Washington Examiner: A law phasing out incandescent light bulbs beginning in 2012 has prompted some states to challenge the reach of federal government.
Pennsylvania and South Carolina have legislation pending to exempt their states from the regulations. And Texas has already passed a bill purporting to nullify the government regulations within their state. Arizona’s Republican governor, Jan Brewer, vetoed a similar bill last year.
ABA Journal: A federal appeals court has upheld the insurance mandate in the Obama administration’s health care law.
In a 2-1 opinion (PDF), the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a requirement for individuals to buy health insurance or to pay a tax penalty. The plaintiffs challenging the law—the Thomas More Law Center and four individuals—had claimed the mandate exceeded Congress’ authority under the commerce clause.
Los Angeles Times: Shopping at Amazon.com Inc. and other major Internet stores is poised to get more expensive.
Beginning Friday, a new state law will require large out-of-state retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases that their California customers make on the Internet — a prospect eased only slightly by a 1-percentage-point drop in the tax that also takes effect at the same time.
Phoenix Business Journal: An annual study of the impact of the Internet on Americans found that almost half of Internet users age 16 and older — 48 percent — are worried about companies checking their actions on the Internet.
CBS News: “Many Believe The Big Apple Has Become A Nanny State. Smokers have just one message for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council members: butt out of our business. . . . By a vote of 36 to 11 on Wednesday the City Council approved a bill to ban smoking in all city parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas.”