Week in Review

IN THE NEWS

• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s order granting a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program—which would allow parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to request deferred action and work authorization for three years—on the basis that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not follow the requisite rulemaking process, and that the agency lacked the authority to implement the program.

• In an effort to “benefit the health of public housing residents and [public housing agency] staff, reduce the risk of catastrophic fires,” among other goals, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a proposed rule that would ban smoking inside and within twenty-five feet of public housing apartments, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found would reduce smoking-related expenses by $153 million.

• As the Obama Administration reportedly backed legislation that would add “sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity” as protected classes under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a rule that would extend the discrimination ban within registered apprenticeship programs by prohibiting discrimination based on “age (40 or older), genetic information, sexual orientation, and disability.”

• The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced that for the first time since the passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009, the agency had cleared new tobacco products for marketing under the statute’s premarket tobacco application pathway, a process that allows tobacco products to be sold in the United States that have not necessarily been deemed safe or “FDA approved.”

• One week after coming under fire for allegedly leading the defeat of a San Francisco ballot measure that would have curbed short-term rentals, home-sharing company Airbnb released the Airbnb Community Compact, a document outlining Airbnb’s pledge to collaborate with local governments by paying its fair share of taxes, providing data to cities to help inform their home-sharing policies, and educating hosts and guests about the company’s policies, among other plans.

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator Dr. Mark Rosekind announced a series of initiatives designed to ensure that all school buses include seat belts, including research projects geared towards enhancing data on school bus safety, collaborating with safety advocates, and discussions with representatives from states that already mandate seat belts on school buses.

• In the wake of a plane crash in Egypt that killed 224 people, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson announced that the DHS and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will be tightening airport security measures.

WHAT WE’RE READING THIS WEEK

• New research from the American Action Forum and Empire Center considered a proposed New York law that would raise the minimum wage to $15. It found that although the increase would benefit those workers who receive pay increases, it could result in many employees being unable to retain jobs.

• According to recent research by the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University, regulators often do not measure the impact of new rules once they have been implemented.