All posts tagged: lawmakers

FanDuel VIP Program Faces Lawmakers’ Questions

FanDuel VIP Program Faces Lawmakers’ Questions

Published by skeptic

Sen. Richard Blumenthal is accusing FanDuel of targeting and exploiting problem gamblers, bringing the sportsbook’s customer-protection practices under renewed congressional scrutiny. The allegation centers on a personalized video featuring baseball player Bryce Harper, but it is not a finding of wrongdoing or a formal enforcement action. Blumenthal referred to an August report alleging that FanDuel used a Harper video message to reach someone already experiencing gambling addiction. He said the promotion appeared intended to encourage the customer to spend more, according to WTNH’s October 13 report. Senator Richard Blumenthal – Photo: yevkusa / CC BY-SA 2.0 The accusation also connects to scrutiny of FanDuel’s VIP program, where personalized messages and other benefits are used to engage high-value customers. Congressional scrutiny of FanDuel’s VIP practices has focused on whether such outreach can reach bettors showing signs of harm. Lawmakers seek details on celebrity videos In separate reporting, RG.org and PlayUSA said Blumenthal and two other lawmakers asked FanDuel for copies of about 30 personalized celebrity videos, along with information about who received them and how those …

OpenAI and Anthropic Tell British Lawmakers: Regulate Us

OpenAI and Anthropic Tell British Lawmakers: Regulate Us

Published by skeptic

Representatives for OpenAI and Anthropic told a British parliamentary hearing that voluntary pledges were no longer enough to ensure safety and that new laws should be introduced, deepening a public schism with Google DeepMind and Meta, both of which declined to back new legislation. The Business, Innovation, Science, and Trade Committee, comprising a cross-party panel of MPs, held an evidence session on Tuesday with appearances from four frontier AI firms, four former staff of the firms turned whistleblowers and senior British civil servants. “The rules should be binding,” Anthropic’s head of Europe Liam Booth-Smith told the committee, when asked if the company’s view was that AI safety now needs a statutory framework. The company, he said, has “consistently believed that there should be binding rules on companies and that voluntary commitments are not enough.” OpenAI vice president Tom Duff Gordon was more cautious but still supportive, backing a statutory framework and an international convention. Duff Gordon said “there should be some elements that should be mandatory,” starting with incident reporting. “We don’t think basing everything …

Hidden Fees Cost Michigan Patients Millions. Lawmakers Push Reforms

Hidden Fees Cost Michigan Patients Millions. Lawmakers Push Reforms

Published by Sam Flores

Michiganders are paying millions of extra dollars in healthcare bills each year, often paying to help operate hospitals they’ve never even visited. There’s no way to tell precisely how much they’re paying: “ Facility fees ” are usually buried deep in bills, and hospitals aren’t required to publicly disclose how much they collect from them. The fees traditionally cover costs associated with healthcare like laundry, computer networks and security. Hospitals say they need the money to stay afloat and are increasingly adding the charges to outpatient services, such as labs and physicians’ offices. But they don’t disclose many basic details about the fees, prompting a bipartisan push for reform. In Lansing, legislation would prohibit the fees when care is provided at sites outside of hospitals, telemedicine appointments and some in-hospital outpatient services. The legislation came after state Rep. Curt VanderWall, R-Ludington, requested an itemized bill for a routine blood test. He said he had heard from constituents about their bills increasing after their doctors’ offices and labs were purchased by large healthcare systems. A single …

Lawmakers push back on Trump’s fuel deal with Russia

Lawmakers push back on Trump’s fuel deal with Russia

Published by Sam Flores

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday that President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russia to allow it to release diesel fuel to the global market may be breaking the law. “I do believe there’s a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law,” Tillis said. Trump announced Friday on Truth Social that Russia would “immediately supply” hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel fuel to the global marketplace, with more than 1 million additional tons soon on the way. The move drew sharp condemnation from Ukraine and critics of the Trump administration. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, lawmakers took a series of steps to try to financially punish the Kremlin. In 2022, the Senate unanimously passed a bill to ban Russian oil imports, and Congress has not changed the law to reflect Trump’s announcement. Asked by moderator Kristen Welker whether he believes Trump is breaking the law with his Russia deal, Tillis said, “I believe that he may be.” “We were very clear that Russia …

Fresh protests over housing flare in Spain after lawmakers reject relief measures

Fresh protests over housing flare in Spain after lawmakers reject relief measures

Published by Sam Flores

Fresh protests over housing flared in Madrid and other Spanish cities on Saturday, a day after parliament narrowly rejected the government’s proposed relief measures for tenants. The rallies by tens of thousands of protesters extended a crisis that has gone on for more than a week, triggered by the September 23 forced expulsion of a pensioner from her Madrid flat. The government introduced the measures after nationwide protests following the eviction, on a stretcher, of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from a Madrid apartment she had occupied for around seven decades. The defeat was another political setback for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and has renewed questions over whether his minority government can survive until the next scheduled general election in 2027. Read moreSpanish lawmakers vote down affordable housing bills in blow to Sanchez’s government Catalan separatist party Junts – whose support was essential to approve the two decrees – voted against them, arguing they lacked rigour. After the vote, the leader of the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijoo, urged Sanchez to “call elections …

Spanish lawmakers vote down affordable housing bills in blow to Sanchez’s government

Spanish lawmakers vote down affordable housing bills in blow to Sanchez’s government

Published by Sam Flores

Spain’s parliament on Friday shot down government bills aimed at quelling nationwide protests over a housing crisis that were sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman. The lawmakers’ rejection of the two measures dealt a blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his centre-left government ahead of general elections scheduled for 2027. “Shame!” yelled hundreds of protesters outside the parliament building as the bills were quashed. Fresh demonstrations were due to take place across Spain on Saturday. Watch moreMaricarmen vs the ‘vultures’: A ‘social tragedy’ mobilising Spaniards Spain has been gripped by protests for a week, including a tent city set up in the heart of Madrid, to rail against increasingly unaffordable housing for both tenants and buyers and demand swift action from the government. Rents have doubled over the last decade with average prices reaching €1,176 ($1,323) a month, equivalent to 98.7 percent of the average salary for a young person, according to the Youth Council of Spain. That grievance, which has repeatedly surfaced, was ignited on September 23 by the eviction of …

Former athletes turned lawmakers tackle Protect College Sports Act : NPR

Former athletes turned lawmakers tackle Protect College Sports Act : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Tommy Tuberville led Auburn to an undefeated season in 2004, and now the Alabama Republican senator is championing the Protect College Sports Act in Congress. He’s one of a number of former collegiate athletes who are now Senators helping to shape the legislation. Doug Benc/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Doug Benc/Getty Images WASHINGTON — With a major college sports reform bill on the brink of a milestone in Congress, some former athletes have a special place in the debate: the handful of U.S. Senators who played college sports themselves. Supporters of the Protect College Sports Act, which is poised to pass the Senate on Monday, say the bill is needed to fix what they call an era of chaos in Division I athletics, characterized by ballooning pay for athletes, unlimited transfers between schools, constant lawsuits over eligibility rules and runaway athletic department budgets. At least half a dozen sitting senators were NCAA Division I athletes, and a handful of others played in Division II or in sports governed by other organizations. As the debate …

Lawmakers slam Trump’s ‘unlawful’ move to cut 0 million in federal funds

Lawmakers slam Trump’s ‘unlawful’ move to cut $810 million in federal funds

Published by Sam Flores

The White House said Friday that it planned to cut $810 million in bipartisan, congressionally approved funding, spurring criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The executive branch would effectively send the funds back to Congress using so-called pocket rescissions, a rare budgetary tactic that the Trump administration has used before to negate congressionally allocated spending. The rejected funding affects several programs and agencies serving immigrants, minority groups and Department of Health and Human Services research programs. The administration has argued that while the law gives Congress a 45-day period to accept or reject a White House decision to withhold funds, there is no way to follow that protocol if the action occurs less than 45 days before the end of the fiscal year. That argument has been challenged in court and criticized by lawyers and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. The fiscal year ends Sept. 30, only a few days away, and the House is not scheduled to return until after the midterm elections in November. The White House alerted Congress of …

Senate lawmakers are shut off from AI’s most advanced tools : NPR

Senate lawmakers are shut off from AI’s most advanced tools : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

The U.S. Capitol is pictured on Sept. 14, 2026. Allison Robbert/AP hide caption toggle caption Allison Robbert/AP A majority of the American public wants Congress to regulate AI. But as policymakers try to make informed decisions, Senate lawmakers and their staff are barred from using all but the most basic AI tools. According to an internal communication obtained by NPR that was sent to Senate staff in the spring by the sergeant at arms, who oversees cybersecurity in the chamber, Senate staff have access to three AI chat interfaces at no cost to their offices: Microsoft Copilot Chat, Gemini Chat for Google Workspace Enterprise Plus and OpenAI ChatGPT Enterprise. But in an apparent effort to balance innovation with risk, the sergeant at arms has not currently authorized any of the more advanced AI tools that are at the center of regulatory discussions in Washington, as well as recent public debate about AI development and safety. That debate has been prompted in part by AI industry leaders’ own warnings. These more capable tools, like OpenAI’s Codex …