In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor J.B. Pritzker has provided relief to Illinois consumers’ pocketbooks. On April 14, 2020, the Governor issued Executive Order in Response to COVID-19 No. 23 (“Executive Order 23”). The stated purpose of Executive Order 23 is to ensure that Illinois residents have funds for essential items such as food, medicine, housing, and transportation by temporarily suspending certain consumer debt collection measures ...
Last Friday, the Illinois Supreme Court delivered the highly anticipatedRosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp., 2019 IL 123186, opinion. Businesses and consumers alike watched for the Court’s opinion regarding whether mere technical violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) gave plaintiffs the requisite standing to seek damages under the statute ...
On January 13, the Illinois legislature unanimously passed the Predatory Loan Prevention Act (SB 1792) (“PLPA”), which would prohibit lenders from charging more than 36% APR on consumer loans. Specifically, the PLPA would apply to any non-commercial loan made to a consumer in Illinois, including closed-end and open-end credit, retail installment sales contracts, and motor vehicle retail installment sales contracts ...
With the State of Illinois’ recent legalization of recreational cannabis, municipalities have started to debate whether to “opt in” to allow such businesses. While municipalities cannot prohibit the use of recreational cannabis, they can decide whether recreational cannabis businesses are allowed to operate within their boundaries. Local officials are just starting to consider the pros and cons of recreational cannabis businesses in their communities ...
Over the last several years, the emphasis on privacy and data protection has grown significantly. With the amount of data collected by companies and technology skyrocketing, the need to protect personal information has been at the forefront of states’ legislative agendas. While all 50 states now have breach notification statutes, states are now taking a closer look at issues such as tracking online behavior and the use of biometric data ...
While a few legislative races are still being tabulated, Democrats maintained their supermajority status in both the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate in this election cycle. Current projections, that are subject to change pending mail-in ballots, are for a Democrat supermajority of 72-46 in the House and 41-18 in the Senate. This was not an unexpected outcome, though most pre-election predictions had the Democrats achieving an even wider gap in the Legislature ...
On December 14, 2018, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a Request for Information (RFI) about ways to modify the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules[1]to promote the transition of the health care industry to a value-based Medicare payment model and improve care coordination for patients. See “Request for Information on Modifying HIPAA Rules to Improve Coordinated Care,” 83 FR 64302 Page:64302-64310 ...
It’s an all too common scenario. An unsuspecting Internet user opens an email with a link to a website spoofing that of a leading financial institution. The user is asked to input personal information such as bank credentials or social security numbers and in a matter of seconds the user becomes the victim of a phishing scam and is left to deal with the financial and emotional fallout stemming from the identity theft ...
Obtaining necessary regulatory approvals for a wind project does not mean that opponents won’t stand in the way of development. Wind development takes years of work. Locations must be evaluated and sites eventually selected. In addition, experts must prepare reports examining every aspect of the wind farm and its impact on the surrounding area, including sound impact stud- ies, compliance analyses and wildlife assessments ...
CHEAT SHEET Investment. Implementing a mentorship program between a corporation and a law firm does not require significant monetary investment, rather a considerable time investment. Diversify activities. After identifying and understanding the needs and profiles of participants, create activities that include trainings, CLEs, social events, and facility and firm visits. Benefits ...
President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the Act) on March 11, 2021. The Act provides COBRA premium subsidies, increases the tax-exclusion amount for employer-sponsored dependent care assistance programs and expands who may be eligible to receive premium tax credits for marketplace coverage. This alert explains how these provisions may impact your welfare benefit plans. Please contact your Dykema benefits attorney to explore the new provisions in greater depth ...
The extent of disruption caused by COVID-19 is unknowable at this time. However, it is likely that there will be suppliers unable to economically weather the storm. Having represented manufacturing customers and suppliers for decades, one thing is certain: even the most sophisticated entities make costly mistakes in addressing distressed suppliers without realizing they paid more as a customer than was necessary ...
On March 14, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”). While the bill has not yet been passed by the Senate, the White House has indicated that it supports and intends to sign the bill into law once the Senate has an opportunity to address its provisions, which will likely be sometime early this week ...
While many Americans are receiving their $1,400 payments from the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”), signed into law on March 11, 2021, employers should be paying attention to the somewhat buried language regarding Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (“FFCRA”) tax credits. Does the ARPA Require Paid Leave? No ...
ALERT Hospital May Be Excluded For Physician Recruiting On May 8, 2006 the OIG announced that it intends to exclude San Diego-based Alvarado Hospital from participation in Medicare, Medicaid and all other federal health care programs because of payments the Hospital made under relocation agreements involving placement of newly-recruited physicians in established physician practices ...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule on January 11, 2019, introducing electronic registration requirement for employers seeking to file H-1B cap-subject petitions. The final rule went into effect on April 1, 2019, though the electronic registration requirement was suspended Fiscal Year 2020 (October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020) to allow USCIS to complete user testing and ensure the system and process are fully functional ...
On March 15, 2020, Governor Whitmer issued an Executive Order, effective 9 a.m. March 16, 2020, through April 13, 2020, imposing two restrictions aimed at preventing price gouging during the COVID-19 emergency. These restrictions, issued pursuant to her powers after declaring a State of Emergency on March 10, 2020, apply to offers or sales of products in Michigan. The first restriction applies only to resales of products acquired from retailers ...
On July 29, 2020, Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order Nos. 2020-160 and 2020-161. Executive Order 2020-160 replaces the prior executive orders that address stay home, stay safe restrictions in Michigan. In general, this Order moves the State to a more uniform approach to business operations and restrictions ...
It is expected that President Biden will sign the PPP Extension Act of 2021 passed by the House of Representatives on March 16, 2021, and the Senate on March 25, 2021. The bill extends the funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) Loan program through June 30, 2021, for First Draw and Second Draw Loan applications submitted by lenders to the SBA by May 31, 2021 ...
The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the food industry, just as it has many others. The good news is that food-to-person transmission of the disease does not seem to be a risk. The challenge remains keeping workers safe from airborne and surface transmission. However, the FDA and the USDA have provided guidance and recommendations to food producers to deal with COVID-19, links to which have been provided below. The guidance focuses on stopping the person-to-person spread of the disease ...
A few years ago, Rick Rein got a call from a Chicago-area bank that had lost $1 million to a con artist who cashed a fake check that looked so authentic it easily passed through the bank's computer system. The fraudster wired the money to an obscure bank in Florida, then out of the country before the bank realized a month later the check was phony. Mr ...
On Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the Department of the Treasury issued Notice 2020-17, postponing payment deadlines for many taxpayers in order to grant some amount of relief to businesses and individuals amid the Coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis. The Notice provides many taxpayers with the ability to defer federal income tax payments otherwise due by April 15, 2020, but does not postpone or alter the April 15 filing deadline or estimated payments due June 15, 2020 ...
Recently, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced a new program to facilitate the issuance of shortterm commercial paper (“CP”) by eligible issuers. The program was launched on Monday, October 27, 2008. The program is being administered by a new special purpose financing vehicle (“SPV”) that is referred to as the Commercial Paper Financing Facility, or “CPFF ...
