Category «Legislation»

OPM Pay & Leave Furlough Guidance

The Washington Post – Everything you need to know about a government shutdown Office of Personnel Management (OPM) human resources guidance for agencies and employees on furloughs. There are two types of furloughs: An administrative furlough is a planned event by an agency which is designed to absorb reductions necessitated by downsizing, reduced funding, lack …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

An Elephant’s Personhood on Trial

The Atlantic: “A legal case involving a famous solitary elephant poses a fundamental question about animals’ rights…Until recently, the idea of elephant personhood would have struck legal observers as a joke. Just a few decades ago, most states still treated animal cruelty as a misdemeanor, like public intoxication or driving without insurance. But an increasing …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Legal Research, Legislation

Bill Sets the ‘Strongest Clean Energy Requirement in the Nation

CityLab – “Washington, D.C. is positioning itself on the climate policy fast track. The District of Columbia city council voted unanimously last week to approve an expansive climate bill requiring utility providers to generate 100 percent of their energy supply from renewable sources by 2032. If D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signs the legislation as expected, …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legislation

Essay – It’s Time for a Bill of Data Rights

“This essay argues that “data ownership” is a flawed, counterproductive way of thinking about data. It not only does not fix existing problems; it creates new ones. Instead, we need a framework that gives people rights to stipulate how their data is used without requiring them to take ownership of it themselves. The Data Care Act, a bill introduced …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy, Social Media

United States Congressional Web Archive now includes content for 113th and 114th Congresses

LC – In Custodia Legis: “The Library of Congress Web Archiving Program is dedicated to providing reliable access to historical web content from the legislative branch. To that end, the Library has just released an update to the United States Congressional Web Archive. The archive, which includes member sites from the House and Senate, as well as …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Right to Try: Access to Investigational Drugs

EveryCRSReport.com: Right to Try: Access to Investigational Drugs, November 27, 2018 – “The Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try (RTT) Act of 2017 became federal law on May 30, 2018. Over the preceding five years, 40 states had enacted related legislation. The goal was to allow individuals with imminently …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Health Care, Legislation

Every moment of every day mobile phone apps collect detailed location data

The New York Times – “The millions of dots on the map trace highways, side streets and bike trails — each one following the path of an anonymous cellphone user. One path tracks someone from a home outside Newark to a nearby Planned Parenthood, remaining there for more than an hour. Another represents a person …

Subjects: Congress, EU Data Protection, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Background and Selected Options for Further Reform

EveryCRSReport.com – Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Background and Selected Options for Further Reform, December 4, 2018: “Prior to the establishment of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) in 1976 and 1977, respectively, Congress did not take much interest in conducting oversight of the Intelligence Community …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Federal Workers Warned Against Talk of ‘Impeachment,’ ‘the Resistance’

Reason.com: “Employees of the federal government were warned this week that both praising and criticizing the Trump administration while on duty may be considered illegal. Federal workers are specifically barred from “advocating” for or against impeachment and from expressing support for the so-called “resistance” to President Donald Trump. Such expressions could be considered violations of …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation

Guide – FDsys Retirement and Transition to govinfo

GovInfo FAQ: “govinfo is free U.S. Government information for all.” govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch. govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. govinfo will replace FDsys GPO launched govinfo in …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation