Unemployment Insurance Provisions in the CARES Act
This In Focus summarizes the Unemployment Insurance (UI) provisions in Title II, Subtitle A, of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act; P.L. 116-136; enacted March 27, 2020)...
State Broadband Initiatives: Selected State and Local Approaches as Potential Models for Federal Initiatives to Address the Digital Divide
Access to high-speed internet, known as broadband, is becoming increasingly essential to daily life as more applications and activities move online. This has become particularly apparent during the co...
Bureau of Reclamation: History, Authorities, and Issues for Congress
The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), an agency within the Department of the Interior (DOI), is responsible for the management and development of many of the large federal dams and water diversion ...
Retirement and Pension Provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act)
Congress provides a variety of tax incentives for employers to offer retirement plans and for individuals to save for their retirement. In addition, a number of restrictions exist to ensure that retir...
COVID-19: International Trade and Access to Pharmaceutical Products
As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues, governments and the private sector have begun assessing the possibility of developing medical countermeasures (e.g., vaccines, antiviral treat...
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Safe Harbor Provisions for Online Service Providers: A Legal Overview
In 1998, Congress enacted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Pub. L. No. 105-304, to usher copyright law into the digital era. The ease and efficiency of digital copying and distribution see...
Cloud Computing: Background, Status of Adoption by Federal Agencies, and Congressional Action
Cloud computing is a new name for an old concept: the delivery of computing services from a remote location, analogous to the way electricity, water, and other utilities are provided to most customers...
Congressional Use of Advisory Commissions Following Crises
Throughout U.S. history, Congress has used advisory commissions to assist in the development of public policy. Among other contexts, commissions have been used following crisis situations, including t...
Judges Urge Congress to Revise What Can Be Patented
UPDATE (March 23, 2020): On January 13, 2020, the Supreme Court denied the petition for a writ of certiorari in Athena Diagnostics, Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Services. Accordingly, the Supreme Court ...
Postponing Federal Elections and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Legal Considerations
On March 13, 2020, Louisiana’s Governor invoked emergency powers to announce that the state’s presidential primary election, previously scheduled for April 4, would be postponed for more than two mont...
The Hours of Service (HOS) Rule for Commercial Truck Drivers and the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate
In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, on March 13, 2020, the Department of Transportation (DOT) issued a national emergency declaration to exempt from the Hours of Service (HOS) rule through April 12,...
Telework in Executive Agencies: Background, OPM Guidance, and 116th Congress Legislation Following Coronavirus
Background
The Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, enacted on December 9, 2010 (P.L. 111-292, 124 Stat. 3165), and codified at Chapter 65 of Title 5 of the United States Code, authorizes telework in exe...
Business Tax Provisions Expiring in 2020, 2021, and 2022 (“Tax Extenders”)
Thirteen temporary business tax provisions are scheduled to expire at the end of 2020. Four other temporary business tax provisions are scheduled to expire in 2021 or 2022. In the past, Congress has r...