Notice & Comment

Notice & Comment

Notice & Comment

Policy, Politics, and Administrative Law: The Obama Administration’s Deferred Action Program

The Obama administration’s deferred action program for eligible undocumented immigrants has thrust an obscure issue into the spotlight: when must federal agencies allow the public to comment on their policy initiatives? In February, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction against the program largely on the grounds that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision […]

Notice & Comment

Eleventh Circuit finds Tobacco Suits Preempted: Trouble for Future Public Health Regulations?

In a surprising ruling, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit ruled last week in Graham v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company that strict liability claims and negligence claims in the long running Engle-progeny litigation are preempted by federal law. The decision, written by Judge Tjoflat, applied a broad reading of the implied preemption doctrine, concluding that […]

Notice & Comment

The “IRS Code”

Recently, Senator Ted Cruz made headlines with his claim that the “IRS Code” contains more words than the Bible, with “not a one of them as good.” The Washington Post fact-checked that claim but in doing so, opened up another hornet’s nest. Academics across the country wrote in to take issue with the WaPo’s parroting […]

Notice & Comment

​Could New State Exchanges Qualify for Subsidies?

If the Supreme Court rules for the plaintiffs in King v. Burwell, the thirty-four states without their own exchanges will come under immense pressure to create them. But there’s a catch, one that so far has gone unmentioned in the debate over King. Could residents of the states with new state-based exchanges even qualify for […]

Notice & Comment

SSA Proposes Rule to Make Applying for SSN Easier, by Elisabeth Ulmer

The Social Security Administration (“SSA”) seeks comment on its proposed rule to modify its regulations so that, in addition to submitting the required evidence, Social Security number (“SSN”) applicants may complete a “prescribed application,” instead of a paper Form SS-5, “Application for a Social Security Card”).  The suggested changes are intended to make applying for […]

Notice & Comment

Reforming the Fed the Right Way

There was a time when the Fed Chair’s semi-annual testimony before the House or Senate was something of a love fest. Chairman Greenspan would be celebrated by members on the left and right, each side eager to latch onto the growing perception that Greenspan—and the Fed—was the best thing going in U.S. economic policy. Judging […]

Notice & Comment

Employer Consequences of the Illegal ACA Tax Credit Expansion

In my prior posts, I have discussed two Treasury/IRS regulations that contradict the language of Section 36B. The first regulation rewrites Section 36(c)(1)(B) and extends the ACA tax credit, in a roundabout way, to unlawful aliens. However, as I previously noted, it’s doubtful that the employers of the unlawful aliens would face any adverse consequences […]

Notice & Comment

Another Illegal Expansion of the ACA Tax Credit

In a prior post, I wrote about Treasury/IRS regulations that contradict Section 36B and extend the ACA premium tax credit to some low-income unlawful aliens. In this post, I want to discuss another regulation that contradicts the statute. Although Section 36B provides tax credits only if your household income falls within a certain range (100 […]

Notice & Comment

Important New Empirical Studies on Immigration Adjudication (AdLaw Bridge Series)

With the spring law review submission process winding down, I’ll be spending the next few months trying to catch up on covering the terrific new administrative law scholarship via this Administrative Law Bridge Series. In this post, I’d like to highlight three important empirical studies on immigration adjudication. Full disclosure: Immigration adjudication is an area […]

Notice & Comment

Unlawful Aliens and ACA Tax Credits

In my prior post, I explained how Treasury/IRS regulations contradict Section 36B and essentially extend premium tax credits to the lawfully residing dependents of an unlawfully residing alien. I posited that a controversy could arise when the extension of that credit triggered an employee penalty. To avoid a penalty under Section 4980H(a), an employer must provide […]

Notice & Comment

Meet Renée Landers, Law Professor and Section Vice Chair

Meet Renée Landers, Professor at Suffolk University Law School and Vice Chair for the ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice.  Below, Prof. Landers shares her diverse experiences with administrative law and insights for practitioners and students alike. 1.  What led you to a career in law?  How did you become interested in studying […]

Notice & Comment

Should the Former Fed Chair Speak?

The econ blogosphere is alight with the news that former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke is now blogging. While I may engage the substance of his posts in this space, I want to comment on his striking choice to blog at all. In a Q&A at Brookings earlier in the month, a journalist asked Bernanke for […]