BW INSIGHTS

Friend or Foe? Beware of Invention Promotion Companies and Their Many Promises

By Jordan Meggison-Decker | 04.12.2024

If you watch TV, listen to the radio, or read magazines, chances are you have seen advertising for companies offering to help first time inventors take their products to market. Often, these advertising materials promise patent protection, manufacturing assistance, and effective promotion in the relevant market for an invention. In many... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Thirteen

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 04.08.2024

The Senate was busy this week confirming Governor’s Appointees. Confirmations require a two-thirds vote of all Senators. This means that 34 of the 50 must vote to confirm. With 34 Republicans in the Chamber, confirmations were less contentious than they have been in the past. Senators vote to confirm either En Bloc or on an Individual basis. Some... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Twelve

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 04.01.2024

State Budget. The final stages of the 2024 session took a big step forward on Thursday when House and Senate Leaders released budget targets. The Senate’s target is to limit expenditures to $8.872 billion for Fiscal Year 2025, the House has a higher budget number at $8.955 billion, and the Governor’s budget is at $8.919 billion. The next three... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Eleven

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 03.25.2024

Week #11 ended with movement on one of the main issues of session, the Area Education Agencies (AEA) bill. One of the major priorities of the Governor, the AEA bill in different forms has passed the Senate once and now the House twice. On Monday, the Senate amended HF 2612, and sent it back to the House with a strike-after amendment. On Thursday,... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week 10

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 03.19.2024

The past week was the second funnel week. Thursday was the last day of action at the Statehouse. The Senate did not debate and instead focused on Committee work. The House debated Monday through Wednesday. On Thursday, the House placed 31 bills on the Unfinished Business Calendar which means they will continue to be eligible for further... Read More

March 15, 2024 REC Summary

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 03.18.2024

The Revenue Estimating Conference (“REC”) met Friday (3.15.24) as part of their standard schedule of meetings to estimate future state revenues. REC members Kraig Paulsen and Jennifer Acton welcomed Jeff Plagge to the panel as the new public representative. A summary of the information discussed during the meeting is below, along with the linked... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week 9

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 03.11.2024

Capitol Update The second funnel deadline is next Friday. We expect to see mostly Committee work next week as bills that have not made it through the Committee in the other Chamber will be considered dead for the session, with exceptions. Even though a bill itself may be considered dead, ideas are not dead and can come back in the form of... Read More

EPA’s Final Rule for particulate matter (PM) NAAQS

By Ellen Hames | 03.07.2024

On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Final Rule on its reconsideration of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for Particulate Matter (PM), to lower the primary annual PM2.5 standard from 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter. The EPA retained the current... Read More

Alabama Court Rules CTA Unconstitutional

By Ellen Hames | 03.05.2024

On Friday, March 1, 2024, a U.S. District Court judge in Alabama ruled the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional. The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) is a federal law that went into effect January 1 of this year, requiring any entity that does not meet an exemption to file information on its beneficial owners with the Financial Crimes... Read More

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Eight

By Matthew H. McKinney & Julie A. Smith | 03.04.2024

Capitol Update This week, many bills were debated in either the House or Senate and then passed onto their last stop in the legislative process. Each chamber must vote on the exact same language in order to finally pass the bill and have it become law. The Senate will often substitute a House File and vice versa during floor debate so the language... Read More