As the U.S. continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, there have been growing concerns about surprise medical bills, the unexpected charges that patients receive after unscheduled or emergency out-of-network medical services. An August 2019 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the percentage of emergency room visits with surprise bills jumped 10% between 2010 and 2016, while the number of inpatient admissions that resulted in surprise bills rose nearly 16%. The cost of those bills has also increased, often leading to significant financial strain on patients. Twenty-eight states have enacted consumer protections against surprise medical billing,…

Congress demonstrated its disapproval of the Trump administration’s recent military action against Iran when it approved a bipartisan resolution (S.J. Res. 68) limiting the president’s war powers against that country. Weeks after the Trump administration ordered an airstrike in January that killed Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, the Senate passed S.J. Res. 68 in a 55-45 vote, with eight Republicans joining all Senate Democrats in approving the measure. In March the House passed the measure by a vote of 227-186, with several Republicans joining Democrats in support of the resolution. President Trump, however, is likely to veto it. “With…

In December 2019, Congress approved federal funding for gun violence research for the first time in nearly 20 years. As part of the fiscal year 2020 (FY 2020) spending bill (H.R. 1865), Congress approved $25 million that will be split evenly between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to research firearm-related deaths and injuries. “The epidemic of gun violence is a public health emergency,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services that approved the funding, said in a statement. “Yet, for more…

Should NASA explore the moon or look farther to Mars? President Trump boosted his plan to return American astronauts to the moon when he announced his fiscal year 2021 budget proposal in February. The White House requested roughly $25 billion for NASA, a 12% increase from what the space agency received just a year before. “The reinforced support from the president comes at a critical time as we lay the foundations for landing the first woman and the next man on the South Pole of the Moon by 2024,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote in support of the proposed funding….

To stem the growing opioid crisis, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2018 temporarily placed the synthetic opioid fentanyl and its variants in the highest legal and regulatory category, Schedule I, on par with highly addictive substances like heroin and ecstasy. In January 2020, just before that ban was set to expire, the Senate unanimously passed the Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act (S. 3201), which would maintain fentanyl variants’ classification as Schedule I drugs for 15 additional months, through May 2021. The bill faced more difficulty in the House, where partisan disagreements…

A bipartisan bill that aims to help rid the world’s oceans of plastic waste is making its way through Congress. The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (SOS 2.0) builds on a 2018 law and outlines several steps to reduce marine debris currently floating in the ocean and prevent future waste from piling up. A group of U.S. senators led by Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) introduced the bipartisan bill (S. 1982) in June 2019. It aims to improve the domestic response to current marine debris and prevent future buildup by improving U.S. infrastructure. The bill…

More Americans are turning to jobs in which they can make their own hours and be their own boss. A 2019 survey from the Freelancers Union and Upwork found that the United States now has 57 million freelancers, up from 53 million in 2014, who make up 35% of the U.S. workforce and contribute nearly a $1 trillion to the country’s gross domestic product. With the number of freelance and gig workers on the rise, some states are proposing bills aimed at protecting this class of workers by guaranteeing them minimum wage and benefits, such as unemployment and disability insurance….

DOL’s Proposed Rule on Tip Regulations Under the FLSA The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) established minimum wage and pay standards for employees working in the private sector and in federal, state, and local governments. Since its enactment, the FLSA has undergone several changes. The most recent update to the law came through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 (CAA), in which Congress addressed the issue of employee tips and the treatment of “tipped employees.” Congress made it clear that employers, managers, and supervisors are not allowed to keep any portion of the tips earned by their employees….

The 2015 Clean Water Rule, also known as the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule, clarified and expanded the Federal Government’s authority to protect the nation’s waterways and water resources from pollution. Finalized under the Obama Administration, WOTUS extended Federal protection to smaller bodies of water such as streams, rivers, and wetlands, which previously had been vulnerable to pollution due to the lack of clarity in existing laws. The 2015 rule faced a barrage of lawsuits immediately after it was issued. As a result of these court challenges, the rule has been in effect in only 22 States, the…

The United States had a long-standing tradition of accepting immigrants fleeing political oppression, religious persecution, or violence through what’s known as the asylum process. Under existing policy, migrants must either present themselves to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) while crossing the border or request asylum if they are arrested. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services then holds a hearing to determine if they meet the criteria for asylum. As part of an attempt to limit immigration through the southern border, the Trump Administration in July issued a rule saying migrants cannot seek asylum in the United States if they have…