The federal government’s recent argument that neither federal law nor the U.S. Constitution preempted a municipal ordinance in South Portland, ME demonstrates the sometimes-complex relationship between federal, state, and local laws.
Overview. The Portland Pipe Line Company had plans to reverse the oil flow in a pipeline from Canada to South Portland and construct 70-foot-tall
On July 20, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would restore the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ability to obtain equitable monetary remedies under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. The legislation — H.R. 2667, the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act — passed by a vote of 221-205, with all House Democrats and two
President Biden recently issued Executive Order 14036 (E.O. 14036) to create the White House Competition Council (Council), which “shall coordinate, promote, and advance Federal Government efforts to address overconcentration, monopolization, and unfair competition in or directly affecting the American economy.” 86 Fed. Reg. 36987, 36990 (July 14, 2021).
E.O. 14036, among other things, requires
the
On July 23, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt named John O’Connor, 66, to the post of attorney general. O’Connor replaces Dawn Cash, who served as acting attorney general following Mike Hunter’s resignation at the end of May for personal reasons.
O’Connor will serve until the end of Hunter’s term in January 2023 and has confirmed that
Between July 20-22, 2021, state securities regulators in New Jersey, Texas, and Alabama took aim at BlockFi — a cryptocurrency-based platform that has raised $14.7 billion from investors — related to the company’s interest-bearing crypto accounts. This regulatory scrutiny, brought by a bipartisan group of state securities regulators, may prove significant given that state and
In the 10 years since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) opened its doors on July 21, 2011, the agency has in many ways upheld its mandate of looking out for the public interest. Created by the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act one year earlier, the CFPB is tasked
Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, and Ron Wyden recently unveiled the latest legislative attempt to make cannabis legal at the federal level. The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) is not the first attempt of its kind — several iterations of the MORE Act and the SAFE Banking Act have been introduced multiple times.
On July 19, and just over one year after his office began enforcing the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that he is “seeing great progress” with CCPA enforcement, even while he urged Californians to take advantage of their new rights under the CCPA.
“Enforcement of the CCPA marks an
A number of U.S. representatives on both sides of the aisle recently cosponsored a proposed bill, limiting the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) ability to regulate premium cigars. Although the House has yet to publish the text of the proposed bill, a similar bill proposed in the Senate on February 24 would prevent
FTC’s ‘Nixing the Fix’ Offers Insight Into Ramifications of Presidential Directive
Introduction
Regulators are increasingly interested in transactions related to consumer technology. For example, hybrid transactions involving the purchase and sale of Internet of Things (IoT) devices is one area ripe for regulatory oversight and enforcement as detailed in our prior article, “Regulators Likely