Chicago’s Battle for Affordable Housing

Posted on March 28, 2025Categories Compliance Spotlight, Journal of Regulatory Compliance, Regulation, tax

As Chicago grapples with a severe affordable housing shortage—an estimated 119,000 units short—the city continues to experiment with policy solutions. More than half of Chicagoans are rent-burdened, meaning they spend over 30% of their income on rent and utilities. In response, city leaders have turned to tax abatements and zoning mandates to increase the supply of affordable housing. Two key programs—the Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program (AHSAP) and the Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO)—represent different approaches to tackling this crisis. Chicago’s affordable housing crisis requires a multifaceted approach, and while the AHSAP and ARO offer valuable incentives and mandates, neither alone is sufficient to address the city’s deep-rooted affordability and racial equity challenges.
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FIRM Act Sent to Senate to Vote on Eliminating the Use of Reputational Risk in Banking

Posted on March 27, 2025Categories Banking, Finance & Banking

On March 6, 2025, the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Senator Tim Scott, introduced a bill designed to eliminate reputational risk as a component of regulatory supervision in banking. The Financial Integrity and Regulation Management Act, or FIRM Act, is the latest edition in the Senate’s efforts to reduce the potential influence of banking regulators in perpetuating debanking schemes of various industries. The bill has received praise and support from many leaders and industry groups in the banking industry including a letter of support from a coalition of 26 state financial officers and comments in favor of the bill submitted by the American Bankers Association (ABA). On March 13, 2025, the Senate Banking Committee voted in favor of sending the bill to the Senate to begin congressional voting. While it remains debatable if reputational risk is being misused to politically influence the types of clients that banks service, it is clear that reputational risk in regulatory exams is an unnecessary extension of strategic risk that should be removed from examinations to close the door to any possibilities of political misuse.
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The Cost of Efficiency: National Parks at Risk

Posted on March 27, 2025Categories Environmental

On February 14, the Trump administration fired approximately 1,000 National Park Service (NPS) employees as part of a program led by Elon Musk and the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is designed to eliminate federal jobs and to cut federal spending. The President did not announce the firings publicly, but Democratic Congressmen have confirmed and denounced the layoffs in a letter written by Sens. Jeff Merkley and Angus King and signed by twenty other senators. Since then, some NPS positions have been reinstated, but the situation raises real concerns about the future of conservation in the United States, as well as individuals and communities whose livelihoods depend on the economic well-being of our parks.

Supreme Court Limits EPA’s Authority in San Francisco v. EPA: A Blow to Clean Water Protections?

Posted on March 27, 2025Categories EPA

In a landmark decision issued on March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) cannot impose certain types of permit requirements on entities discharging pollutants into U.S. waters. The case, which centered on the Clean Water Act (CWA), has significant implications for how the federal government regulates water pollution and protects water quality. The decision, which saw a 5-4 vote, limits the EPA’s ability to enforce “end-result” requirements in permits, raising concerns about the future of water quality standards and environmental protection.
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Resetting Online Education: ED’s New Online Education Reporting Rule

Posted on March 26, 2025Categories Education

In January 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (“ED”) released a final rule including provisions on reporting requirements for online and distance education. Supporters of the rule argue its implementation will enhance transparency and accountability for institutions of higher education. Conversely, critics of the rule raise concerns about the financial burdens associated with implementing the reporting requirements. Nevertheless, the ED claims the goal of the regulation is to collect the data necessary to assess the quality and effectiveness of distance education.
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Will AI Make Trade Secrets No Longer Secret?

Posted on March 21, 2025Categories Artificial Intelligence

Most companies own valuable trade secrets, such as the recipe for Coca-Cola or Google’s algorithm. But can a company that develops AI have trade secrets? The Uniform Trade Secrets Act defines a trade secret as “information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process,” that derives economic value and is the subject of efforts to maintain its secrecy. The protection of trade secrets is essential for companies to maintain their competitive edge and drive economic growth. As such, they are instrumental in both corporate governance and compliance. Companies already deal with the risks of employees using generative artificial intelligence (AI) and exposing trade secrets; however, recent AI regulations in Europe and the United States have further increased risks relating to trade secrets.
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Profits Over Patients: The DOJ’s Fraud Investigation into UnitedHealth’s Medicare Practices

Posted on March 21, 2025Categories Health Insurance, Healthcare Compliance

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a civil fraud investigation into UnitedHealth’s Medicare billing practices, scrutinizing allegations that the company improperly inflated patient diagnoses to secure higher federal payments. While the investigation was publicly announced via the Wall Street Journal recently, it has been underway since 2024. This development follows the December 2024 death of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, which sparked renewed public discourse on the ethics of insurance companies. Many individuals came forward with stories of denied coverage for life-saving treatments, raising broader concerns about the practices of private insurers managing Medicare benefits.
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Regulating Deepfakes: Strengthening the Fight Against Deceptive Media

Posted on March 21, 2025Categories Ethics, technology

In response to the growing threat of deepfake technology, two significant pieces of legislation have emerged: California’s 2024 Deepfake Deception Defense Act and the DEEPFAKES Accountability Act. A deepfake is a digitally altered video or image that uses artificial intelligence to make it appear as though someone is saying or doing something they never actually did. These laws aim to curb the spread of deceptive synthetic media and ensure transparency and accountability in digital content. Both Acts represent progress, but enhanced real-time monitoring, a registry, and a dedicated regulatory body are needed for better deepfake regulation.
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Nuclear Waste Disposal: A Collective Failure but a Collective Opportunity

Posted on March 20, 2025Categories Energy

On Wednesday, March 5th, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on two cases involving the licensing of private contractors for disposal of nuclear waste in Texas. The cases focused on two issues: (1) an administrative law question about a third party being able to challenge an agency ruling, and (2) whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) can issue licenses for private companies to operate temporary disposal sites. Ultimately, the holdings will not matter because the underlying problem remains the same. Due to a combination of government inaction and inefficiency, there are no permanent nuclear waste disposal sites in the US.
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Turning the Page on Censorship: The American School Book Ban Controversy

Posted on March 20, 2025Categories Education

Across the United States, waves of book bans are reshaping student’s access to literature. Libraries have been transformed from quiet places to explore new topics into battlegrounds for parents and policymakers to impose their ideological beliefs. During the 2023 – 2024 school year, the United States saw book ban numbers triple from the year prior. The most frequently attacked books were those written by minorities and those providing representation for marginalized students. These important materials address pressing issues, such as racism, gender inequality, identity formation, and the effects of personal trauma. Book bans do a great disservice to the next generation, robbing them of opportunities to explore new ideas and develop crucial critical thinking skills.
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