Hillary Clinton proposes financial sector regulations, the White House announces that sustainability will not be a factor in the 2015 dietary guidelines, and more…
IN THE NEWS
- Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton announced her proposals for regulating the financial sector, including expanding shadow banking regulations, vetoing legislation that would undermine the Dodd-Frank Act, and pushing back against challenges to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) authority.
- Ahead of the House Committee on Agriculture’s hearing on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell announced that sustainability would not be included as a factor in the 2015 guidelines, explaining that the guidelines “would not be an appropriate vehicle for this important policy conversation.”
- U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer introduced the SAFE DRONE Act, which would make it a misdemeanor offense for a recreational drone operator to fly a drone within several miles of an airport, a fire, or certain other restricted airspaces.
- The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs filed a complaint against Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation—the largest chicken producer in the U.S.—for allegedly systematically discriminating against African-Americans seeking entry-level jobs as operatives and laborers at one of the company’s chicken plants.
- After the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) settlement with General Motors, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Bob Casey proposed the Hide No Harm Act of 2015—legislation that would introduce criminal sanctions against executives who do not disclose information about products carrying a risk of serious harm or death, and which has received support from several consumer groups.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Acting Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation Janet McCabe testified before the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee about the Clean Power Plan, a recently-issued final rule that imposes emission-reduction requirements for power plants.
- Seven councilmembers introduced a bill in the Council of the District of Columbia that would provide employees working in Washington, D.C. with up to 16 weeks of paid medical and family leave—a paid leave system that has been called the “most generous in the U.S.”
- While acknowledging the importance of regulations that protect consumers and promote public interest objectives, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez cautioned regulatory boards and policymakers against imposing regulations that would “chill pro-consumer innovation” by preventing Uber, Lfyt, and other ridesharing services from competing against traditional taxicabs.
WHAT WE’RE READING THIS WEEK
- In a recently published article for the Washington and Lee Law Review Online, Marc Edelman, an associate professor of law at the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, City University of New York, explored sports regulation. He argued that “antitrust law remains the most practical way to regulate commercial sports leagues.”
- A recent report from BEUC, The European Consumer Organization analyzed the ongoing negotiations among European Union members on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation. The report urged the adoption of stronger individual rights, robust data protection principles, and a comprehensive enforcement scheme in the final regulation.
- In the most current issue of American Journal of Public Health, University of Southern Mississippi Professor Michael Anestis and several colleagues published a study, finding that the implementation of handgun license laws was associated with a decline in suicide rates. The authors concluded that these findings could support greater gun control.
