RTP's Fourth Branch Podcast

This virtual event explored the potential trajectories of AI policy under the upcoming shift in presidential administrations. Our expert panel, featuring Ash Kazaryan, Adam Kovacevich, and Neil Chilson, examined the critical issues surrounding AI and offered insights on what policymakers need to know as they navigate rapidly evolving AI technologies. This discussion, moderated by Adam Thierer, provides a balanced range of perspectives on how future administrations can effectively approach AI governance.

A panel of distinguished legal scholars and practitioners will provide an overview of the current landscape of litigation surrounding climate disclosure regulations. Experts will discuss the legal challenges facing both the SEC’s climate disclosure rule and California’s SB 253 and 261. Panelists will address the legal questions raised during litigation over climate disclosure regimes, as well as the regimes’ implications for corporate governance, consumers, and investors.Featuring:Victor B. Flatt, Coleman P. Burke Chair in Environmental Law, School of Law, Case Western Reserve UniversityStephen W. Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, Better MarketsTrent McCotter, Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC[Moderator] Marc Marie, Policy Fellow, Regulatory Policy, Americans for Prosperity

In this episode, Ketan Bhirud and Luke Wake take a closer look at the role of the use of outside legal counsel by state attorneys general. Outside counsel can provide valuable expertise and resources, but what are the implications of relying on external firms for state legal matters? What are the advantages and potential pitfalls of these partnerships? How might they shape state legal practice and ultimately impact the public?

In this episode, experts GianCarlo Canaparo and Mike Gonzalez provide a legal and historical interpretation of the term "equity." This discussion, moderated by Linda Chavez, highlights how the definition of equity extends beyond civil rights protection and how the evolving definition of the term "equity" affects the legal realm. Featuring: GianCarlo Canaparo, Senior Legal Fellow, Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation Mike Gonzalez, Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow, Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, The Heritage Foundation (Moderator) Linda Chavez, Chairman, Center for Equal Opportunity

Regulatory experts, Rosario Palmieri and Karen Harned, discuss industry self-regulation, soft law, and voluntary standards. Thousands of products, services, and systems use voluntary, consensus standards to govern product performance and safety, worker safety, financial services, and food safety. This is a layer of self-regulation that usually lies beneath the administrative state or in parts of the economy where private markets have developed mechanisms to ensure that businesses and consumers' expectations are met in exchanges. Emerging technologies and industries are often first governed by these types of private standards by voluntary agreement. Federal agencies, when deciding to regulate, are required to first rely on industry-created voluntary consensus standards whenever possible. The discussion includes understanding the costs and benefits of relying on private, often copyrighted, standards as a source of law that is incorporated by reference into the U.S. Code and Code of Federal Regulations. Featuring: Karen Harned, President, Harned Strategies LLC Rosario Palmieri, Partner, Lewis Brisbois

Federal regulators were busy in April 2024, with agencies publishing a record-breaking 66 significant new regulations; more than half of which had price tags higher than $200 million. This burst of regulatory activity can be attributed to a once obscure law known as the Congressional Review Act (CRA). If the November election brings Republican control of the White House and Congress, rules issued this summer or fall may be subject to review and disapproval in 2025. This panel will review how both parties have used the CRA to signal displeasure with a president’s policies and to overturn regulations. It will also explore Congress’s options under the Act. Featuring: Steven Balla, Associate Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and Public Administration, and International Affairs, George Washington University Todd F. Gaziano, President, Center for Individual Rights Anthony Papian, Staff Director at United States Senate, Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management Susan Dudley, Founder, GW Regulatory Studies Center & Distinguished Professor of Practice, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration, George Washington University

Paul Ray, Director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute, and Susan Dudley, founder of the GW Regulatory Studies Center, dive into the major questions doctrine and its legal implications. They explore the West Virginia v. EPA case and its influence on regulatory practices. The duo discusses historical context, the evolving balance of power between Congress and federal agencies, and the impact of recent court rulings. They also examine litigation strategies and how these legal principles affect state responses to federal regulations.

Kathryn Ciano Mauler and Eric Wang join the podcast to discuss the FEC rules behind campaign funds, particularly in the transfer of said funds between candidates. Their discussion breaks down the questions surrounding the recent changes to the 2024 ballot, and how that will affect each campaign's fundraising efforts, especially in a post-Chevron legal landscape.

Alex J. Adams, Director of Idaho's Department of Health and Welfare is joined by Reeve T. Bull, Director of the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management. Director Adams and Director Bull detail the importance of regulatory reform efforts in Idaho and Virginia, respectively, and discuss the impact that regulatory reform can have on employment opportunities, business development, and the cost of living. What is zero-based regulation ("ZBR")? What did Idaho's zero-based regulation executive order do? What has been the impact of Idaho's use of incorporation of regulation into law? What is cost-benefit analysis? How did Virginia's Executive Order 19 use cost-benefit analysis for regulatory reform? Why did Virginia's Office of Regulatory Management apply cost-benefit analysis to regulations and guidance documents?

Legal experts Jonathan Butcher and Jon Riches discuss the debate between parental rights and children’s privacy in education under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”). Moderated by Luke Wake, their discussion examines the debates over the role of student privacy, parental rights, and the role that the government is playing in education.