Lloyd Gosselink News
The U.S. Supreme Court Speaks: Blocking Users from Commenting on Public Official’s Social Media Account Violates The First Amendment… Maybe
by José de la Fuente Does a public official’s act of blocking certain individuals/members of the public from commenting on an official’s social media account violate the First Amendment rights of that member of the public? The United States Supreme… Read More
Texas Supreme Court Set to Determine Whether Public Utility Commission of Texas Violated Texas Law
by Rick Arnett On January 30, 2024, the Supreme Court of Texas (“SCOTX”) heard oral argument from the Public Utility Commission of Texas (the “Commission”), Calpine Corp. (“Calpine”), and Luminant Energy Co. (“Luminant”) in Luminant Energy Co. LLC v. Pub. Read More
DOL Issues Final Independent Contractor Rule
by Michelle White With an effective date of March 11, 2024, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued its long-awaited final rule addressing independent contractor classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). See Employee or Independent Contractor Classification Under the… Read More
New Courts Coming This Fall
by Gabrielle Smith The 88th Legislative Session saw the creation of two new court systems in the state of Texas—business courts (See HB 19) and a Fifteenth Court of Appeals (See SB 1045). Both of these new courts are intended… Read More
Texas Broadband Update: The Broadband, Equity Access, and Deployment Program
by Jack Klug The Broadband, Equity Access, and Development (“BEAD”) Program was created as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and is a $42.5 billion federal grant program which aims to expand high-speed Internet access through the… Read More
Municipal Corner
A Water Control and Improvement District may not use surplus “interest and sinking funds” to reduce the cost of future bonds. Tex. Att’y. Gen. Op. KP-0459 (2024). The Victoria County District Attorney requested an opinion from the Texas Attorney General… Read More
“Ask Sarah” Column
Dear Sarah, I’m a small business owner here in town. Don’t you think it’s a bit of a pain to track employees clocking in and clocking out every day? What if I just pay all my employees a salary, and… Read More
In the Courts
Water Cases City of League City v. Galveston Cnty. Mun. Util. Dist. No. 6, No. 01-23-00007-CV, 2023 WL 8814635 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 21, 2023, no pet. h.). The central issue in this case is whether a governmental entity… Read More
Agency Highlights
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) EPA Announces Final Rule Designating Two PFAS as Hazardous Substances Under CERCLA and Issues Enforcement Discretion Policy. On April 17, 2024, EPA posted a “pre-publication” copy of a final rule designating perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”) and… Read More
Employment Law Update: DOL Issues Final Overtime Rule
On Tuesday, April 23, 2024, the Department of Labor announced the final rule to raise the salary threshold for overtime exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under the FLSA, employees may be exempt from overtime pay if… Read More
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