In March, our trending bills reflected the current state of the US more than ever before. Ranging from implications with #MarchMadness to healthcare to the start-up trend to bathroom bills, the March slice of life truly mirrors the US news, social and policy movements. Without further ado, here’s our top 10 most read bills of the month:
US HR4742 – Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act – This bill reflects a societal, progressive shift that has been trending. It amends the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act to authorize the National Science Foundation to encourage its entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women who want to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and into the commercial world. AKA, trying to get smart ladies into the commercial world to change it for the better! Check out some of our earlier posts about startups and entrepreneurship.
WA SB5169 – Classifying fantasy sports contests as contests of skill. You probably remember our post during football season in 2016 detailing all of the issues and implications with Daily Fantasy Sports (such as Fan Duel and Draft Kings). Long story short, proponents of daily fantasy sports want to prove the contests require skill and are not gambling. This way, people in states where gambling is not legal can participate in DFS and the leagues do not have to deal with the hassle that comes along with legal gambling. States want the revenue from taxes, gambling associates want that money too, where will it go? Only time can tell.
NY A05991 – Relates to reciprocal wine shipping privileges. With all the craziness of the last month, a bill regarding how to get alcohol from point A to point B seems appropriate. This bill limits the amount a license holder can ship to a resident of New York who is at least twenty-one years of age to thirty-six cases (no more than nine liters each case) each year. It also stipulates that this resident has to be receiving the wine for personal use, not for resale. People belonging to wine clubs, take note.
HI HB571 – Relating To The University Of Hawaii and their Sea Grant College Program. This bill aims to allocate resources in order to make the lives of Hawaiians safer when it comes to natural disasters. Through developing a communication and outreach plan for emergency management/disaster preparedness and publishing the “Homeowner’s Handbook to Prepare for Natural Hazards” people living in Hawaii will better know what to do when disaster hits. Along with this, they want to conduct education and outreach throughout the State. Areas they hope to improve are: rushing to the stores for food and water whenever there is a threatening event, returning these supplies after the event, complaining about short-term power outages and failing to understand the difference between hurricane versus tsunami evacuation planning.
TX SB6 – Relating to regulations and policies for entering or using a bathroom or changing facility. This bill is one that is following a trend in the United States’s since North Carolina’s HB2 last year (check out more info on that here) that dictates which restroom people may use in schools. The bill opens with “the federal government’s mandate requiring Texas public schools to provide students access to restrooms, showers, and dressing rooms based on an individual student’s internal sense of gender is alarming and could potentially lead to boys and girls showering together and using the same restroom” and proceeds to outline mandates requiring people to use the restroom that corresponds with their “biological sex”. The bill also outlines when people whose “biological sex” does not correspond to the facility can enter: for a custodial, maintenance or inspection purpose, to render medical or other emergency assistance and to accompany or receive assistance in using the facility for a student or person (only if you are an employee or authorized volunteer of the school district or the student’s parent, guardian, conservator, or authorized caregiver).
CA SB562 – The Healthy California Act. This bill would create the “Healthy California program” to provide comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state (including its undocumented residents) – effectively replacing private medical insurance. If this bill passes, California would consolidate existing federal funds (payments for Medicare, Medicaid, and tax revenues) to support the universal health insurance. Colorado voters overwhelmingly rejected a similar proposal in the fall of 2016 due to widespread concerns about the cost to citizens of the state.
PA HB117 – Relating to the statistics provided for mental health parity and addiction treatment. This bill aims to improve health insurance reporting for when patients receive treatment for mental health and addiction by requiring reporting on the first of year covering the following types of treatment: levels of care, average length of stay or units of service within each level of care, number of adverse benefit determinations and authorization or pre authorization requests that are the subject of adverse benefit determinations, broken down by types of treatment and levels of care and the percentage of claims. This is part of a movement to de-stigmatize issues surrounding mental health and addiction treatment. Many people who are in long term recovery are in it because of the help they received at treatment centers.
VA SJR251 – Designating the week of September 10th National Suicide Prevention Week. This bill also aims to bring awareness to suicide and the stigma around mental health. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US, the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 10 and 34 and suicide is the only leading cause of death in the US that has increased every year for the past decade. The CDC found that one person dies by suicide every 12.3 minutes in the US, resulting in nearly 43,000 suicides each year, and it is estimated that there are more than 1.1 million suicide attempts each year. According to the bill, more than 90 percent of the people who die by suicide have a diagnosable and treatable mental health condition, which often goes unrecognized or untreated. Suicide is preventable and the first step is educating people about mental illness and removing the stigma.
VA HB1559 – Regarding special identification cards. This bill was signed into law and details how to obtain a special identification card if you are a minor or do not have a driver’s license. It outlines the information you need provide and requires you to show a bona fide need for such a card and the fees associated with obtaining a card. The bill also allows people 70 or older to exchange a valid Virginia driver’s license for a special identification card at no fee. Finally, the bill outlines punishments for people who use false information to get a card (a Class 2 misdemeanor), but if they have the intent to purchase a firearm or commit another offense punishable as a felony it will be a Class 4 felony.
NY S02950 – Early Voting – provides that beginning the eighth day prior to any election and ending on and including the second day prior to the election a person duly registered and eligible to vote shall be permitted to vote. It also states “for early voting shall be equally divided between the major political parties. The board of elections shall assign staff and provide the resources they require to ensure wait times at early voting sites do not exceed thirty minutes.” For more on voting laws, read this, this or this. This is also the second month that this bill has been one of our top trending bills.
I’m finding these slices of life are quite interesting as the months go on; hopefully you agree. As the political climate in the United States continues to heat up, so do the legislative battles. Stay tuned for next month’s episode!
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