State Legislation
Negotiating with Goliath: Lawmakers’ battle with Uber & Lyft over ridesharing legislation
As I stepped off the plane and into the jet bridge, I already had my Uber app opened on my smartphone, and only a few short minutes after requesting a ride, the driver was calling me to tell say that he was outside baggage claim. This kind of convenience and ease that e-hailing companies like […]
The Role of the Courtroom in Combating Domestic Violence
The rhetoric surrounding the courtroom can be idealistic. The courtroom is supposed to be a symbol of justice, where every party has a fair opportunity to be heard. Yet the reality for survivors of domestic violence is far from this ideal. Survivors who have the strength to seek their day in court have already shown […]
Raising the Minimum Wage: Look No Further Than Your Own Backyard
By: Brynn E. Felix The United States has a minimum wage problem. In 2015, roughly 2.6 million workers earned at or below the federal minimum wage—a measly $7.25 per hour. The federal minimum has not budged since 2009 and continues to depreciate in value: by 2015 the $7.25 hourly wage had already lost approximately 8.1% […]
Up In Smoke (and Vapor): Hawai’i Raises Minimum Smoking Age and Regulates E-Cigarettes
On January 1, 2016, Hawai’i became the first state in the nation to increase smoking age restrictions to 21 years old. Under Act 122, Hawai’i prohibits the “sale, purchase, possession or consumption of cigarettes, other tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices (or e-cigarettes) to anyone under age 21.” Before Hawai’i, only municipalities such as New […]
New York Legislature (Re)Considers “Death with Dignity”
The New York legislature have become the latest lawmakers to consider whether terminally ill patients have a right to end their own lives with lethal medications prescribed by doctors. The bill, titled the New York End-of-Life Options Act, states that its goal is to make “aid in dying an open, legitimate option for terminally ill […]
Bees are Dying …. Massachusetts Should Pass Pesticide Restrictions
We need honeybees, desperately. Unfortunately, bees are dying at an unsustainable rate; without them, our agricultural system would collapse. Bees pollinize about one third of the food we eat, and about 85% of the world’s crops. Without bees, many essential crops would die out, creating a crisis. In Massachusetts, we rely on bees to pollinate […]
Privacy in the Tech Age: Delaware Law Protects Personal Identifying Information
On Jan 1, 2015, Delaware’s “Safe Destruction of Records Containing Personal Identifying Information” law (“§736”) went into effect. Under this law, a Delaware business that tries but fails to adequately destroy a record containing an employee’s personally identifying information (“PII”) could face liability. Any employee who suffers actual harm due to such a failure can […]
Massachusetts Legislature Passes Controversial Solar Energy Bill
After months of negotiation, the Massachusetts Legislature finally reached a compromise to raise the caps on the state’s controversial “net metering” program. The net metering program enables solar (and other alternate energy) producers to sell excess power their systems produce back to the grid for a credit on their account. However, the previous law capped […]
Legislating a Disaster: Congressional and Tribal Responses to the Gold King Mine Spill
On August 5, the Animas River in La Plata County, Colorado suddenly turned a bright and unnatural shade of orange as an estimated three million gallons of toxic wastewater spilled from the abandoned Gold King Mine. Local, State, and Tribal governments scrambled to react as the wastewater brought a sudden spike in levels of arsenic, […]
Pipe Dreams are a Massachusetts Nightmare: Why Bill H.3690, the Pipeline Expansion Bill, Should Not Pass
Today, New England has the second highest electricity prices in America. Hawaii ranks number one. New England fared well when hydro and coal were the energy sources of choice because of its geography and stores of coal in the region. Unfortunately, starting in the 1990s natural gas became the preferred energy source as a cleaner […]