An extension of the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) authored by a Democratic member of the US Senate is on its way to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law. The US House of Representatives has approved a US$1.5 trillion national infrastructure bill loaded with Democratic priorities for climate change, clean energy … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Cell Location Privacy Act Introduced in House On February 15, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced H.R.1061, the Cell Location Privacy Act of 2017. The bill proposes to ban the use of cell-site simulators, known as StingRay devices, without first obtaining a warrant. Cell-site simulators are devices that appear to be legitimate cell phone … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs’ State Attorneys General Practice Group is comprised of lawyers who have served at senior levels in state AG offices around the country and whose practices focus, to one degree or another, on representing clients before these increasingly assertive and powerful, yet often overlooked, government agencies, as explained in detail here. In these … Continue Reading
Malta Taking Over the Rotating Council Presidency The Presidency of the Council of the EU is rotating every six months among the EU Member States. The Presidencies are held by a group of three Member States which are rotating per semester. The Council’s Presidency is responsible to set up the agendas and to determine the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity President May Highlight Obamacare Successes in State of the Union Address On Tuesday, January 12, President Barack Obama will give his final State of the Union address to Congress. While details of the speech have yet to be released, last week, the President vetoed Congress’s budget reconciliation bill, which aimed to dismantle the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress Set to Finalize Major Cybersecurity Information-Sharing Legislation Before adjourning for the holidays, lawmakers could move on compromise cybersecurity legislation after weeks of informal negotiations to secure final language. The measure is expected to merge three separate bills aimed at increasing information sharing between the government and businesses. Ongoing debate over several privacy … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity Online Skills Academy Last week, the Department of Education announced its collaboration with the Department of Labor to develop a $25 million grant competition for an Online Skills Academy. This platform would enable high-quality, free or low-cost pathways to degrees, certificates, or other employer-recognized credentials. In coordination with this effort, the Department will … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity White House Releases “Big Data” Report Last Thursday, May 1, the White House released a highly-anticipated report on the collection of “big data” and its impact on privacy, public policy, and the economy. The report, requested by President Obama in the wake of public disclosures about the National Security Agency’s data collection practices, … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, April 8: The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on cybersecurity programs in the FY 2015 appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The hearing will feature three witnesses from DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) including Suzanne Spaulding, Undersecretary of Homeland Security; … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity White Paper Released On Modernizing The Communications Act Last Wednesday, January 8, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) released the first in a series of planned white papers as part of their effort to review and update the Communications Act. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity White House Reportedly Working On Online Privacy Bill The Obama administration is reportedly drafting legislation aimed at bolstering online privacy safeguards for consumers. According to trade press reports, the administration’s bill is expected to build on the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, released by the White House last year. The bill will reportedly … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget and Appropriations On May 22, the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2014 Homeland Security appropriations bill, which provides $38.9 billion in discretionary funding to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) overall: $35 million below the president’s request, $618 million below the fiscal 2013 enacted amount and $981 million above the … Continue Reading
