The Generic Drug User Fee Amendments (GDUFA): Background and Reauthorization
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the safety, effectiveness, and quality of drugs—both brand name and generic—pursuant to its authorities under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ...
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-2): Private Health Insurance, Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare Provisions
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA; P.L. 117-2) addresses a number of issues that were before Congress related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) relief and economic stimulus. The ARPA was...
Jones v. Mississippi, the Eighth Amendment, and Juvenile Life Without Parole
On April 22, 2021, the Supreme Court decided Jones v. Mississippi, holding that the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments does not require a finding that a juvenile offender is perma...
Climate Change: Selected Federal Economic Development Tools and Policy Considerations
Social, economic, and ecological risks associated with climate change, such as those documented in the U.S. Fourth National Climate Assessment and by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, hav...
Worker Classification: Employee Status Under the National Labor Relations Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the ABC Test
The classification of workers as “employees” rather than independent contractors is critical for purposes of most federal and state labor and employment laws. In general, the rights and protections af...
Congress’s Authority to Limit the Removal of Inspectors General
Federal law establishes a variety of inspectors general (IGs), each of whom is generally tasked with detecting waste, fraud, and abuse through independent and objective investigations, audits, and rev...
Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payments and COVID-19: Frequently Asked Questions
In rare situations, Medicare Part A providers (e.g., acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other inpatient care facilities) and Part B suppliers (e.g., physicians, nonphysician practit...
The Fair Housing Act: HUD Oversight, Programs, and Activities
The federal Fair Housing Act, enacted in 1968 as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act (P.L. 90-284), prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing based on race, color, religion,...
Torres v. Madrid: Police Use of Force, Fourth Amendment Seizures, and Fleeing Suspects
UPDATE: On March 25, 2021 the Supreme Court held in a 5-to-3 decision in Torres v. Madrid that the “application of physical force to the body of a person with intent to restrain is a seizure” within t...
Mergers and Acquisitions in Digital Markets
Some Members of Congress have expressed concern about mergers and acquisitions in digital markets, specifically those involving “Big Tech”—Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft. Me...
COVID-19 Response: Broadband Funding for Tribes, Tribal Colleges and Universities, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Education, and the Indian Health Service
Three recent enacted laws that, in whole or in part, address the effects of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic provided both direct and indirect broadband funding for American Indian tri...
Agricultural Biotechnology: Overview, Regulation, and Selected Policy Issues
Agricultural biotechnology refers to a range of tools—including genetic engineering and some conventional breeding techniques—to genetically modify living plants, animals, microbes, and other organism...