Alerts

The highly anticipated coronavirus relief package was passed by Congress late on December 21, 2020, and is expected to be signed into law in the coming days. 

After months of debate, Congress has passed, and President Trump is expected to sign, a COVID-19 relief, appropriations, and tax bill. Doubtlessly, the Bill, which is nearly 6,000 pages long, will undergo much scrutiny and analysis over the ensuing days and weeks.

On December 7, 2020, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) issued a rule clarifying the scope of the religious exemption under Executive Order 11246 (EO 11246), which requires equal employment opportunity in federal government contracting.

States seeking to regulate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and prescription drug pricing received a win from the Supreme Court, which reversed an Eighth Circuit decision that had invalidated an Arkansas law governing pharmacy and PBM conduct on ERISA preemption grounds.

Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries

The report, issued by the FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics, finds that broadband availability has significant positive impacts on crop yields and other farm production metrics.

Both practical and legal issues will need to be resolved, but as of today, the EEOC has signaled that mandatory COVID vaccinations are lawful for the vast majority of employees.

Nearly two years after soliciting public suggestions to modify HIPAA rules to improve the coordination of care, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued a Proposed Rule.

When acquiring shares in a corporation, minority shareholders often evaluate the profitability of the corporation, the value of their shares, and what protections are in place to shield them from wrongdoing at the hands of the controlling shareholders.

For the first time, the FCC will have formal rules governing the process for Team Telecom review of license applications involving foreign ownership.

On December 15, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill representing the most significant change to the New York law governing Powers of Attorney (POA) in almost a decade.

To change its method of accounting, a taxpayer must receive consent from the IRS and should provide evidence showing the change in business activity, so that the IRS can confirm that the change in method of accounting will accurately reflect income.

Prop 65 Counsel: What To Know

On Monday, December 14, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the “Emergency Coronavirus Relief Act of 2020,” which would provide another round of relief to combat the economic fallout resulting from COVID-19.

California Court of Appeal held that California’s wage and hour laws apply to seamen working on a ship outside of California’s jurisdictional limits.

Three months after a leak and investigation into over $2 trillion in suspect transactions at the world’s largest banks and financial institutions, known as the “FinCEN Files,” Congress passed legislation that would require anonymous shell companies to disclose their true owners.

On November 3, Arizona voters passed the Smart and Safe Arizona Act (Proposition 207) by a wide margin, becoming the 13th state to legalize recreational marijuana for adult use. This is considered a huge victory in the nationwide legalization efforts.

Headlines that Matter for Companies and Executives in Regulated Industries

Cannabis and cannabis resin, formerly classified on the most restrictive schedule under the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (Single Convention) were moved to the least restrictive schedule following a historic vote by the UN Commission for Narcotic Drugs on December 2, 2020.

OIG and CMS, through a coordinated effort, have issued sweeping and much-anticipated final changes to the Anti-kickback and Stark rules. These changes are generally industry-friendly.

On November 25, 2020, a New York federal court ruled in Melendez v. The City of New York, No. 20-CV-5301 (S.D.N.Y.) denying an injunction and declaring constitutional NYC Council’s newly enacted anti-harassment and guaranty laws that protect commercial and residential tenants.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) blocked imports of cotton products from a major Chinese state-owned firm in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) on December 2, saying the company uses forced labor of ethnic Uighur Muslims.

Is a MASTER RANCHER also the RANCHMASTER? That is the question pondered by the TTAB in this ex parte appeal.

In the currently labyrinthine world of litigation and legislation impacting the appropriate classification of independent contractors in California, we suggest that you seek the advice of your AF Labor & Employment.

The DCIA was introduced on November 17, 2020, to replace Canada’s current national privacy law for the private sector, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).