State Policy Updates From Government Relations Practice

Beginning November 8, 2021, a burden on millions of travelers will be eased with the revocation of the country-specific travel bans that have been in place since 2020.

On May 24, 2020, the White House issued a proclamation that temporarily bars persons who have been in Brazil from entering the United States, beginning at 11:59 pm on May 28, 2020...

Earlier today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a Notice of Enforcement Discretion (Notice) for HIPAA COVID-19 Community-Based Testing Sites (CBTSs).

Becker Shareholder Jennifer Horan strongly advocates for a careful examination of association restrictions before moving forward with any Airbnb-esque scheme.

Nurses make up the largest section of the healthcare profession and spend more time with patients than any other care team member.

The 21st installment of our Civil Right Series was held in February.

We are all in this together: In these rapidly changing times, more than ever, the Board needs to play its role with active engagement, thoughtfulness and resolve.

Health Provider News – February 19, 202

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a COVID-19 emergency temporary standard that is effective today.

David Gurwin, shareholder in the firm's Corporate section and chair of the Entertainment, Media and Sports Law Group, talks about...

Texas is ramping up oversight of data center projects as Governor Abbott's directive adds new review requirements to an already complex interconnection process. The policy debate now encompasses transmission infrastructure, water resources, tax incentives, and community impacts. With the 2027 legislative session approaching, stakeholders in Texas's booming data center industry face an evolving regulatory landscape that could fundamentally reshape how large-scale digital infrastructure projects are developed

Businesses operating websites and mobile applications have faced a growing wave of lawsuits under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), a 1967 statute enacted long before the modern internet. Plaintiffs increasingly argue that common website technologies—including cookies, pixels, and analytics tools—violate CIPA provisions originally aimed at wiretapping, eavesdropping, and pen registers.

Tennessee's Board of Water Quality, Oil and Gas has adopted significant amendments to the state's Aquatic Resource Alteration Permit rules, fundamentally changing how isolated wetlands are regulated following the Supreme Court's Sackett decision. The new regulations establish a tiered system for wetland alterations based on ecological quality, with streamlined permitting processes and expanded exemptions for certain construction activities. These changes promise to reduce regulatory burden on developers whi

The U.S. government has released a sweeping new policy that prohibits federal funding for "dangerous gain-of-function research" and establishes unprecedented oversight requirements for life sciences research involving biological agents. Research institutions must now evaluate all proposed and ongoing federally funded projects against expanded risk criteria, implement new review structures, and monitor even non-federally funded research...

An HHS Office of Inspector General audit of Methodist Hospital in San Antonio reveals how a review of just 100 claims led to a $12.4 million overpayment recommendation through statistical extrapolation. The audit targeted specific high-risk billing areas including Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility claims, certain diagnosis-related groups, and outpatient billing patterns, uncovering documentation and coding compliance issues that hospital leadership should examine within their own Medicare claims.

Texas Governor Abbott has directed comprehensive audits of all data centers before they can connect to the ERCOT grid, creating immediate uncertainty for large load developers.

On May 23, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) awarded 73 Community Development Entities

The National Institutes of Health has issued a Request for Information on a draft policy that would mandate researchers share plain-language study results with clinical research participants. The proposed requirement would apply broadly to all NIH-supported clinical research and could create significant operational challenges for academic medical centers with large research portfolios. Public comments are due October 26, 2026, providing institutions an opportunity to address practical implementation concern

Governor Greg Abbott has directed Texas energy regulators to conduct a comprehensive verification and audit of data center projects in ERCOT's interconnection queue. With approximately 90 percent of the 474 gigawatts in connection requests tied to data centers, this directive aims to ensure all projects meet applicable requirements before advancing through the interconnection process.

Readers of Law360 may recall a 2014 story about a Texas jury that rendered a $34 million dollar verdict against OneBeacon Insurance Company.