americans – rather than insurance companies – control over their own health care. The new regulation also provides stability and flexibility to insurers and businesses that offer health insurance coverage as the nation transitions to a more competitive marketplace in 2014 when businesses and consumers will have more affordable choices through exchanges...While the Affordable Care Act requires all health plans to provide important new benefits to consumers, under the law, plans that existed on March 23, 2010 are exempt from some new requirements. The “grandfather rule” issued today makes it clear that these plans can continue to innovate and contain costs by allowing insurers and employers to make routine changes without losing grandfather status. Plans will lose their “grandfather” status if they choose to significantly cut benefits or increase out-of-pocket spending for consumers – and consumers in plans that make such changes will gain new consumer protections."

• "Details about what routine changes insurers and employers can make without losing their grandfathered status, and the projected impact on large and small employer plans and the individual plan market can be found here.
  
• A fact sheet about the regulation can be found here
  
• You can view the regulation here."

News release: "Chairman Frank, on behalf of the House conferees, released the House offer on the titles listed below. The issues will be subject to debate when the House-Senate Conference Committee convenes June 15, 2010. The issues for tomorrow’s offer:

• Title 4 of base text: Private Funds
  
• Title 9, subtitle C of base text: credit rating agencies
  
• Title 3 of base text: OTS/OCC merger; thrift charter
  
• Title 5 of base text: Insurance
  
• Related postings on financial system

Follow up to posting, Coast Guard R. Admiral Gives BP 48 Hours to Identify Leak Containment Capacity, this new letter inclusive of graphs, from BP responding to the Admiral's directive that "sets out the plans for rebuilding additional capacity and redundancy for the containment of oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill..."

Transition to Adulthood The Future of Children, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 2010, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 2010. A Collaboration of The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution.

In his letter to bi-partisan Congressional leadership President Obama highlights "the devastating economic impact of budget cuts at the state and local levels that are leading to massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters." Je goes on to request support for his small business legislation that "includes a new lending initiative to help creditworthy firms access loans through community banks and innovative state partnerships..."

News release: "Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) and Rep. Peter T. King (R-NY), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, introduced H.R. 5498, The WMD Prevention and Preparedness Act of 2010. This legislation will make progress toward implementing the recommendations of the WMD Commission and will improve U.S. efforts to prevent, deter, detect, and respond to an attack by a weapon of mass destruction."

• Bill Summary
  
• Bill Chart
  
• WMD Commission Comments
  
• Bill Section by Section Outline

News release: "The American Civil Liberties Union marks the 47th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act with a call for the Senate to pass S. 182, the Paycheck Fairness Act. President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963 into law 47 years ago Thursday, prohibiting wage discrimination based on sex. However, since its passage, loopholes and weak remedies have watered down the Act’s effectiveness. Forty-seven years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act, women still make, on average, 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The Paycheck Fairness Act would provide a much needed update to the Equal Pay Act, closing loopholes in the current law, strengthening weak remedies and taking steps to finally close the wage gap."

ReadWriteWeb: "The state legislature in the U.S. state of Louisiana has passed a law adding extra time for committing a crime with an online map. Senate Bill 151 adds at least one year to the sentence of any criminal found guilty of using an "Internet, virtual, street-level map" like Google Maps with Street View to commit a crime." [Darlene Fichter]

CBO Report - Strategies for Maintaining the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ Inventories of Fighter Aircraft, May 2010

Health Costs and the Federal Budget, May 2010. CBO Director Doug Elmendorf's presentation to the Institute of Medicine.

Follow up to postings on the Gulf Coast oil spill, this new CRS report, Oil Spills in U.S. Coastal Waters: Background, Governance, and Issues for Congress, April 30, 2010

Senate Passes Sweeping Financial Reform Bill, May 2010: "On May 20, 2010, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to restructure the
financial services regulatory system by a vote of 59 to 39. As discussed in this briefing paper, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (S 3217, the Senate version of H.R. 4173) would institute far-reaching reforms, including the creation of an independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau housed within the Federal Reserve Board and new federal government power to wind down large, failing financial institutions. The bill would establish a nine-member Financial Services Oversight Council to oversee systemic risk, strengthen regulation of financial holding companies and abolish the Office of Thrift Supervision, transferring its functions to the Fed, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp."

Follow up to previous postings on Bisphenol A , this News release: "Senator Dianne Feinstein stood with environmental health advocates today on Capitol Hill to release a new report that demonstrates alarming levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in common canned foods. BPA is a synthetic sex hormone and exposure to low doses has been linked to abnormal behavior, diabetes and heart disease, infertility, developmental and reproductive harm, and obesity, which raises the risk of early puberty, a known risk factor for breast cancer. Senator Feinstein has introduced legislation that would ban BPA in cans, in addition to other food and beverage containers. The Senator is hopeful that the Food Safety Act will include language that protects consumers from BPA exposure. “We found in our analysis that if someone is eating just one meal with at least one canned food product, their levels of BPA are as much as those that have been shown to cause health effects in laboratory animal studies,” says Bobbi Chase Wilding of Clean New York, co-author, of No Silver Lining, An Investigation Into Bisphenol A in Canned Foods, by The National Workgroup for Safe Markets, a coalition of U.S. public health- and environmental health-focused organizations. “Six states have taken crucial first steps this year to get this hormone mimicking chemical out of our children’s food, but this report shows that there is much more to be done. Senator Feinstein’s bill will protect much more of our food from this toxic contamination,” said U.S. Public Interest Research Group Public Health Advocate Elizabeth Hitchcock..."Eating common canned foods is exposing consumers to levels of bisphenol A (BPA) equal to levels shown to cause health problems in laboratory animals, according to a new study released today by The National Work Group for Safe Markets, a coalition of public health and environmental health groups. The study, No Silver Lining, tested food from 50 cans from 19 US states and one Canadian province for BPA contamination. Over 90% of the cans tested had detectable levels of BPA, some at higher levels than have been detected in previous studies. The canned foods tested were brand name fish, fruits, vegetables, beans, soups, tomato products, sodas, and milks, which together represent “real-life” meal options for a wide range of North American consumers. The cans were purchased from retail stores and were chosen from report participants’ pantry shelves, and sent to an independent laboratory for testing. One can of DelMonte green beans had the highest levels of BPA ever found in canned food, at 1,140 parts per billion."

"The American Library Association (ALA) Washington Office has released the association’s 2009 Legislative Scorecards for the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. The Legislative Scorecards outline votes and support of legislation that is important to and has an impact on the library community. The ALA provides the scorecard as a tool to ALA members for gauging their elected official’s support of library related legislation. The 2009 scorecards are available here."

News release: "New York State Senator Thomas P. Morahan, Chairman of the Committee on Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities today secured Senate passage of his landmark legislation (S.1823-B) which establishes a civil cause of action for employees who are subjected to an abusive work environment. Specifically, this legislation provides legal redress for employees who have been harmed psychologically, physically or economically by being deliberately subjected to abusive work environments; and it provides legal incentives for employers to prevent and respond to mistreatment of employees at work. Surveys and studies demonstrate that 16 to 21 percent of employees experience health-endangering workplace bullying, abuse and harassment, and that this behavior is 4 times more prevalent then sexual harassment. These studies have also documented the serious effects on these targeted employees. They include: shame, humiliation, stress, loss of sleep, severe anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder, reduced immunity to infection, gastrointestinal disorders, hypertension and pathophysiologic changes that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease." [Stuart Basefsky]

• H.R. 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, May 2010 - Additional Information on the Potential Discretionary Costs of Implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
• H.R. 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, May 11, 2010 - Additional information about potential effects on discretionary spending, letter to the Honorable Jerry Lewis
• See also H.R.3590 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and related postings on health care reform

EPIC: "The Senate unanimously passed the Faster FOIA Act of 2010, introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX), that will establish a 16-member commission to determine methods for reducing delays in processing FOIA requests. Government reports reveal substantial delays in disclosing records subject to the open government law. The legislation seeks to improve the processing of FOIA requests. EPIC frequently uses the FOIA to obtain information about government programs that impact privacy rights."

Healthy Financial Reporting and Disclosure - A Summary of the Financial Reporting and Disclosure Implications of the Health Care Reform Legislation

The Gavel Blog: "Today, the Office of the Clerk beta launched HouseLive.gov — a streaming video feed of the House Floor. The site also hosts searchable and downloadable video archives going back to the start of the 111th Congress (January 6, 2009) and has a highlighted archive for events like the State of the Union and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s address to Congress last year."

News release: "Eight federal regulators released an Online Form Builder today that financial institutions can download and use to develop and print customized versions of a model consumer privacy notice. The Online Form Builder, based on the model form regulation published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2009, under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, is available with several options. Easy-to-follow instructions for the form builder will guide an institution to select the version of the model form that fits its practices, such as whether the institution provides an opt-out for consumers. To obtain a legal "safe harbor" and so satisfy the law's disclosure requirements, institutions must follow the instructions in the model form regulation when using the Online Form Builder."

• Combating Terrorism: Planning and Documentation of U.S. Development Assistance in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas Need to Be Improved, GAO-10-289, April 15, 2010
• Defense Acquisitions: Opportunities and Challenges for Army Ground Force Modernization Efforts, GAO-10-603T, April 15, 2010
• Defense Management: Observations on Department of Defense and Military Service Fiscal Year 2011 Requirements for Corrosion Prevention and Control, GAO-10-608R, April 15, 2010
• Defense Management: Observations on the Department of Defense's Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request for Corrosion Prevention and Control, GAO-10-607R, April 15, 2010
• Domestic Food Assistance: Complex System Benefits Millions, but Additional Efforts Could Address Potential Inefficiency and Overlap among Smaller Programs, GAO-10-346, April 15, 2010
• Federal Deposit Insurance Act: Regulators' Use of Systemic Risk Exception Raises Moral Hazard Concerns and Opportunities Exist to Clarify the Provision, GAO-10-100, April 15, 2010
• Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-10-574T, April 15, 2010
• International Security: DOD and State Need to Improve Sustainment Planning and Monitoring and Evaluation for Section 1206 and 1207 Assistance Programs, GAO-10-431, April 15, 2010
• Social Security Administration: Better Planning Needed to Improve Service Delivery, GAO-10-586T, April 15, 2010
• U.S. Postal Service: Action Needed to Facilitate Financial Viability, GAO-10-624T, April 15, 2010

H. R. 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [906 pages, PDF]
"OFFICE.—There is established within the Office of the Secretary, an Office on Women’s Health (referred to in this section as the ‘Office’). The Office shall be headed by a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health who may report to the Secretary.
"(b) DUTIES.—The Secretary, acting through the Office, with
respect to the health concerns of women, shall—
"(1) establish short-range and long-range goals and objectives within the Department of Health and Human Services and, as relevant and appropriate, coordinate with other appropriate offices on activities within the Department that relate to disease prevention, health promotion, service delivery, research, and public and health care professional education, for issues of particular concern to women throughout their lifespan;
"(2) provide expert advice and consultation to the Secretary concerning scientific, legal, ethical, and policy issues relating
to women’s health;
"(3) monitor the Department of Health and Human Services’ offices, agencies, and regional activities regarding women’s health and identify needs regarding the coordination of activities, including intramural and extramural multidisciplinary activities;
"(4) establish a Department of Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women’s Health, which shall be chaired by the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health and composed of senior level representatives from each of the agencies and offices of the Department of Health and Human Services;
"(5) establish a National Women’s Health Information Center to—
"(A) facilitate the exchange of information regarding matters relating to health information, health promotion, preventive health services, research advances, and education in the appropriate use of health care;
"(B) facilitate access to such information;
"(C) assist in the analysis of issues and problems relating to the matters described in this paragraph; and
"(D) provide technical assistance with respect to the exchange of information (including facilitating the development of materials for such technical assistance)..."

H. Res. 1222 supporting the goals and ideals of National Library Week: April 13, 2010 Congressional Record - House H2465

Too Big to Fail after FDICIA, Larry D. Wall, Economic Review, Vol. 95, No. 1, 2010

Deforestation and Climate Change, Ross W. Gorte, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy, Pervaze A. Sheikh, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy - March 24, 2010

News release: "[March 25, 2010] U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) announced the formation of the bipartisan Transparency Caucus which will serve as a resource for Members of Congress on bipartisan open government initiatives. The caucus will promote legislation that requires federal information to be freely accessible, as well as advocate for new initiatives that support transparency...With significant advances in technology, it is now possible for the Federal government to offer searchable, sortable, downloadable information online that citizens can access to see for themselves the results of government programs. The Caucus will seek to move current practices forward and encourage easier access for the American public through education, legislation, and oversight."

• Principles of the Congressional Transparency Caucus
  
• Dear Colleague letter to Members of the Transparency Caucus
  
• Transparency in Government Act H.R. 4983 - a bill that would bring about unprecedented access and accountability to the federal government including new lobbying restrictions, creating the first searchable and sortable earmark database, and increased oversight on reporting federal contracts

Follow up to previous postings on health care reform, this relevant data: "The $938 billion health care reform legislation finalized by Congress [signed by President Obama on March 23, 2010] is financed primarily through net cuts to Medicare and an increased Medicare tax on high-income taxpayers, according to the Tax Foundation. The Medicare spending cuts would save $416.5 billion, or about 39 percent of the bill's 10-year cost. The increased Medicare taxes on high-income people -- including an additional 0.9% Medicare Hospital Insurance Tax on earned income exceeding $200,000 for single taxpayers ($250,000 for married couples) and an "Unearned Income Medicare Contribution" of 3.8% on investment income for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes (AGI) in excess of $200,000 for single filers ($250,000 for married filers) -- would raise $210 billion, or about 19 percent of the legislation's cost. A graph depicting a breakdown of the financing is available online. The cost of coverage provisions from 2010-2019 is $938 billion, but the total of all provisions is $1.08 trillion due to deficit reduction."

News release: "The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has made available the health care reform bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives this past weekend in electronic form. The House floor debate leading up to the passage of the bill can be found in the Congressional Record. The authentic, electronic versions are available on GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys)...GPO authenticated the document by digital signature. This signature assures the public that the document has not been changed or altered. A digital signature, viewed through the GPO Seal of Authenticity, verifies the document’s integrity and authenticity." Direct links:

• H.R. 3590, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
  
• H.R. 4872, Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
  
• Direct links to Congressional Record containing the debate and vote are here, here and here.

23 page complaint filed today in the Northern District of Florida - Nature of Action:

1. "On March 23, 2010, a new universal healthcare regime, titled the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” H.R. 3590 (the Act), was signed into law by the President. The Act, which exceeds 2,400 pages, is available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f: h3590pp.txt.pdf (accessed March 23, 2010).
   
2. The Act represents an unprecedented encroachment on the liberty of individuals living in the Plaintiffs’ respective states, by mandating that all citizens and legal residents of the United States have qualifying healthcare coverage or pay a tax penalty. The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying healthcare coverage. By imposing such a mandate, the Act exceeds the powers of the United States under Article I of the Constitution and violates the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.
   
3. VA AG filed complaint in U.S. District Court, ED VA.

"Beginning with the 111th Congress, all legislative measures are assigned at least one Subject term drawn from a new list of terms presented on this page. The Subject terms are designed to better group legislation, to improve consistency, and to shorten the time it takes to add Subject terms to bills. Subject terms can also be assigned from a large list of terms corresponding to geographic areas (foreign and domestic), U.S. government entities, and congressional committees. See the CRS Named-Entity Subject Terms for a complete list of those terms. Subject term assignment is cumulative; that is, it is added to in order to reflect revisions (if any) made to the measure as it moves through the legislative process."

The Cost of Failure to Enact Health Reform: 2010 - 2020 (Updated). Bowen Garrett, Matthew Buettgens, Lan Doan, Irene Headen, John Holahan, March 15, 2010

• Responses to Questions About CBO's Preliminary Estimate of the Direct Spending and Revenue Effects of H.R. 4872, the Reconciliation Act of 2010, March 19, 2010, Letter to the Honorable Paul Ryan
• H.R. 4872, Reconciliation Act of 2010, March 18, 2010. Estimate of direct spending and revenue effects for the amendment in the nature of a substitute released on March 18, 2010

News release: "[On March 15, 2010] Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced bipartisan legislation to make further improvements to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the nation’s premier open government law. Leahy is a longtime leader on FOIA issues, and has led efforts to make the federal government more open and transparent to the people it represents. This week marks the sixth annual Sunshine Week, a national observance of the importance of an open and transparent government. Leahy partnered with Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) to author the Faster FOIA Act, which will establish an advisory panel to examine agency backlogs in processing FOIA requests. Under the legislation, the panel, named the Commission on Freedom of Information Act Processing Delays, will be required to provide to Congress recommendations for legislative and administrative action to enhance agency responses to FOIA requests. The panel will be required to identify methods to reduce delays in the processing of FOIA requests, and will be charged with examining whether the system for charging fees and granting fee waivers under FOIA should be reformed in order to reduce delays in processing fee requests."

Office of Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd: Financial Reform Legislation Summary

"A report released [January 26, 2010] shows that many states are making dramatic improvements in websites designed to disseminate information about their share of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), while others have failed to make vital information available. This is the finding of Show Us the Stimulus (Again), a report released by Good Jobs First, a non-profit research center based in Washington, D.C."

• Summary Scores and Rankings
  
• Links to state ARRA websites
  
• State Appendices (January 2010)

WSJ via Aransas Project: "A coalition of environmentalists, bird lovers and Gulf Coast municipalities sued Texas regulators in federal court this past week, accusing them of mismanaging waters necessary for the survival of the biggest flock of endangered whooping cranes, which migrate to South Texas every winter. The group, called the Aransas Project, claims that officials from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality violated the Endangered Species Act by not ensuring enough fresh water from the Guadalupe River flowed to the estuary where the cranes stay, causing the death of 23 birds in Texas last year. The lawsuit was filed late Wednesday in Corpus Christi. But state-designated water managers say the real goal of the suit is to block a potential nuclear-power project that would compete for the same water. The tallest bird in North America, the whooping crane is also the rarest crane species in the world. Less than 400 survive in the wild, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A report released Thursday by the Department of Interior found that climate change threatens to exacerbate current pressures on birds such as whooping cranes."

News release: "Representative Carolyn Maloney, Chair of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), and Senator Charles E. Schumer, Vice Chair of the JEC, released a report today estimating the impact of the Healthy Families Act (S. 1152, introduced by Senator Chris Dodd, and H.R. 2460, introduced by Representative Rosa DeLauro), on access to paid sick leave. The report, Expanding Access to Paid Sick Leave: The Impact of the Healthy Families Act on America's Workers, was requested by the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families and analyzes the demographics of workers who currently have access to paid sick leave and workers who would gain access to paid sick leave under the Healthy Families Act."

H.R. 4213, American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010
March 10, 2010. Direct spending and revenues effects estimate for the bill as passed by the Senate on March 10, 2010

• Cybersecurity: Progress Made but Challenges Remain in Defining and Coordinating the Comprehensive National Initiative, GAO-10-338, March 05, 2010
• Recovery Act: California's Use of Funds and Efforts to Ensure Accountability, GAO-10-467T, March 05, 2010
• Food Safety: FDA Should Strengthen Its Oversight of Food Ingredients Determined to Be Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS), GAO-10-246, February 03, 2010

• Forest Service: Information on Appeals, Objections, and Litigation Involving Fuel Reduction Activities, Fiscal Years 2006 through 2008, GAO-10-337, March 04, 2010
• Humane Methods of Slaughter Act: Weaknesses in USDA Enforcement, GAO-10-487T, March 04, 2010
• Iran Sanctions: Complete and Timely Licensing Data Needed to Strengthen Enforcement of Export Restrictions, GAO-10-375, March 04, 2010
• Recovery Act: Factors Affecting the Department of Energy's Program Implementation, GAO-10-497T, March 04, 2010
• Update on the Status of the Merchantable Timber Contracting Pilot Program, GAO-10-379R, March 04, 2010
• Warfighter Support: A Cost Comparison of Using State Department Employees versus Contractors for Security Services in Iraq, GAO-10-266R, March 04, 2010
• Humane Methods of Slaughter Act: Actions Are Needed to Strengthen Enforcement, GAO-10-203, February 19, 2010
• Food and Drug Administration: Improved Monitoring and Development of Performance Measures Needed to Strengthen Oversight of Criminal and Misconduct Investigations, GAO-10-221, January 29, 2010

News release: "The U.S. Department of Labor today released state-by-state figures on the number of individuals who will lose their unemployment benefits in the coming days if Congress fails to extend unemployment insurance benefits. If Emergency Unemployment Compensation and full federal funding for the Extended Benefit program are not extended, 400,000 Americans will lose unemployment benefits during the first weeks in March. By May, nearly 3 million people could be left without these benefits. Furthermore, if the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act subsidy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is not extended, thousands of families will lose access to affordable health care. If the extension is not approved, an estimated 500,000 workers who lose their jobs will be ineligible for subsidies to cover the cost of health care over this month. Over the rest of 2010, an estimated 5 million workers will be ineligible for the Recovery Act COBRA subsidy that covers 65 percent of the cost of coverage. Without this assistance, many of these families will be forced to join the ranks of the uninsured."

New York Times: "Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators. As a result, some businesses are declaring that the law no longer applies to them. And pollution rates are rising. Companies that have spilled oil, carcinogens and dangerous bacteria into lakes, rivers and other waters are not being prosecuted, according to Environmental Protection Agency regulators working on those cases, who estimate that more than 1,500 major pollution investigations have been discontinued or shelved in the last four years.

Related postings on Patriot Act and this recent CRS report: Government Collection of Private Information: Background and Issues Related to the USA PATRIOT Act Reauthorization to accompany the following news and documents:

CBO: Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output From October 2009 Through December 2009, February 2010

News release: "U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, and U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) on Thursday announced new legislation to mitigate the negative impacts of the Supreme Court’s decision that allowed unlimited corporate spending on elections. The Court, in its ruling in the Citizens United case last month, overturned a decades-old law banning political expenditures by corporate interests. Schumer and Van Hollen’s legislation would partly restore those limits – by barring foreign corporations, government contractors and companies that have received government assistance from making political expenditures – and also impose new disclosure and disclaimer requirements." [Outline of legislation is included in this release.]

Budget Tracker: Status of U.S. Funding for Key Global Health Accounts: "This resource provides regularly updated information on the status of U.S. funding for key global health programs throughout the budget and appropriations process. It includes a detailed breakdown of each major account as presented in the President’s budget request and in relevant appropriations bills as they proceed through Congress. It will be updated as needed. It is an element of the Foundation's broader interactive U.S. global health policy tracker".

Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile. Jennifer E. Manning, Information Research Specialist, February 4, 2010

Women in the United States Congress: 1917-2009. Jennifer E. Manning, Information Research Specialist, Colleen J. Shogan, Senior Specialist in Government and Finance, December 23, 2009.

News release: "After more than a decade of nationwide effort, the Digital Promise Project has achieved an essential goal – the creation of the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies. This year the Department of Education, as provided by their 2010 appropriations legislation, will make available the initial funding required to launch the National Center. In the words of the Center’s authorizing legislation, “The purpose of the Center shall be to support a comprehensive research and development program to harness the increasing capability of advanced information and digital technologies to improve all levels of learning and education, formal and informal, in order to provide Americans with the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the global economy.” Congress voted overwhelmingly to establish this Center, the first new national research center in many years, as an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Authorized in 2008 by amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965, the National Center will have a governing board of nine members, which will include outstanding representatives from the public and private sectors and from varied professions and disciplines."

"The public has consistently expressed strong interest in the health care debate, but relatively few Americans can correctly answer two key questions related to the Senate's consideration of health care legislation. In the latest installment of the Pew Research Center's News IQ Quiz, just 32% know that the Senate passed its version of the legislation without a single Republican vote. And, in what proved to be the most difficult question on the quiz, only about a quarter (26%) knows that it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster1 in the Senate and force a vote on a bill. The survey was conducted before Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown won a special election to the Senate on Jan. 19; Brown's election means Senate Democrats can no longer count on a 60-vote majority once he takes office."

An Analysis of the Roadmap for America’s Future Act of 2010, as Specified by Congressman Ryan’s Staff, January 27, 2010

The Government Domain - Congressional Documents on FDsys: Advanced Techniques - Following up on a previous column in which she introduced FDsys and explained the site's simple search and navigation, this month Peggy Garvin provides an update and introduces more advanced search techniques for the congressional information available on FDsys.

Via Rick McKinney: "GPO finally made available the text of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, H.R. 4173, as passed by the House on December 11, 2009. The 1706 page bill had been 1279 pages when introduced, but after numerous amendments adopted on the House floor (there was no reported version or committee report) it grew and many of us have waited until now to see it put together in one package. The bill has ten titles and many of the titles and sections (after Title V the sections to not correspond to the numeric title) were developed from earlier legislation and from Administration proposed language."

News release: " The Justice Department today announced separate agreements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Pace University in New York City and Reed College in Portland, Ore., regarding the use in a classroom setting of the electronic book reader, the Kindle DX, a hand-held technological device that simulates the experience of reading a book. Under the agreements reached today, the universities generally will not purchase, recommend or promote use of the Kindle DX, or any other dedicated electronic book reader, unless the devices are fully accessible to students who are blind and have low vision. The universities agree that if they use dedicated electronic book readers, they will ensure that students with vision disabilities are able to access and acquire the same materials and information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as sighted students with substantially equivalent ease of use. The agreements that the Justice Department reached with these universities extend beyond the Kindle DX to any dedicated electronic reading device."

"In the wake of the most significant financial crisis since the Great Depression, the President signed into law on May 20, 2009, the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, creating the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The Commission was established to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." The 10 members of the bi-partisan Commission, prominent private citizens with significant experience in banking, market regulation, taxation, finance, economics, housing, and consumer protection, were appointed by Congress on July 15, 2009. The Chair, Phil Angelides, and Vice Chair, Bill Thomas, were selected jointly by the House and Senate Majority and Minority Leadership."

• First Public Hearing of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Day 1, January 13, 2010. Links to PDF copies of witness statements.
  
• Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Selected Financial Market & Economic Data, January 13, 2010
  
• WSJ: Panel Rips Wall Street Titans
  
• Related postings on financial system

Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors: Economic Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Second Quarterly Report, January 13, 2010

News release: "Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz and key members of Congress, including Representative Chris Van Hollen, Chairman Bobby Rush, and Representative Mary Jo Kilroy, today renewed their call for legislation that would put an end to anticompetitive patent settlements, which drug manufacturers have been using to keep less-expensive medicines off the market and charge consumers billions of dollars a year in higher drug prices. Speaking at a joint press conference, Leibowitz said consumers are forced to pay inflated prices or forgo their medication because of these “pay-for-delay” deals, in which brand-name drug makers pay their generic competitors to keep cheaper alternatives off the market. He urged Congress to adopt a provision as part of the health care reform bill to stop pay-for-delay agreements."

Estimated Premiums for "Bronze" Coverage Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Letter to the Honorable Olympia Snowe, January 11, 2010

"The House of Representatives HR 3962 Affordable Health Care for America Act together with the Senate Patient Protection and Affordable Care bill as amended and passed December 24, 2009 are presented here in searchable form. This is provided as a public service. MarpX is a precision search engine uses the "Words Close Together" method of relevance ranking, which assures that the most meaningful hits appear near the top of the list search results."

"Health reform as set forth in legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in November would cut the number of uninsured Americans to 24 million by 2019 (a 56 percent decrease) and increase personal spending on health care by about 3.3 percent cumulatively between 2013 and 2019, according to an independent assessment released today by the RAND Corporation. In addition, the study finds that under the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) cumulative federal spending to help low-income people buy private insurance would total $445 billion by 2019 and federal spending on Medicaid would increase by $559 billion (a 21 percent hike) over the same period."

Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities Reported by Youth, 2008-09, Allen J. Beck, Paul Guerino, Paige M. Harrison. January 7, 2009

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act: Overview and Issues for Congress, Kevin R. Kosar, Analyst in American National Government, December 14, 2009

2009 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary: "Chief Justice John Roberts issued his 2009 year-end report, stating that "courts are operating soundly, and the nation's dedicated federal judges are conscientiously discharging their duties...In 2009, a total of 1,402,816 bankruptcy petitions were filed in the U.S. courts, an increase of 35% over the 1,042,806 filed in 2008. The 2009 total represents the greatest number of bankruptcy filings since 2005, when many debtors rushed to file petitions before October 17, 2005, the date on which the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) took effect."

Follow up to previous postings on H.R. 4173, David Reilly, Bloomberg News columnist, commentary.

News release: "While the Recovery Act has made unprecedented investments in clean energy, energy efficiency, and other environmental improvements, a new report by The Council of State Governments finds that in most states the wave of green jobs tied to these investments has yet to arrive. CSG has released a state-by-state analysis of green jobs created or retained through the Recovery Act. According to CSG’s analysis, which looked at data collected by states through Oct. 10, 2009, states have created or saved just more than 13,000 green jobs."

Senate Health Care Bill - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed in the Senate on December 24, 2009. [Note - 2409 pages, PDF]

New York Times - Comparing the House and the Senate Health Care Proposals: "Senate Democrats said Saturday that they had clinched an agreement on a sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation’s health care system. The House passed its own version in November. The proposals are broadly similar but differ on some major issues, such as on a new government insurance plan, abortion and immigration. Many provisions of the Senate bill, including the mandate for individuals to obtain insurance and the creation of insurance markets, would take effect in 2014, a year later than similar provisions of the House bill."

• Biosurveillance: Developing a Collaboration Strategy Is Essential to Fostering Interagency Data and Resource Sharing, GAO-10-171, December 18, 2009
• Department of Veterans Affairs' Implementation of Information Security Education Assistance Program, GAO-10-170R, December 18, 2009
• DOD Civilian Personnel: Intelligence Personnel System Incorporates Safeguards, but Opportunities Exist for Improvement, GAO-10-134, December 17, 2009
• Overseas Contingency Operations: Funding and Cost Reporting for the Department of Defense, GAO-10-288R, December 18, 2009
• Softwood Lumber Act of 2008: Customs and Border Protection Established Required Procedures, but Agencies Report Little Benefit from New Requirements, GAO-10-220, December 18, 2009
• Juvenile Justice: DOJ Is Enhancing Information on Effective Programs, but Could Better Assess the Utility of This Information, GAO-10-125, December 17, 2009
• UN Office for Project Services: Management Reforms Proceeding but Effectiveness Not Assessed, and USAID's Oversight of Grants Has Weaknesses, GAO-10-168, November 19, 2009

• Correction Regarding the Longer-Term Effects of the Manager's Amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, December 20, 2009. Letter to the Honorable Harry Reid.
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Incorporating the Manager's Amendment. Cost estimate for the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3590, incorporating the effects of changes proposed in the manager's amendment released on December 19, 2009
• Related postings on health care reform

Federal Estate and Gift Taxes, Economic and Budget Issue Brief, December 18, 2009.

S. 1733, Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, December 16, 2009. Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on November 5, 2009.

Via U.S. Dept. of State: Lobbying the Executive Branch: Current Practices and Options for Change, Jacob R. Straus, Analyst on the Congress, December 1, 2009

News release: "The House of Representatives today showed a renewed commitment to defeat cancer, passing an FY 2010 domestic appropriations bill that includes long overdue increases for cancer prevention services and helps to sustain critical research funding levels. The legislation would provide an 8.8 percent increase for cancer prevention and control programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a 2.3 percent increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including a 2.8 percent for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and a 2.7 percent increase for the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD)."

Federal Times: "The two councils that amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation published seven new rules in the Federal Register...one finalizes an interim rule encouraging food service contractors to donate “wholesome excess food to nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to food-insecure people in the United States.”

CBO: H.R. 4173, Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. December 9, 2009: Cost estimate for the bill as amended and reported by the House Committee on Rules on December 8, 2009

Follow up to previous postings on health care reform, today's news release: "U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today regarding a new report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) that shows that 60 percent of health care spending in the U.S. ($1.35 trillion out of $2.24 trillion) is controlled by state, local and federal government.

The Market Structure of the Health Insurance Industry, D. Andrew Austin - Analyst in Economic Policy, Thomas L. Hungerford - Specialist in Public Finance. November 17, 2009

Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output as of September 2009 - November 2009

An Analysis of Health Insurance Premiums Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, November 30, 2009 - Letter to the Honorable Evan Bayh

Temporary Extension of Unemployment Benefits: Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08), November 17, 2009

News release: "Eight federal regulatory agencies today released a final model privacy notice form that will make it easier for consumers to understand how financial institutions collect and share information about consumers. Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act), institutions must notify consumers of their information-sharing practices and inform consumers of their right to opt out of certain sharing practices. The model form issued today can be used by financial institutions to comply with these requirements. The Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006 amended the GLB Act to require the agencies to propose a succinct and comprehensible model form that allows consumers to easily compare the privacy practices of different financial institutions, and has an easy-to-read font...The final rule provides that a financial institution that chooses to use the model form obtains a "safe harbor" and will satisfy the disclosure requirements for notices. The rule also removes, after a transition period, the sample clauses now included in the appendices of the agencies’ privacy rules. The final model privacy form was developed jointly by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Trade Commission, National Credit Union Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, and Securities and Exchange Commission."

• H.R. 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act, November 20, 2009. Revised cost estimate for the bill as passed by the House of Representatives
• Information on Medicare's Payments to Physicians and the Budgetary Effects of H.R. 3961, the Medicare Physicians Payment Reform Act of 2009, November 19, 2009. Letter to the Honorable Paul Ryan
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, November 18, 2009 Cost estimate for the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 3590, as proposed in the Senate on November 18, 2009
• Long-Term Implications of the Department of Defense's Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Submission, November 18, 2009. Testimony before the Committee on Armed Services, U.S. House of Representatives.

• Department Of Veterans Affairs: Improvements Needed in Corrective Action Plans to Remediate Financial Reporting Material Weaknesses, GAO-10-65, November 16, 2009
• Financial Audit: Federal Housing Finance Agency's Fiscal Year 2009 Financial Statements, GAO-10-218, November 16, 2009
• Financial Audit: Securities and Exchange Commission's Financial Statements for Fiscal Years 2009 and 2008, GAO-10-250, November 16, 2009
• Recovery Act: Agencies Are Addressing Broadband Program Challenges, but Actions Are Needed to Improve Implementation, GAO-10-80, November 16, 2009
• Student Achievement: Schools Use Multiple Strategies to Help Students Meet Academic Standards, Especially Schools with Higher Proportions of Low-Income and Minority Students, GAO-10-18, November 16, 2009
• Critical Infrastructure Protection: OMB Leadership Needed to Strengthen Agency Planning Efforts to Protect Federal Cyber Assets, GAO-10-148, October 15, 2009
• Integrity Committee's Process to Address Allegations of Wrongdoing by Inspectors General, GAO-10-63R, October 15, 2009
• Workplace Safety and Health: Enhancing OSHA's Records Audit Process Could Improve the Accuracy of Worker Injury and Illness Data, GAO-10-10, October 15, 2009

CRS Report R40901 - Terrorism Information Sharing and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Report Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress, November 05, 2009

Job Loss and Infrastructure Job Creation Spending During the Recession, Linda Levine, Specialist in Labor Economics, October 2, 2009

Follow up to previous postings on the establishment of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, the following new documents released by Sen. Dodd via his press release:

House Report 111-330, to accompany H. Res. 903 RH - The rule providing for consideration of H.R. 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act, contains a summary of the amendment, the Common Sense Health Care Reform and Affordability Act.

Health Reform and the 111th Congress, Hinda Chaikind, Specialist in Health Care Financing, October 14, 2009

Follow up on previous postings on health care reform, from WSJ.com - Health-Care Reform Proposals - "Compare health-care legislation taking shape in the House and Senate as President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul the system. Details are still being negotiated and any final health care bill would have to meld proposals from the House and Senate."

H.R. 3962, Affordable Health Care for America Act - November 6, 2009: Cost estimate for the bill as introduced on October 29, 2009 and incorporating the manager's amendment from November 3, 2009 (updated to reflect enactment of H.R. 3548): "CBO and the staff of JCT now estimate that, on balance, the direct spending and revenue effects of enacting H.R. 3962, incorporating the manager’s amendment, would yield a net reduction in federal budget deficits of $109 billion over the 2010-2019 period."

• Richard S. Foster, Chief Actuary, CMS - Estimated Financial Effects of the 'America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009' (H.R. 3200), as Reported by the Ways and Means Committee, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, October 21, 2009
  
• Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimated Revenue Effects of Possible Modifications to the Revenue Provisions of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, October 29, 2009
  
• Related postings on H.R. 3962

• November 04, 2009 - Income of Americans Aged 65 and Older, 1968 to 2008
• October 30, 2009 - Private Health Insurance Provisions of H.R. 3962 / Note: related postings on H.R. 3962
• October 28, 2009 - Systemic Risk and the Federal Reserve
• October 22, 2009 - Federal Research and Development Funding: FY2010
• October 19, 2009 - Presidential Terms and Tenure: Perspectives and Proposals for Change
• October 16, 2009 - Trafficking in Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean

News release: "The Federal Highway Administration crossed the $20 billion mark in approved obligations for highway, road and bridge projects this week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today. Of the $26.6 billion available for federal highway and bridge projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more than 75 percent has now been obligated."

HUD OIG: Review of HUD’s Process for Monitoring Recipient Reporting for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, October 30, 2009

CBO Analysis of Subsidies to and Payments by Enrollees in Insurance Exchanges Under the Affordable Health Care for America Act, November 2, 2009. Letter to the Honorable Charles B. Rangel

"The country will never be able to contain rates of chronic diseases and health care costs until we find ways to keep Americans healthier. But right now, Americans are not as healthy as they could be or should be. Two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese. The childhood obesity epidemic is putting today’s youth on course to potentially be the first generation to live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents. This report, the sixth annual edition of F as in Fat: How Obesity Rates Are Failing in America 2009, finds that in the past year, adult obesity rates grew in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state. The number of obese adults now exceeds 25 percent in nearly two-thirds of states. In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent. In 1980, the national average of obese adults was 15 percent."

• Different Measures for Analyzing Current Proposals to Reform Health Care, October 30, 2009. Letter to the Honorable Max Baucus
• Preliminary Analysis of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, October 29, 2009. Letter to the Honorable Charles B. Rangel
• Note: H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, is 1990 pages long (PDF)

WSJ: "Here are some key parts of the draft legislation hashed out between House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) and the Treasury Department.
1) It would create a financial services oversight council, chaired by the Treasury Secretary, which would consist of Federal Reserve Chairman, Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman, and heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and others. The council would:
a. advise Congress on banking regulation
b. identify companies and activities that should be subject to more supervision.
c. Issue formal recommendations that a council member adopt for firms it regulates.
d. Resolve a dispute between regulators.
e. Subject a financial activity or practice to tougher rules and standards if the activity could threaten companies or markets..."

CQ Staff: "The House Financial Services Committee approved creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), marking a big win for many Democrats and consumer advocates. The measure (HR 3126) — a central piece of the Obama administration’s financial overhaul plan — would create a new federal regulator with broad powers to police large swaths of the economy, including credit cards, home mortgages and pay-day lenders. Support for the new agency has grown after hundreds of thousands of subprime borrowers lost their homes, triggering one of the worst recessions in decades."

The Clean Water Act after 37 Years: Recommitting to the Protection of the Nation’s Waters - Statement of Wade T. Najjum Assistant Inspector General for Program Evaluation Before the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, U.S. House of Representatives, October 15, 2009.

Government Executive: The 1,500-page fiscal 2010 Defense authorization bill approved by a congressional conference committee on Wednesday will have major repercussions for contractors and the government's acquisition workforce. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the legislation "supports the [Pentagon's] plan to increase the size of the civilian acquisition workforce; reduces the Department of Defense's reliance on contractors for critical acquisition functions; and eliminates waste, fraud and abuse through better contract oversight."

Make Our Food Safe: "Every year, 76 million Americans are sickened from consuming contaminated food – and 5,000 of these people die. That’s more than the number of individuals who lose their lives as a result of fire or unintentional drowning in the U.S. each year. Continued outbreaks of foodborne illness over the last several years – from spinach to peppers to peanuts – have demonstrated that these outbreaks are not random, unpreventable occurrences, but are due to widespread problems with our food safety system. Our current food system is broken and has been in need of reform for decades. And this year, Congress has the opportunity to change course and help protect children, families, senior citizens and all others from foodborne illness."

ACLU: "The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the USA PATRIOT Act Extension Act of 2009 [October 9, 2009], a bill which falls far short of restoring the necessary civil liberties protections lacking in the original Patriot Act. The bill, passed by the committee after two sessions of debate, makes only minor changes to the disastrous Patriot Act and was further watered down by amendments adopted during markup. The American Civil Liberties Union had endorsed the JUSTICE Act, an alternative bill that would heavily reform not only the Patriot Act but other overly broad surveillance laws."

CBO: Preliminary Analysis of the Chairman's Mark for the America's Healthy Future Act, as Amended - October 7, 2009 Letter to the Honorable Max Baucus

The Riskiest Foods Regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI - a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC.

Federal Computer Week: "The upgraded version of the Recovery.gov Web site for tracking spending under the economic stimulus law gets mostly positive reviews, but has disappointed some visitors. The retooled site, sponsored by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, went online on Sept. 28 with new mapping features, a new layout and more prominent displays of key spending data. One addition is a large, interactive map; users can click on geographic areas, or enter locations or zip codes, to display information on contracts, grants and loans awarded. The map has data gathered from federal agencies and on Oct. 30, it will publish state and local data on contract awards."

• September 21, 2009 - Social Networking and Constituent Communication: Member Use of Twitter During a Two-Week Period in the 111th Congress
• September 16, 2009 - FEMA Disaster Housing: From Sheltering to Permanent Housing
• September 16, 2009 - Wildfire Fuels and Fuel Reduction
• September 16, 2009 - F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program: Background and Issues for Congress
• September 16, 2009 - Older Workers: Employment and Retirement Trends
• September 14, 2009 - Climate Change: Costs and Benefits of the Cap-and-Trade Provisions of H.R. 2454
• September 1, 2009 - The Fall and Rise of Household Saving

EPIC: "...the Department of Justice announced a new policy that limits the government’s use of the state secrets privilege. The state secrets privilege is a rule of evidence intended to prevent genuine matters of national security from being disclosed in open court. However, recently it has been misused by both the Bush and Obama administrations in order to derail litigation completely. For instance, in 2007 EPIC filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief in a warrantless wiretapping case, Hepting v. United States, in which the government argued that the case should be dismissed because it would reveal “state secrets.” Under the new policy, the privilege will be invoked only "to the extent necessary to protect against the risk of significant harm to national security." The Attorney General will also have to approve each determination. The State Secret Protection Act of 2009, legislation with a similar purpose, is now pending in Congress. For more information, see EPIC Open Government."

News release: "A judge ordered the government Thursday to release more records about the lobbying campaign to provide immunity to the telecommunications giants that participated in the NSA's warrantless surveillance program. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White ordered the records be provided to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) by October 9, 2009. The decision is part of EFF's long-running battle to gather information about telecommunications lobbying conducted as Congress considered granting immunity to companies that participated in illegal government electronic surveillance. Telecom immunity was eventually passed as part of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) of 2008, but a bill that would repeal the immunity -- called the JUSTICE Act -- was introduced in the Senate last week."

News release: "Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), author of the credit card reform bill signed earlier this year by President Obama, and Barney Frank (D-MA), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, today introduced legislation which changes the effective date for the reforms in that bill to December 1, 2009. H.R. 3639, the Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009, would move up the effective date of the remaining provisions of the Credit CARD Act, which are now scheduled for February and August 2010."
“Pew Charitable Trust reports that interest rates have spiked by an average of 20% on credit cards representing more than 91% of the $864 billion in outstanding credit card balances. It’s clear that credit card companies are taking advantage of this period between the signing of my bill and the current effective date,” Rep. Maloney said. “The breadth and depth of the rate hikes happening now point to the need for faster consumer protections. Americans need relief now.”

CBO: Additional Information on Insurance Coverage for Unauthorized Immigrants Under Proposed Health Care Legislation, September 22, 2009 - Letter to the Honorable Chuck Grassley

OIG-09-97 - Transportation Security Administration Privacy Stewardship (PDF, 36 pages), August 28, 2009

News release and Fact Sheet: "U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) have introduced legislation to fix problems with surveillance laws that threaten the rights and liberties of American citizens. The Judicious Use of Surveillance Tools In Counterterrorism Efforts (JUSTICE) Act would reform the USA PATRIOT Act, the FISA Amendments Act and other surveillance authorities to protect Americans’ constitutional rights, while preserving the powers of our government to fight terrorism. The JUSTICE Act reforms include more effective checks on government searches of Americans’ personal records, the “sneak and peek” search provision of the PATRIOT Act, “John Doe” roving wiretaps and other overbroad authorities. The bill will also reform the FISA Amendments Act, passed last year, by repealing the retroactive immunity provision, preventing “bulk collection” of the contents of Americans’ international communications, and prohibiting “reverse targeting” of innocent Americans. And the bill enables better oversight of the use of National Security Letters (NSLs) after the Department of Justice Inspector General issued reports detailing the misuse and abuse of the NSLs. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday, September 23rd, on reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act."

Senate Finance Committee: Baucus Releases America’s Healthy Future Act

• Chairman’s Mark - America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009
  Scheduled for Markup By the Senate Committee on Finance On September 22, 2009 [223 pages, PDF]
  
• 9-16-09 JCT Analysis of the America's Healthy Future Act
  
• 9-16-09: Finance Committee Memo on Estimates of the America’s Health Future Act
  
• CBO: Preliminary Analysis of Specifications for the Chairman's Mark of the America's Healthy Future Act, September 16, 2009: "..the Chairman’s proposal would establish a mandate for most legal residents of the United States to obtain health insurance; set up insurance “exchanges” through which certain individuals and families could receive federal subsidies to substantially reduce the cost of purchasing that coverage; significantly expand eligibility for Medicaid; substantially reduce the growth of Medicare’s payment rates for most services (relative to the growth rates projected under current law); impose an excise tax on insurance plans with relatively high premiums; and make various other changes to the Medicaid and Medicare programs and the federal tax code...enacting the Chairman’s proposal would result in a net reduction in federal budget deficits of $49 billion over the 2010–2019 period..."

Council of Economic Advisors: Economic Impact of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - First Quarterly Report, September 10, 2009.

New York Times: Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost to Health

"Across the nation, the system that Congress created to protect the nation’s waters under the Clean Water Act of 1972 today often fails to prevent pollution. The New York Times has compiled data on more than 200,000 facilities that have permits to discharge pollutants and collected responses from states regarding compliance. Information about facilities contained in this database comes from two sources: the Environmental Protection Agency and the California State Water Resources Control Board. The database does not contain information submitted by the states."

"The New York Times surveyed violations of the Clean Water Act in every state, and the response by state regulators...Figures were compiled by asking states to verify data initially provided by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Any time officials disputed the data, they were asked to provide alternative figures, which were substituted. New Mexico, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Idaho and the District of Columbia were not delegated enforcement of the Clean Water Act. Figures for those states are from the E.P.A. Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Mississippi disputed the E.P.A. figures but did not provide alternative information."

White House: "Tonight the President will make clear to Congress exactly what he would like to see in the health insurance reform legislation that gets sent to his desk. With four out of five committees in Congress having finished their work and the fifth announcing today that they are moving forward, more progress has been made today than in all the decades since reform was first proposed by Teddy Roosevelt. But tonight the President will explain how these bills should be pulled together to find the best solutions possible to bring peace of mind to Americans who have insurance and affordable coverage to those who don't."

"The Reportable Food Registry (RFR or the Registry) is an electronic portal for Industry to report when there is reasonable probability that an article of food will cause serious adverse health consequences. The Registry helps the FDA better protect public health by tracking patterns and targeting inspections. The Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (Pub. L.110-085), section 1005 directs the FDA to establish a Reportable Food Registry for Industry. The RFR applies to all FDA-regulated categories of food and feed, except dietary supplements and infant formula."

The Government Printing Office (GPO) is pleased to announce the release of 8 new collections into the Federal Digital System (FDsys). The new collections are:

• Congressional Directory (105th Congress to present)
  
• Congressional Record (Bound) (1999 to 2001)
  
• Congressional Record Index (Daily) (1983 to Present)
  
• Economic Report of the President (1996 to present)
  
• GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions (1994 to 2008)
  
• History of Bills (1983 to present)
  
• United States Government Manual (1995/1996 to present)
  
• United States Statutes at Large (2003 to 2006)

Remarks by the Vice President on the 200 Days of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: "First, we had to stabilize the financial system. We took the unpopular but necessary step of rescuing the banks. And now, although there's a long way to go, eight out of 10 of the largest financial institutions in America -- including Goldman, Morgan Stanley, American Express, as well as 16 smaller banks, have repaid the government in full, and I might add, at a $4 billion profit for the taxpayer. Second, along with the Fed, we took action stabilizing the housing market, allowing responsible homeowners to stay in their homes, and we’re beginning to see the results of that. We just learned that new housing starts rose 10 percent in July, for the fourth straight month increase. Are we there yet? No. But we're moving. Two hundred days ago, President Obama signed into law the third piece of our economic plan: the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And today there's a growing consensus: The Recovery Act is, in fact, working. Don’t just take my word for it. Analysts from Moody’s to IHS Global Insight, to the Economic Policy Institute and others all estimate the Recovery Act has created or saved between 500,000 to 750,000 jobs. As a matter of fact, some notable economists suggest the number is as high as a million. Economists at Goldman Sachs believe that the package added 2.2 percentage points to real GDP growth in the second quarter of 2009, and estimate that it will add 3.3 percentage current -- points to the current quarter."

The Government Domain: Tracking Congress 2.0 - With the 111th Congress of the United States reconvening on September 8th, e-gov expert Peggy Garvin highlights new tools and sources that enhance and expand your ability to track and monitor the action.

News release: "Nationwide Insurance today released the results of its new On Your Side® survey, which found that 8 in 10 Americans surveyed this month say they would support legislation restricting cell phone use while driving. The survey, conducted Aug. 5-9, 2009, by Harris Interactive, reports that 80 percent of Americans favor a ban on texting while driving, while two thirds favor a ban on cell phone calls, and more than half say they would support a ban on cell phone use altogether."

FDIC Consumer News, Summer 2009 - Credit Cards: New Law Protects Consumers from Surprise Fees, Rate Increases and Other Penalties

• August 25, 2009 - Treatment of Noncitizens in H.R. 3200 [America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009]
• August 19, 2009 - Insurance Regulation: Issues, Background, and Legislation in the 111th Congress
• August 14, 2009 - Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy
• August 11, 2009 - Financial Regulation and Oversight: Latin American Financial Crises and Reform: Lessons from Chile
• August 11, 2009 - The Military Commissions Act of 2006: Background and Proposed Amendments
• August 07, 2009 - The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women: (CEDAW): Issues in the U.S. Ratification Debate

"Welcome to our new website! As the Executive Director of the Council [Valerie Jarrett], I’m very excited to launch this site as we commemorate Women’s Equality Day on August 26. On this day when we remember the bravery and struggles that won women the right to vote, we are very pleased to add this website to share with everyone the work of this Administration to address the issues of concern to women and girls. The mission of the White House Council on Women and Girls is to ensure that every part of the federal government takes into account the needs of women and girls in the policies we draft, the programs we create, the legislation we support. Through this site you will be able to meet the member of the Council and the key staff in each agency who are charged with meeting this charge from the President."

• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
  
• History
  
• States parties
  
• Reservations
  
• Country Reports
  
• Other UN Conventions on Women
  
• Commentary: Celebrating Women’s Equality Day

New York Times: "Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a son of one of the most storied families in American politics, a man who knew acclaim and tragedy in near-equal measure and who will be remembered as one of the most effective lawmakers in the history of the Senate, died late Tuesday night. He was 77."

News release: "In response to increasing concerns in the health care debate regarding the long-term costs of reform, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) released a report examining various steps for reforming the health care system to one that delivers better care at lower costs. The report, entitled, Improving Quality and Value in the U.S. Health Care System, supports the bipartisan health reform recommendations released earlier this year by Senators Howard Baker, Tom Daschle and Bob Dole in their budget-neutral framework for comprehensive health reform, Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System.

"As lawmakers and Americans discuss health care reform, The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has made available H.R. 3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, in electronic and printed form. The bill was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce. The authentic, electronic version is available on GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys), named by Government Computer News as one of the Government’s best Web sites. GPO authenticated the document by digital signature. This signature assures the public that the document has not been changed or altered. A digital signature, viewed through the GPO Seal of Authenticity, verifies the document’s integrity and authenticity."

News release: "AG King and twenty-three other State Attorneys General sent a letter late Monday to leaders of the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, voicing strong support for the Consumer Financial Protection Agency proposed by the Obama Administration."

"Launched in June, iAWFUL identifies America's 10 worst legislative and regulatory proposals targeted at the Internet. The iAWFUL Web site urges Internet users to join the fight to fix or fight against bills that threaten the future of online commerce and communication. The list is regularly updated to reflect the most immediate dangers, based on regulatory severity and likelihood of passage."

Employee Benefit Research Institute Databook on Employee Benefits, updated August 2009: "The EBRI Databook on Employee Benefits includes data from dozens of sources to provide a comprehensive analysis of how the employee benefits system works, who and what its various functions affect, and its relationship with the U.S. economy...The book is organized into four sections -- overview, retirement programs, health programs, and other employee benefits, with an extensive appendix offering general economic and demographic statistics, a glossary of terms used in the book, a legislative history of employee benefit programs, reference guide listing sources for further research, and an index."

WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Says Health Reform Will Put Patients’ Interests Ahead of Insurance Company Profits: "President Barack Obama described just how dysfunctional the current health insurance system is and how reform will fix it. Right now, the American people have a system that works better for the insurance industry than it does for them. Reform will put an end 14,000 Americans losing their insurance everyday and provide everyone with the security and stability missing today. It will stop insurance companies from creating annual or lifetime caps on coverage and will limit how much people can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. Reform means lower costs, more choices, better coverage, and stronger businesses and families."

Consumer Financial Protection Agency Continues to Create Banker Angst: "As President Obama attempts to overhaul the financial services regulatory regime, the one requirement that has met even more resistance than executive pay caps is the proposed financial services consumer watchdog agency...The financial services industry has dug in its heels in hopes of at least helping to shape the plan into something more palatable."

Library of Congress State Legislation on Comprehensive Health Care Coverage

CRS: Private Health Insurance Provisions of H.R. 3200, July 27, 2009

EIA - Energy Market and Economic Impacts of H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy And Security Act of 2009 (08/04/2009): "This report responds to a request from Chairman Henry Waxman and Chairman Edward Markey for an analysis of H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACESA). ACESA, as passed by the House of Representatives on June 26, 2009, is a complex bill that regulates emissions of greenhouse gases through market-based mechanisms, efficiency programs, and economic incentives."

Analysis of the Subsidy Costs of Direct and Guaranteed Student Loans - July 27, 2009 - Letter to the Honorable Judd Gregg

News release: "In conjunction with the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the U.S. Department of Labor has re-named and re-launched DisabilityInfo.gov as Disability.gov. The site now offers comprehensive information about programs and services to better serve the more than 50 million Americans with disabilities, their family members, veterans, employers, educators, caregivers and anyone interested in disability-related information. The new Web site integrates content from 22 federal agencies and will be managed by the Labor Department. The former DisabilityInfo.gov site was revamped with social media tools to encourage interaction and feedback, and new ways to organize, share and receive information. Visitors can sign up for personalized news and updates, participate in online discussions and suggest resources for the site. New features include a Twitter feed, Really Simple Syndication feeds, a blog, social bookmarking and a user-friendly way to obtain answers to questions on such topics as finding employment and job accommodations. Additional tools will be added during the months ahead."

Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009: "H.R. 3221 would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, which authorizes most federal postsecondary education programs. It would prohibit new federally guaranteed loans from being made under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and would increase direct spending for the Federal Pell Grant Program and other programs. The elimination of guaranteed student loans would lead to a comparable increase in direct lending by the government. The estimated subsidy cost shown in the budget is lower for the direct student loan program than for the FFEL program. Thus, enacting the bill would yield net budgetary savings for shifting new lending from the guaranteed loan program to the direct loan program."

FCC Report to Congress On State Collection and Distribution of 911 and Enhanced 911 Fees and Charges: "This report is submitted by the Chairman, Federal Communications Commission pursuant to the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008 (NET 911 Act). This report, which was prepared by Commission staff, is the first annual report on the collection and distribution of 911 and Enhanced 911 (E911) fees and charges by the states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, and the Indian territories."

Preliminary Analysis Of the Effects of HR 2454 On U.S. Agriculture - Office of the Chief Economist Economic Research Service, U.S., Department of Agriculture, July 22, 2009

Fact Sheet: Administration’s Regulatory Reform Agenda Moves Forward - Systemic Risk Legislation Sent to Capitol Hill: "Continuing its push to establish new rules of the road and make the financial system more fair for consumers and investors, the Administration today delivered proposed legislation to Capitol Hill that would require strong, consolidated supervision and regulation for all financial firms. The legislation also provides a regulatory regime to monitor, mitigate, and respond to risks in the financial system. Tomorrow the administration will release additional legislative language to create a National Bank Supervisor through the consolidation of the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and to provide the government the tools it needs to adequately respond to a financial crisis."
Reports:

• Title I - Financial Services Oversight Council Act of 2009
  
• Title II - Bank Holding Company Modernization Act of 2009
  
• Title VI - Bank Holding Company and Depository Institution Regulatory Improvements Act of 2009
  
• Title IX - Investor Protection Act of 2009
  
• Title XIII - Section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 343) is amended in the third paragraph
  
• Title V - Office of National Insurance Act of 2009
  
• Related postings on financial system

Financial Markets Regulation: Financial Crisis Highlights Need to Improve Oversight of Leverage at Financial Institutions and across System, GAO-09-739, July 22, 2009
• Troubled Asset Relief Program: Status of Efforts to Address Transparency and Accountability Issues, GAO-09-920T, July 22, 2009
• Related postings on financial system

Fact Sheet: "Continuing its push to establish new rules of the road and make the financial system more fair across the board, the Administration today delivered proposed legislation to Capitol Hill to increase transparency, tighten oversight, and reduce reliance on credit rating agencies. The legislation would also work to reduce conflicts of interest at credit rating agencies while strengthening the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) authority over and supervision of rating agencies. In recent years, investors were overly reliant on credit rating agencies that often failed to accurately describe the risk of rated products. This lack of transparency prevented investors from understanding the full nature of the risks they were taking. The Administration's legislation would tighten oversight of credit rating agencies, protect investors from inappropriate rating agency practices, and bring increased transparency to the credit rating process."

PASS ID Act Addresses Major Privacy Concerns in REAL ID: "CDT testified [July 15, 2009] before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing on reevaluating the REAL ID Act. CDT testified in support of the PASS ID Act, noting that it mitigates or corrects critical privacy and security flaws introduced by REAL ID, while still establishing minimum federal standards for the issuance of driver's licenses and ID cards. While the PASS ID Act does not address all flaws in the REAL ID program, merely repealing REAL ID does not address all of the underlying privacy and security risks posed by government identification programs, CDT said. PASS ID provides the opportunity to start building privacy guidance and protections into all state identification programs, addressing trends and issues that will exist regardless of REAL ID implementation."

"The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have completed a preliminary analysis of H.R. 3200, the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, as introduced on July 14, 2009. This analysis does not reflect any modifications or amendments made after that date. Among other things, the legislation would establish a mandate for legal residents to obtain health insurance; set up insurance “exchanges” through which some individuals and families could receive subsidies to substantially reduce the cost of purchasing insurance; significantly expand eligibility for Medicaid; make modifications to the Medicare and Medicaid programs; and impose an income-tax surcharge on high-income individuals."

Fact Sheet: Administration's Regulatory Reform Agenda Moves Forward: Legislation for the Registration of Hedge Funds Delivered to Capitol Hill

S. 1390, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 - July 14, 2009, Cost estimate for the bill as reported by the Senate Committee on Armed Services on July 2, 2009

CBO Preliminary Analysis of the Insurance Coverage Specifications Provided by the House Tri-Committee Group, July 14, 2009, Letter to the Honorable Charles B. Rangel

CBO: Intergovernmental Mandates in Federal Legislation, July 14, 2009, Economic and Budget Issue Brief

Additional Information on CBO's Analysis of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, July 6, 2009

CBO: Affordable Health Choices Act, July 2, 2009 - Preliminary analysis of the provisions of Title I of draft legislation that has been posted on the Web site of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

"Who Runs Gov offers a unique look at the world of Washington through its key players and personalities. Our site will feature profiles of a select group of government officials, including members of the new presidential administration, legislators, senior Congressional aides and committee staff, and experts at think tanks and interest groups who influence how policy is made. Each profile focuses on an individual's policy experience and involvement with specific areas of government decision-making, from health care to telecommunications to financial services to national security. Our goal is to become the web destination for business, opinion and political leaders – as well as students, educators and engaged citizens - looking for crucial, real-time information on the individuals who shape the policy-making process in the nation’s capital." [Gloria Miccioli]

News release: "The most authoritative report providing a blueprint for how communities can tackle global warming was released by the California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The report is a guide to California’s Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act, or SB 375, the nation’s first legislation to link transportation and land use planning with global warming. The report Communities Tackle Global Warming: A Guide to California’s SB 375, highlights that locating homes closer to jobs and transportation choices creates walkable communities and can improve quality of life, reduce commute times and cut millions of tons of global warming pollution. It also features a photo simulation of how communities could come alive after mixed-use development and improved street design bring pedestrian activity into the area."

H.R. 2998, American Clean Energy and Security Act, June 26, 2009 - Cost estimate for the bill as amended and reported by the House Committee on Rules on June 26, 2009

Paid Sick Days Don't Cause Unemployment, June 2009, John Schmitt, Hye Jin Rho, Alison Earle, and Jody Heymann. Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)

CBO: Preliminary Analysis of Major Provisions Related to Health Insurance Coverage Under the Affordable Health Choices Act, June 15, 2009. Letter to the Honorable Edward M. Kennedy.

Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, H.R. 1207 - To amend title 31, United States Code, to reform the manner in which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is audited by the Comptroller General of the United States and the manner in which such audits are reported, and for other purposes.

Did the 2008 Tax Rebates Stimulate Short-Term Growth?, June 10, 2009 Economic and Budget Issue Brief

"Our Roadmap to Recovery initiative is an ambitious effort to reflect the commitments of your Cabinet members for a stepped up level of activity in implementing the Recovery Act in the next 100 days. We intend to deliver this increased pace at virtually every agency, and in countless programs. In this report, we have highlighted ten of these commitments and provided a graphic representation of where Americans can expect to see the Recovery Act in action across the country this summer."

Emerging Issues in the U.S. Organic Industry, By Catherine Greene, Carolyn Dimitri, Biing-Hwan Lin, William McBride, Lydia Oberholtzer, and Travis Smith. Economic Information Bulletin No. (EIB-55) 36 pp, June 2009

"H.R. 2454, American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, as ordered reported by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on May 21, 2009 would make a number of changes in energy and environmental policies largely aimed at reducing emissions of gases that contribute to global warming. The bill would limit or cap the quantity of certain greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted from facilities that generate electricity and from other industrial activities over the 2012-2050 period. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would establish two separate regulatory initiatives known as cap-and-trade programs—one covering emissions of most types of GHGs and one covering hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). EPA would issue allowances to emit those gases under the cap-and-trade programs. Some of those allowances would be auctioned by the federal government, and the remainder would be distributed at no charge...CBO has determined that the non-tax provisions of H.R. 2454 contain intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). Several of those mandates would require utilities, manufacturers, and other entities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through cap-and-trade programs and performance standards. CBO estimates that the cost of mandates in the bill would well exceed the annual thresholds established in UMRA for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates (in 2009, $69 million and $139 million respectively, adjusted annually for inflation)."

Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB), Toward A 21st Century Framework for Federal Government Privacy Policy, May 2009

Fact Sheet: "Today, President Obama signs the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009, marking a turning point for American consumers and ending the days of unfair rate hikes and hidden fees. Americans need a healthy flow of credit in our economy, but for too long credit card contracts and practices have been unfairly and deceptively complicated, often leading consumers to pay more than they reasonably expect. Every year, Americans pay around $15 billion in penalty fees. Nearly 80 percent of American families have a credit card, and 44 percent of families carry a balance on their credit cards. To tackle these problems, the Administration moved swiftly with the Congress to enact reforms."

News release: "Today, President Obama...sign[ed] the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act and the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act into law...The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act is an important step towards stabilizing and reforming our nation’s financial and housing markets – helping American homeowners and increasing the flow of credit during these difficult economic times. This legislation will strengthen our nation's housing sector and facilitate the goals of the Administration's Making Home Affordable Program by helping millions of American homeowners stay in their homes. The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act will protect the American people by giving the federal government new tools and resources to prevent fraud. This reform bill will help the federal government keep markets free and fair, so that American consumers can thrive."

News release: "James B. Lockhart, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), today released FHFA’s first Report to Congress, detailing the findings of the agency’s 2008 annual examinations of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks), and the Office of Finance. The report is the first Report to Congress since FHFA was established by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), signed into law in July of 2008. A predecessor agency, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), previously published annual reports to Congress on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac examinations."

News release: "Today, Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller, IV (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, introduced The Federal Surface Transportation Policy and Planning Act of 2009. This important legislation establishes a comprehensive and unifying mission for the nation’s surface transportation system."

White House Council on Economic Advisers, Estimates of Job Creation from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, May 2009: "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was designed to save and create jobs, as well as to cushion the economic downturn and make crucial public investments. At the time of passage, the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) made estimates of the employment effects of the Act for the economy as a whole. As the money is being distributed by the various agencies, there is interest in estimates of the likely jobs effects of the individual pieces. Of course, as projects swing into action, the government will gather actual data on reported job creation. This report describes the estimating procedures used so far; specifies procedures to be used by recipients for estimating job creation going forward; discusses reporting requirements for job creation; and describes the procedures the CEA will use to evaluate the job creation and retention benefits of the ARRA going forward."

News release: "Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the two departments are revoking an eleventh-hour Bush administration rule that undermined Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections. Their decision requires federal agencies to once again consult with federal wildlife experts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – the two agencies that administer the ESA – before taking any action that may affect threatened or endangered species."

News release: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing its strategy for increasing the supply of renewable fuels, poised to reach 36 billion gallons by 2022, as mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007."

"Chairman Henry A. Waxman, Subcommittee Chairman Edward J. Markey, Chairman Emeritus John D. Dingell, Congresswoman Betty Sutton, Congressman Jay Inslee, and Congressman Bart Stupak reached an agreement on a "Cash for Clunkers" program that will help the auto industry while cleaning our air. This agreement is based on H.R. 1550 [Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009], introduced by Congresswoman Sutton, and H.R. 520, introduced by Congressman Inslee."

• Information Security: Cyber Threats and Vulnerabilities Place Federal Systems at Risk, GAO-09-661T, May 5, 2009: "Cyber threats to federal information systems and cyber-based critical infrastructures are evolving and growing. These threats can be unintentional and intentional, targeted or nontargeted, and can come from a variety of sources, such as foreign nations engaged in espionage and information warfare, criminals, hackers, virus writers, and disgruntled employees and contractors working within an organization. Moreover, these groups and individuals have a variety of attack techniques at their disposal, and cyber exploitation activity has grown more sophisticated, more targeted, and more serious. As government, private sector, and personal activities continue to move to networked operations, as digital systems add ever more capabilities, as wireless systems become more ubiquitous, and as the design, manufacture, and service of information technology have moved overseas, the threat will continue to grow."
• Recovery Act: GAO's Efforts to Work with the Accountability Community to Help Ensure Effective and Efficient Oversight, GAO-09-672T, May 5, 2009: "GAO is carrying out its responsibilities to review the uses of Recovery Act funds and will also target certain areas for additional review using a riskbased approach. GAO’s first bimonthly report examined the steps 16 states, the District of Columbia, and selected localities are taking to use and oversee Recovery Act funds. These states contain about 65 percent of the U.S. population and are estimated to receive about two-thirds of the intergovernmental grant funds available through the Recovery Act. GAO’s report made several recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) toward improving accountability and transparency requirements; clarifying the Recovery Act funds that can be used to support state efforts to ensure accountability and oversight; and improving communications with Recovery Act funds recipients."
• Related postings on financial system

EPA OIG: "EPA does not perform oversight of radon testing device accuracy or reliability. The 1988 Indoor Radon Abatement Act required that EPA establish proficiency programs for firms offering radon-related services, including testing and mitigation. EPA established and operated proficiency programs until 1998, when it disinvested in these programs. According to Agency representatives, EPA has neither the authority nor resources to ensure radon testing devices and testing laboratories are accurate and reliable. EPA asserts that it shares oversight responsibility with States and industry, including the two national proficiency programs operating under private auspices. However, without oversight, EPA cannot assure that radon testing devices provide accurate data on indoor radon risks or that radon testing laboratories accurately analyze and report radon results." At a Glance | Report

News release: "Today, President Obama and Secretary Geithner are unveiling two components [Fact Sheet and Backgrounder] of the Administration's plan to reform our international tax laws and improve their enforcement. First, they are calling for reforms to ensure that our tax code does not stack the deck against job creation here on our shores. Second, they seek to reduce the amount of taxes lost to tax havens – either through unintended loopholes that allow companies to legally avoid paying billions in taxes, or through the illegal use of hidden accounts by well-off individuals. Combined with further international tax reforms that will be unveiled in the Administration's full budget later in May, these initiatives would raise $210 billion over the next 10 years. The Obama Administration hopes to build on proposals by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel – as well as other leaders on this issue like Senator Carl Levin and Congressman Lloyd Doggett – to pass bipartisan legislation over the coming months."

• March 05, 2209 - Legal Issues Related to Funding for Religious Schools in P.L. 111-5, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
• April 23, 2009 - Airport Passenger Screening: Background and Issues for Congress
• April 20, 2009 - Insolvency of Systemically Significant Companies: Bankruptcy vs. Conservatorship/Receivership
April 16, 2009 - Organized Crime in the United States: Trends and Issues for Congress
• April 14, 2009 - NATO Enlargement: Albania, Croatia, and Possible Future Candidates
• See also related postings on financial system and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

"On Tuesday, April 28, the Senate overwhelmingly passed anti-fraud legislation that was reported earlier this year by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act was introduced on February 5 by Committee Members Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and Ted Kaufman (D-Del.). On February 11, the Committee held a hearing to consider the legislation. The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act was reported by the Committee on March 5. The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 is also cosponsored by Committee Members Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). In total, nearly 30 senators have cosponsored the legislation."