ICE agents are making arrests at N.Y. courthouses, top judge says
And new price gouging regulations from the attorney general's office have been proposed.
Good afternoon — it’s Thursday and National Cheddar Day.
Today’s CapCon Q: Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the news coming out of Washington, D.C.? I definitely am. (Reply to this email to respond or email me: Dan.Clark@TimesUnion.com)
In today’s CapCon (7-day free trial here):
Federal immigration officers have been arresting immigrants at state courthouses in New York, the chief administrative judge said Thursday.
Rules and Regs: Attorney General Letitia James is pitching new price gouging regulations after the practice ran rampant during the pandemic.
New Bills of Note: Abuse in state prisons, special elections in the state constitution and health funding in New York City.
Extras: Adams meets with border czar, Court of Appeals upholds DOH regulation and more.
State agencies propose or adopt rules and regulations every week but they often fly under the radar. This section features updates on rules and regulations of interest.
✍️ Rules and Regs: Attorney general’s office proposes new price gouging regulations
If this is your first time seeing this section in CapCon, welcome to Rules & Regs. This section is included on Thursdays and looks at rulemaking proposed by state agencies in the past week.
These are something you won’t read about anywhere else today — but they are really important to companies and consumers alike.
New York already has a law against price gouging but it doesn’t clearly define when a company can face a lawsuit from the state. It’s not ineffective, as proven by a $675,000 settlement secured over baby formula last year.
The Legislature amended that law in 2020 to allow the attorney general’s office to build on the law with regulations. These are what’s being proposed.
Agency: Office of the Attorney General
Status: Proposed on Feb. 12 (Public comment ends April 13)
Why These Exist: Complaints of price-gouging during the coronavirus pandemic and times of high inflation were the catalyst for New York Attorney General Letitia James to first seek these regulations.
After about a year of gathering input from stakeholders, James’ office proposed its first round of regulations on price gouging in 2023. That went through a round of public comment.
The rules proposed this week are the new version of those proposed regulations based on the public comment the office received. They will now go through another round of public comment.
There are 10 rules being proposed in the set of regulations. Some of them relate to each other and they’re a bit tough to decipher.
That’s where I come in. I’m happy to translate for you to the extent that I can.
What They Say: The rules set when a company is considered to have partaken in price gouging and what defense they can offer to show that’s not the case.
I’m going to tell you what you need to know about these regulations and leave out the fluff to ignore for now. They’re relatively similar to the first set released in 2023.
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