Category:Uncategorized
Fighting the Climate Crisis and Public Health Problems: A Step in the Right Direction
On December 20, 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a regulation that will require heavy-duty trucks and vehicles to adopt new, more stringent standards in order to reduce smog and pollution. The EPA implemented this measure as part of its Clean Trucks Plan, a three-year plan, created to reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, in hopes of addressing the climate crisis and improving public health. The new standards set by this regulation are stronger than the current ones by more than 80%. Nonetheless, many are disappointed that the regulation is not as stringent as they had hoped for.
Affordable Housing: No Oversight, No Progress
Originally passed in 2003, the Illinois Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act (AHPAA) requires cities with populations of at least 1,000 residents and less than ten percent affordable housing to submit their affordable housing plans to the state. Gail Schechter sits on the Illinois Housing Appeals Board, but she has never heard a case. The board was brought together in 2009 and fully appointed by Governor Pat Quinn in 2012 to provide checks and balances while Illinois communities create affordable housing. Affordable housing developers who believe they have been treated unfairly or rejected by a municipality are given a chance to appeal a city’s decision to reject their project. However, developers are not utilizing the appeals process. According to Schechter via WBEZ, “a developer just wants to do business. If they can’t build what they want to build, they’ll go to another community.”
The Case for Expanding Privacy Protections in a Post-Roe World
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dobbs), the US Supreme Court ruled that abortion is not a fundamental right protected by the Constitution. This decision resulted in additional abortion protections in California, Michigan, and Vermont, and prompted many patients, providers, regulators, and tech companies to rethink data privacy. However, because most abortions are still banned in at least 13 states, this patchwork of state abortion laws, combined with the lack of any sufficient national privacy law, puts patient privacy at risk.
The Tax Gap and What it Means for Taxpaying Entities
Every three years, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) releases the estimated gross tax gap calculated for the three years prior. Recently, the estimated tax gap for the years 2014 to 2016 was revealed to be $496 billion. This startlingly high number represents a continuing trend of noncompliance by American taxpayers that feeds into the federal budget deficit.
The Downfall of Twitter: Layoffs Rocking Big Tech
Over the last several weeks we have seen mass layoffs across big tech, including Salesforce, Twitter, and Meta. This comes after big tech peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic when it was essential to the nation in keeping us virtually connected. During the lock down tech giants’ profits soared as consumers upgraded devices, maximized increased storage, and were forced to get creative in communicating in the workspace. However, inflation, rising interest rates, and digital spending are driving big tech companies to implement large-scale layoffs as the economy prepares to take a downturn. While Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, described the announcement as one of his hardest decisions, Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, has taken a different approach, causing continuous chaos that has led to compliance risks.
Illinois Democrats File Legal Complaint Against the Darren Bailey Campaign
On the Friday before the 2022 midterm elections, the Illinois Democratic Party filed a legal complaint against the Darren Bailey campaign for governor. The complaint says that the campaign illegally coordinated with an independent political action committee (known as a super PAC). The super PAC, called the “People Who Play By The Rules PAC,” is led by Republican political operative, talk show host, and one-time failed gubernatorial candidate, Dan Proft. The People Who Play By The Rules PAC is funded almost entirely by billionaire businessman and Republican mega-donor, Richard Uihlein. The Illinois Democrats’ legal complaint was not filed not in court, but in front of the Illinois State Board of Elections – the state government body tasked with enforcing Illinois’ election laws. The complaint has not yet been made public.
Federal Trade Commission Accuses Chegg of “Careless” Data Security
On Monday, October 31, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) called on education technology provider Chegg, Inc. (Chegg) to bolster its data security, citing lax security practices that regulators said exposed the personal data of more than 40 million Chegg users. The exposed personal information included names, email addresses, passwords, and for certain users, sensitive scholarship data such as dates of birth, parents’ income range, sexual orientation, and disabilities.
How the Inflation Act of 2022 has Impacted the Pharmaceutical Industry
Prescription drug price increases have long been a detriment to Americans. The Inflation Reduction Act (the Act) is in part designed to assist in this corporate pharmaceutical problem. This Act plans to do this through the implementation of seven major prescription drug provisions. Two of the major ones are requiring negotiations for certain drug prices by the federal government and limiting the monthly cost-sharing for insulin to $35. Through these changes along with various others, advocates hope that the burden will be lifted off Medicare beneficiaries. It has also been estimated that the Act will work to reduce the federal deficit by $237 billion over 10 years (2022-2031).
Agency Officials Trade Stock in Companies their Agencies Oversee
More than 2,500 government officials ranging from the Commerce Department to the Treasury Department reported owning stock in companies whose share prices correspond to decisions made by their respective agencies. With obvious conflicts of interest arising, what has happened, and what are some major takeaways from this investigative report?
Google Becomes the First to Agree to Compliance Monitoring by the DOJ
In an action to keep company executives in check, the Justice Department (DOJ), created a policy where executives and compliance chiefs sign and personally attest to the effectiveness of their compliance programs. The individuals would therefore be held personally liable for their roles in the company’s wrongdoing. The DOJ and Google had a pending dispute, which was due to Google’s non-compliance with assisting authorities in an investigation. The DOJ and Google reached an agreement, with a stipulation attached, resolving the dispute over Google’s loss of data responsive to a 2016 search warrant. In the stipulation, Google has said that it has spent over 90 million dollars on additional systems and resources to improve its compliance programs, including an agreement to allow an Independent Compliance Professional to serve as a third party to monitor that Google is fulfilling its compliance legal obligations. This policy, as already seen in the settlement with Google, is forcing compliance to become a top-tier concern for big companies or face serious consequences.