Are you a Gamer?

Ten percent of Americans who report ever playing video games consider themselves to be “gamers.”

Among the key findings of a recent Pew Research Center survey on Americans’ video game habits are the following:

1. Half of American adults play video games on a computer, TV, game console, or portable device like a cellphone, and 10% consider themselves to be “gamers.”
2. Nearly equal numbers of men and women play video games (50% and 48% respectively), although men are over twice as likely to call themselves “gamers” (15% of men v. 6% of women).
3. Four of every 10 adults believe that violence in video games is related to violent behavior, but slightly over half disagree with the statement “people who play violent video games are more likely to be violent themselves.”
4. A quarter of all adults (26%) think video games are a waste of time; Twenty-four percent think most games are not a waste of time. One-third think some games are a waste of time. And 16% don’t know what to think of the issue.
5. Almost half of adults are unsure if video games portray minorities and women poorly.

Click here for highlights of the report. 

New Model Uses Public Health Data to Signal Impending Disease Eradication

Ecologists at the University of Georgia recently published a study in Theoretical Ecology that identifies a potential new tool to fight against infectious diseases.

According to the study, “[s]ustaining momentum near the end of [malaria] elimination programs is often difficult to achieve” and tools that help to monitor the effectiveness of these programs after the initial case reductions are needed. In response to this need, researchers developed a model that used public health surveillance data for malaria to signal when the disease is approaching eradication. The model is based on the theory of “critical slowing down,” which describes statistical patterns that “appear when a system under stress is nearing a tipping point—the point after which it is doomed to eventual extinction.”

Specifically, the researchers looked for evidence of “critical slowing down” with four prevention and control methods: (1) using bed nets, (2) spraying indoor insecticides, (3) administering drug treatments to shorten a malaria patient’s infectious period, and (4) eliminating mosquito habitats. The researchers found that their model revealed patterns indicating impending tipping points, although the strength of the signal depended on the control and statistical methods used to analyze the data.

Click here to read the full study. 

Threats to the Northeast Moose Population

A 2015 article in the New Haven Register quoted the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Communications Director as saying the state’s moose population will increase over the next decade. According to the article, since the mid-1990s the number of moose sightings in the state increased by about four each year.

This contrasts to a Northern Woodlands magazine article focusing on the declining moose population in certain northeastern states. Focusing on moose populations in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, the article attributed the population decline to several problems: parasites such as winter ticks and brainworm, disease, and malnutrition. It cited temperature increases as exacerbating the  problems. (The New Hampshire moose population has declined from 7,600 in 1996 to about 4,400 recently.)

According to the Northern Woodlands article, a traditional New England seasonal pattern of frosty autumns, chilly springs, and lingering snowpack is helpful to prevent parasite infestations. For example, colder temperatures suppress winter tick populations by decreasing the ability to successfully attach to moose. The more ticks that attach, the greater the animal’s blood loss, which is particularly problematic to moose calves that are smaller in size and have higher metabolic needs. Also, whitetail deer carry brainworm, and while brainworm does not harm deer, it impacts the moose nervous system. Warmer temperatures could help increase deer populations, thus increasing the opportunity for moose to become infested.  

 

Image Source: flickr.com

Medical Marijuana Update

The Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) recently announced that it has approved applications for three new medical marijuana dispensary facilities: two in Milford and one in Waterbury. The new facilities are expected to be open by the summer. There are currently six dispensary facilities operating across the state.

There are over 8,200 medical marijuana patients registered in the state. The county with the most patients is New Haven, with over 2,100. To qualify, patients must have a qualifying medical condition and obtain a written certification from a physician.

The legislation creating Connecticut’s medical marijuana program was enacted in 2012. The implementing regulations were enacted the following year.  In 2014, DCP approved applications for the current six dispensary facilities and four producers.

Across the country, the number of states with medical marijuana programs has been increasing in recent years. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, all of the New England states have comprehensive medical marijuana programs. New York launched its program in January 2016.  

2016 Banking Trends

Based on discussions with financial and banking experts, U.S. News has identified what they believe are the top trends in the banking industry for 2016.  

According to the article, this year the banking industry can expect to see:  

1. a reduction in branch visits, as more people will be doing their banking online, on their phone, or at ATMs in 2016;
2. the integration of in-branch and mobile banking;
3. an increase in the use of mobile technology in the branch, such as self-service kiosks;
4. a modest increase in savings account interest rates;
5. fees for convenience, such as remote check deposits and expedited payments;
6. that online banking will remain popular; 
7. an increase in the use of mobile phones to make payments; and
8. an increase in the use of chip cards instead of those with magnetic strips.  

Click here to read the full article.

U.S. Supreme Court Hears Case on Public Employee Agency Fees

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case that could overturn an almost 40-year-old precedent that allows public employee unions to collect “agency fees” from employees who don’t want to join (and pay union dues to) the union that collectively bargained on their behalf.  The Court’s 1977 decision in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education established that although public employees who don’t join a union cannot be required to pay for the union’s political activities, they can be charged “agency fees” to help pay for the costs the union incurred on the employee’s behalf, such as collective bargaining expenses.

According to Amy Howe at SCOTUSblog.com, the questions from the Court’s more conservative justices focused on the argument that the collective bargaining process for public employees was inherently political because public employee salaries and benefits affect government budgets. Thus (as explained in a different SCOTUSblog post), requiring employees to pay agency fees violated their “First Amendment right not to pay for activity to which they object.” 

The Court’s more liberal justices instead largely focused on how overturning the Abood decision would affect public employee unions and their collective bargaining agreements in the states (including Connecticut) that allow their public sector unions to collect agency fees.  To Howe, the difference in questions suggests that the more liberal justices realize that they may not win an argument over the case’s merits, but instead must convince at least one of their colleagues that it simply is, as a matter of principle, a bad idea to overturn Abood.

New CRS Report Answers a Number of Frequently Asked Questions about TANF

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) recently released a report that answers a number of frequently asked questions about the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant. The federal grant, established by the 1996 federal welfare reform law, funds a wide array of services and benefits, including cash assistance, for low-income families with children. The grant provides $16.5 billion in annual funding to the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The states and DC, in turn, are collectively required to annually contribute $10.4 billion of their own funds towards TANF-related activities. These state funds are also referred to as maintenance-of-effort (MOE) funds.


Some of the questions addressed in the report include the following:

• How many families receive TANF or MOE-funded benefits and services?
• How much does a family receive in TANF cash benefits per month in each state?
• May states require drug testing of TANF cash assistance recipients?
• Are there restrictions on a family’s use of TANF benefits?
• What is the TANF work participation standard states must meet?

For the answers to these questions and many more, click here to read the full CRS report.

Connecticut’s Electric Efficiency Partners Program

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has released its 2016 report on the Connecticut Electric Efficiency Partners Program (EEP). The report is available here. 

By law, the EEP program, established in 2008, provides electric ratepayer funding to electric company customers and vendors of energy efficient or load shifting technologies to purchase and deploy those technologies (CGS § 16-243v). According to PURA’s report, nine technologies are eligible for incentives under the EEP program, including:

• gas chillers: natural gas powered devices that provide cooling for area air conditioning applications or for industrial and commercial processes;
• real time energy feedback devices: devices that allow users to reduce their energy consumption by providing them with a real time display of their energy use and other energy-related data; and
• energy saving algorithms: thermostats that can be (a) programmed with algorithms specific to the climate and building occupancy schedules and (b) connected to the internet to gather local weather data.

PURA describes the EEP as a secondary program for emerging technologies and states that its use is limited. To date, the EEP program has spent just over $1 million. (The law limits program expenses to $60 million annually.) These funds are recovered through the systems benefit charge on ratepayer bills. For more on the systems benefit charge, see OLR Report 2015-R-0047.

All’s Fair in Love and War...and in Competing for H1-B Work Visas?

The federal government issues a number of different types of visas that allow people from other countries to enter the U.S.  One type of visa, the H1-B visa, allows companies to bring in foreign workers temporarily to fill jobs that require special skills.

About four years ago, we speculated that mayors and governors might start chasing after immigrants, who may come to the U.S. on an H1-B visa, instead of businesses (i.e., smokestack chasing, a popular metaphor used to describe the competition between the states for businesses and jobs).  Summarizing Brookings Institute research on the people who establish “high-impact businesses” (i.e., those that help other companies boost productivity and give consumers more choices), we mentioned that these businesses often included at least one immigrant, a finding that lead the institute to recommend policies to help clear the green card backlog.

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Well, there’s a new twist to the “chase immigrants instead of smokestacks” story. The twist arises from the fact that the law limits the total number of H1-B visas the federal government may approve each year to 85,000.

The New York Times reports on an unintended consequence of this limit: about 20 companies, including 13 global outsourcing firms are gaming the system, taking about 40% of the visas. The application period starts April 1 and the federal government accepts them on a first come, first served basis. The law allows only one application per worker, but there’s no limit on the number of applications a company can submit. Tata Consultancy Services, also known as TCS, for example, submitted applications for 14,000 visas in 2015 and won approval for 5,600.

Okay, why is this a problem? According to the Times, the firms that soak up most of the visas use them to “bring their employees, mostly from India, for large contracts to take over work at American businesses. And, as the share of H1-B visas obtained by outsourcing firms has grown, more Americans say they are being put out of work, or seeing their jobs moved oversees.”

Another unintended effect is that some companies denied H1-Bs have looked overseas to hire the talent they need. One employer cited in the article, Mark Merkelbach, needed engineers and landscapers who could speak Mandarin to work on water projects in China. When he could not find people with the technical and language skills, he applied for H1-B visas. After his applications were denied, he hired people who resided in Taiwan. 

In general, the HB-1 visa program continues to attract much debate, with many arguing about its value and impact on the U.S. economy.

Congress Repeals Country of Origin Meat Labeling Law

In December, Congress repealed a labeling law that required retailers to include where the beef or pork was born, raised, and slaughtered.  According to the Associated Press, the meat industry had been fighting against the law in court and Congress since the early 2000s.

US lawmakers stated that they repealed the law after the World Trade Organization (WTO) repeatedly ruled against them.  The WTO recently ruled in favor of Canada and Mexico and authorized them to begin more than $1 billion in economic retaliation against the United States for this particular labeling practice.

Consumer groups say that labels help people make more informed decisions and encourage purchases of American meat.

Civil Orders of Protection

OLR Report 2015-R-0172 describes the three types of civil orders of protection that may be issued by a Connecticut court or registered in Connecticut:

• A civil restraining order provides relief from physical abuse, stalking, or a pattern of threatening from a family or household member.
• A civil protection order provides protection to a victim of sexual abuse, sexual assault, or stalking who is not eligible for a restraining order.
• A foreign order of protection is a court order registered in Connecticut but issued by another state; the District of Columbia; a U. S. commonwealth, territory, or possession; or an Indian tribe to prevent violence, threatening acts, or harassment against; contact or communication with; or physical proximity to another person.

The report describes the circumstances under which individuals may apply for an order or the court may issue it, the kinds of measures the order may include, and the penalties for violating it.

The Judicial Branch pays for the cost of serving civil restraining and civil protection orders, which are effective for up to one year unless extended by the court upon the applicant’s motion.

All civil orders of protection must be included in the state Protection Order Registry, which is an automated repository that provides current information on orders of protection to the courts and the criminal justice community.

Read the full report for additional information.

Health Insurance Tax Forms

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), most people must have health insurance or pay a tax penalty. The ACA requires employers to give employees and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) information about income and health insurance coverage. To implement this, the IRS has created new tax forms that will help a person prove he or she maintained health insurance coverage as required by the ACA to avoid the tax penalty. The new forms are called the 1095-A, 1095-B, and 1095-C. How the person obtains his or her health insurance dictates the form he or she will receive. 

Form 1095-A is for those who obtained health insurance through the federal or a state health insurance exchange (e.g., Access Health CT). Form 1095-B is for those who purchased individual insurance directly from an insurer. Form 1095-C is for those who received employer-provided health insurance coverage.

Originally, insurers and employers had until February 1, 2016 to send 1095 forms to people for the 2015 tax year. But the federal government has extended that deadline by two months. The 1095-B and 1095-C forms for the 2015 tax year are now due to people by March 31, 2016.

Some individual taxpayers may be impacted by this extension. IRC Notice 2016-4 provides guidance to individuals filing their tax returns prior to receiving their 1095 forms. “For 2015 only, individuals who rely upon other information received from their coverage providers about their coverage for purposes of filing their returns need not amend their returns once they receive the Form 1095-B or Form 1095-C or any corrections.”

Psychogeography: The Intersection of Psychology, Architecture, and Urban Design

Image via Flickr

The Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University recently wrote an article about Colin Ellard, a cognitive neuroscientist who uses virtual reality to study individuals’ responses to environments.  Individuals in Ellard’s studies wear headsets and “move” through different spaces, such as streetscapes or a building’s interior, and, as they do so, Ellard asks them questions about how they experience these environments, records gaze patterns, and observes stress and arousal indicators. 

Ellard sees his work as a tool for testing how design changes, such as increasing or decreasing a room’s ceiling height or adding complexity to a façade, affects behavior.  He notes that poor design is not just unappealing, but affects health.  For example, boredom has been shown to increase cortisol, which can impair metabolism and mental function, among other things.

Crowdfunding for Small Businesses and Start-up Companies

OLR Report 2015-R-0277 provides general information on crowdfunding as well as links to the crowdfunding laws of the 28 states and the District of Columbia that currently allow this investment method. Crowdfunding is a method of raising capital that uses the internet to attract investments from large pools of investors. According to the Maine Office of Securities, crowdfunding "began as a way for the public to donate small amounts of money, often through social networking websites, to help artists, musicians, filmmakers, and other creative people with their projects."

More recently, the method has been promoted as a way for small businesses and start-up companies to raise investment capital.  Crowdfunding allows individuals to invest in these businesses through an intermediary, such as a broker-dealer or a funding portal.  A "funding portal" is a website or portal that advertises the investment opportunities and facilitates payment from the investor to the issuer, but does not, among other things, offer investment advice or compensate employees based on sales.

Title III of the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act created a federal exemption under the securities laws so that crowdfunding can be used to offer and sell securities.  On October 30, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted its final rules, "Regulation Crowdfunding," to govern such sales and offerings. Among other things, the rules limit the amount of capital that can be raised or invested through crowdfunding methods.

Read the full report here.

Growing Trend of Health Clinics at Large Employers

A recent article on the Modern Healthcare website explores the increasing use of on-site health clinics by large employers (i.e., those with 5,000 or more employees) seeking to contain their health benefit costs. Almost 30% of such companies have health clinics on-site or nearby, up from 24% in 2013, according to survey data cited in the article.  The majority of companies with such clinics contract the work to a vendor.  While some clinics have physicians on staff, they are typically staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants.

The clinics provide primary and preventative care to employees, and in some cases, their families.  They also encourage exercise, and some have fitness facilities on-site. The goal is to keep workers healthy, thus “reducing absenteeism and cutting benefit costs.” 

While the article states that there’s not much data on whether these clinics actually reduce costs, 2/3 of large employers with such clinics plan to expand them.  Also, “many employers plan to continue investing in [these clinics] even though the cost will likely be included in calculating the Affordable Care Act's Cadillac tax on high-value health plans starting in 2018.”

But one health economist quoted in the article questioned the cost savings from such clinics, and noted that privacy concerns may prevent some employees from using these clinics.

For more information, see the full article.

Connecticut Prohibits Price Optimization

An Insurance Journal article highlights Connecticut’s recent ban on price optimization in property and casualty insurance (e.g., homeowners’ and motor vehicle insurance). Price optimization is the process of adjusting an insured’s premium based on factors unrelated to risk. An example would be using an individual policyholder’s response to a previous premium increase to determine how much of a premium increase the policyholder will tolerate at renewal before switching to a different insurer. This practice can potentially result in two policyholders with identical loss histories and risk profiles receiving different premium increases. According to the Connecticut Insurance Department, price optimization “can . . . result in premiums that are excessive or inadequate.”

Price optimization is being scrutinized by insurance regulators because rates are subject to statutory requirements. Statutory rate standards in most states require that rates not be excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory (see, e.g., CGS § 38a-686). According to a National Association of Insurance Commissioners white paper, actuarial principals dictate rates that are correlated with risk and not excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory.

According to a recent OLR report on price optimization, at least 12 other states and the District of Columbia ban insurers from using price optimization. Regulators in these jurisdictions find that because price optimization varies rates based on a factor other than risk of loss (e.g., a person’s willingness to pay), it violates the statutory requirement that rates not be unfairly discriminatory. The states are: California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Additionally, New York’s insurance department is currently studying the practice.

Evicted Tenants' Property

OLR Report 2015-R-0223 summarizes the law and recent bills on the responsibility of municipalities to store evicted tenants' property. PA 10-171 amended the responsibility of municipalities concerning the removal of personal property abandoned by evicted residential tenants. Previously, a state marshal who executed the eviction order was allowed to leave such possessions on the sidewalk or road to be picked up and stored by the municipality. The act eliminated a municipality's responsibility to pick up the abandoned property, instead requiring the marshal to deliver it to storage. By law, municipalities must keep the property in storage but may sell any unclaimed property. 

For more information, read the full report here.

Move Over Immune Platoon, Here Come the Centsables!

Q: How do you make banking and financial literacy interesting for children?
A: Create a cuddly bunch of cartoon superheroes who fight crime while teaching kids how to manage their money – i.e., the Centsables!

In keeping with the cartoonization of fairly sophisticated subjects for the younger set (see our previous post on the CDC’s Immune Platoon), Fox Business has added to its Saturday morning lineup a show in which bankers-by-day become superheroes (e.g., Veloci-Rabbit and Greenback) in times of crisis and battle villains such as the evil Liquidator and Credi-tor.

The show’s website includes links to full episodes, along with financial lessons and “factivities,” and a glossary of banking terms.

Additional resources for teaching kids about money are also available at the federal government’s online web portal for children: kids.usa.gov.

Connecticut Bank Mergers and Consolidations

OLR Report 2015-R-0263 describes factors the banking commissioner must consider when determining whether to approve the merger or consolidation of Connecticut banks. 

Generally, the commissioner must consider whether the (1) merger or consolidation will promote public convenience; (2) benefits to the public clearly outweigh possible adverse effects, such as decreased or unfair competition; and (3) terms of the agreement are reasonable, lawful, and sound public policy.

Unless exempt by the commissioner, the applicant must also submit a plan showing that the resulting bank will provide adequate services to meet the banking needs of all community residents, including low-income and moderate-income residents, to the extent permitted by its charter.

Click here to read a report on the entire process.

New IRS Guidance Clears the Way for “Mission-Related Investments” (MRIs)



http://bit.ly/1OnkAob

MRIs allow foundations to pursue their nonprofit, philanthropic goals by making investments that pay dividends and benefit society or the environment. But until recently, many foundations were unsure if they could make such investments.

Foundations pursue their charitable goals mostly by making grants to organizations that address those goals. The money for the grants comes from charitable contributions and investment returns. The investments, under IRS rules, must be made with “ordinary business care and prudence” in providing for the foundation’s long- and short-term financial needs to carry out its charitable purposes. Foundations and foundation managers that fail to exercise such prudence may each face a tax equal to 5% of the investment.

It appears that this tax caused many foundations to think twice about investing in a for-profit business that pursues social and environmental goals (e.g., a company that makes recyclable packaging materials), but offered potentially lower rates of return than other investments.  A recent IRS notice clears the way for such investments, explaining that foundation managers are not limited to investments offering only the highest return rates, lowest risks, or most liquidity “so long as the foundation managers exercise the requisite ordinary business care and prudence under the facts and circumstances prevailing at the time of the investment . . . .”

The nonprofit State Science and Technology Institute believes the notice will stimulate “partnerships with forward-thinking venture development organizations and tech-based economic development initiatives.” As proof, it cites the Kresge Foundation’s recent announcement that it expects to increase its MRI portfolio to $350 million by 2020.