Energy Tax Provisions Expiring in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 (“Tax Extenders”)
This report briefly summarizes and discusses the economic impact of the energy-related tax provisions that are scheduled to expire in 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023. Fourteen temporary energy tax provision...
Trump v. Mazars: Implications for Congressional Oversight
On July 9, 2020, the Supreme Court issued a pair of decisions concerning subpoenas seeking access to the President’s personal financial records, including tax returns. In Trump v. Vance, the Court rul...
When One Door Closes, Another One Opens: Supreme Court Ruling Restricts Challenges to CERCLA Cleanup But Could Expand State-Law Claims
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as CERCLA or Superfund, places limits on how parties may challenge the scope of a plan to remediate hazardous wast...
Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms: Causes, Challenges, and Policy Considerations
Scientific research indicates that in recent years, the frequency and geographic distribution of harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been increasing nationally and globally. Because the impacts of HABs c...
CARES Act Higher Education Provisions
President Donald J. Trump declared a U.S. national emergency on March 13, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act; P.L. 116-136) w...
Monuments and Memorials: Federal Criminal Law Protections
On June 26, 2020, President Trump issued an “Executive Order on Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence” (June 26 Order). Among other things, the J...
Comparing Police Reform Bills: the Justice in Policing Act and the JUSTICE Act
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd died in the custody of the Minneapolis police after an officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck while restraining him. That incident, others like it, and subsequent nat...
Foxes, Henhouses, and Pension Plans: Supreme Court Concludes Pensioners Receiving Promised Benefits Can’t Sue for Retirement Plan Mismanagement
In early June 2020, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Thole v. U.S. Bank concerning the ability of pension plan participants to sue plan fiduciaries who engage in alleged misconduct. In Th...
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA): Background and Issues for Congress
On June 9, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) into law (22 U.S.C. §§611-621). As initially enacted, FARA sought to expose foreign influence in Amer...
HEROES Act, Division K—COVID-19 Housing, Economic Relief, and Oversight Act
Many economic effects of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic intensified in April and May 2020, including historically high levels of unemployment and related housing affordability issues...
“Tracing Papers”: A Comparison of COVID-19 Data Privacy Bills
As COVID-19 continues to spread, many public health authorities are turning to contact tracing—measures to identify, notify, and monitor infected individuals’ contacts—to track potential COVID-19 expo...
Development and Regulation of Medical Countermeasures for COVID-19 (Vaccines, Diagnostics, and Treatments): Frequently Asked Questions
In recent months, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread globally, with the United States now reporting the highest number of cases of any country in the world. Currently, there a...
Capital Markets Volatility and COVID-19: Background and Policy Responses
Capital markets provide major sources of financing and investment for American businesses and investors by facilitating the creation and trading of securities, such as stocks, bonds, and shares of inv...
Reforming Patterns of Unconstitutional Policing: Enforcement of 34 U.S.C. § 12601
In the early 1990s, bystander video footage of Los Angeles police beating, clubbing, and stomping on black motorist Rodney King sparked national outrage, protests, and rioting. In response, Congress p...