Recent Projects

Policy Integrity submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of a proposed rule that would prevent Internet-service providers from price discrimination. The comments argue that the presence of positive externalities, including the public good nature of information and network externalities, justify the regulation.

In November 2008, the Bush Administration finalized a regulation allowing truck drivers to spend more hours behind the wheel. To counter the deregulation, advocacy groups including Public Citizen filed suit against the Federal Motor Carrier and Safety Administration (part of the Department of Transportation) in March 2009.

In November 2008, just weeks before President Obama took office, the Bush Administration finalized a rule increasing the amount of time truck drivers can spend behind the wheel—creating a possible public health and safety hazard. The rule allows truck drivers to drive for 11 hours, one more hour than they were allowed before 2003, and allows them to drive as many as 77 hours in seven days or 88 hours in eight days, over 25 percent more than previously allowed by federal law.

With litigation pending by ACLU, Planned Parenthood, the State of Connecticut and six other states against the physician conscience rule, the new Obama Administration proposed a rescission of the rule. Policy Integrity joined the coalition to submit comments in support of that action.

In August 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a regulation that would expand protections for medical professionals who refuse to provide health care services that they object to on moral grounds. Policy Integrity worked with a coalition of women’s health organizations to oppose the rule based on its finding that HHS ignored the negative consequences this policy could have on access to care, especially for women seeking reproductive health services.

In August 2008, the Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a sweeping change to the way agencies treat toxic chemical risks in the workplace. The rule, which would change the assumptions about how long workers are exposed to hazardous chemicals, is extremely controversial and prompted an outcry from the public and Congress.

In August 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a regulation that would expand protections for medical professionals who refuse to provide health care services that they object to on moral grounds.