The Veridus Weekly 7-6-17

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In Focus
The In Focus is on vacation this week as we celebrate our nation’s independence.

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AG Brnovich Leads 30-State Coalition Urging Federal Government to Take Action Against Spoof Robocalls

PHOENIX – In a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Monday, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich led a bipartisan group of 30 attorneys general in urging the federal government to adopt rules that would allow telephone providers to block illegal robocalls.

The FCC has requested public comment on rules that would allow providers to block several types of “spoofed” calls, in which a call appears to be coming from one number, but is actually coming from a different number. Scammers frequently use spoofed calls to hide their identity and to trick consumers into believing that their calls are legitimate.

[...] Currently, regulatory roadblocks prevent telecommunications companies from blocking many illegal robocalls. If the new rules are adopted, providers would be allowed to block calls coming from invalid numbers, unallocated numbers, and numbers whose owners have requested to be blocked.  For example, phone providers would be able to block a scammer that is using a telephone number that clearly can’t exist because it hasn’t been assigned.

The letter sounds the alarm about the growing number of telephone scam complaints in Arizona and across the country and supports the FCC’s proposal to remove regulatory roadblocks.  As the letter points out, “legitimate businesses do not need to use any of these methods to contact consumers.”

Arizona signed this letter with attorneys general from Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Read more HERE.

Why almost every state is partially or fully rebuffing Trump’s election commission

Washington Post

Officials in nearly every state say they cannot or will not turn over all of the voter data President Trump’s voting commission is seeking, dealing what could be a serious blow to Trump’s attempts to bolster his claims that widespread fraud cost him the popular vote in November.

The commission’s request for a massive amount of state-level data last week included asking for all publicly available information about voter rolls in the states, such as names of all registrants, addresses, dates of birth, partial Social Security numbers and other data. It immediately encountered criticism and opposition, with some saying it could lead to an invasion of privacy and others worrying about voter suppression.

The states that won’t provide all of their voter data grew to a group of at least 44 by Wednesday, including some, such as California and Virginia, that said they would provide nothing to the commission. Others said they are hindered by state laws governing what voter information can be made public but will provide what they can.

Pushback has swept across red and blue states alike, drawing in Democratic critics of the president and Republicans uneasy about a broad federal request they suggest intrudes on states’ rights. That sentiment has been notable for including Republicans such as Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan, who called the commission’s request a “hastily organized experiment,” and Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler, who described it as “federal intrusion and overreach.”

[...] More than two dozen states said they will provide some of the requested information, according to interviews, public statements and media accounts. Others have not announced decisions or elaborated on what they plan to provide.

[...] Some experts and voting rights advocates have called the voting commission a “sham,” saying they fear it will lead to increased voting restrictions. It is unclear what the states’ actions could mean for the panel’s report, expected in 2018.

[...] Read more HERE.

Veridus clients in the news

Cigna Foundation Provides $100,000 Grant to Back on My Feet; Cigna Executive Dave Guilmette Named as Vice Chair of Back on My Feet Board

Organizations join forces to bring health and wellness to the underserved
 
PHILADELPHIA, July 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Back on My Feet, a national nonprofit organization, announced it is expanding its partnership with Cigna through a $100,000 grant from the Cigna Foundation and the naming of a Cigna executive to its Board of Directors to help drive health and wellness programming. Operating in 12 major cities coast to coast, Back on My Feet combats homelessness through the power of running, community support and essential employment and housing resources.

Dave Guilmette, President, Global Employer and Private Exchanges for Cigna Corporation, was recently appointed as Vice Chairman of the Back on My Feet National Board of Directors, providing oversight and leadership to the strategic vision of the national nonprofit. Guilmette joined the Back on My Feet board in early 2016 and brings with him more than 30 years' experience in the health care industry.

With Guilmette's leadership and the $100,000 in grant support from the Cigna Foundation, Back on My Feet and Cigna will launch an enhanced Health and Wellness Program to help Back on My Feet program participants lead healthier lives.

[...] By participating in the Back on My Feet program, members have seen, on average, a 48 percent decrease in high blood pressure, a 41 percent decrease in obesity and a 13 percent decrease in BMI. The new Cigna-supported Health and Wellness program targets Back on My Feet alumni, individuals who have graduated from the program into employment and independent housing, and are working hard to stay on their feet.

[...] Back on My Feet and Cigna's multifaceted partnership will help to break down the immense barriers to healthy living the homeless population face. For more information and to help support Back on My Feet, visit https://www.backonmyfeet.org/

Read more HERE.

BIO Statement on EPA’s Proposed 2018 Renewable Fuel Standards

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Renewable Fuel Standards for 2018 and biomass-based diesel volume for 2019 must be improved to support investment and capacity building for advanced and cellulosic biofuels, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) said today. Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section, issued the following statement in reaction to EPA’s release of the rules:

“BIO and its members are concerned with EPA’s delays in issuing this proposal. We will work with the agency and the Administration to finalize annual rules in a timely manner and carefully consider the program’s impact on investment in advanced biofuels. We believe the rule should do more to grow advanced and cellulosic biofuel production in the next year and to provide certainty for companies investing in new technologies and production capacity.

“EPA’s proposed advanced and cellulosic biofuel volume obligations do not reflect the full potential for these innovative fuels over the next year. The agency continues to rely on a flawed methodology formulated by the prior administration that fails to ensure sufficient space in the U.S. transportation fuels market for all available advanced biofuels. BIO and its members look forward to working with EPA to identify and account for all qualifying volumes of advanced biofuel.

“BIO and its members have stressed to EPA the importance of speedier decisions on RFS pathway approvals. Biofuel producers must obtain this approval before they can produce RFS qualifying fuels. To date, EPA has simply taken too long to make its decisions on pathway approvals, with devastating results to individual companies, especially in the cellulosic and advanced biofuels industry.

“BIO believes the agency is wrong to waive more than half of the RFS program’s required advanced biofuel volumes and more than 20 percent of the required overall volume while failing to enable advanced biofuel producers to reach the market.

“Further, BIO continues to strongly disagree with EPA’s prior interpretation of its general waiver authority under the RFS statute and with EPA’s ongoing stockpiling of carryover RIN credits. The RFS statute does not allow EPA to rely on demand-side factors under the oil industry’s control as a basis for decreasing the fundamental requirement to use as much renewable fuel as the biofuel industry can produce. And the statute does not grant the agency leeway to create a permanent carryover RIN bank.

“BIO and its members look forward to working with EPA to improve the RFS program and to finalize necessary program rules.”

Read more HERE
 
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