Government Law

The roots of modern government law go back as far as ancient Greek and Roman times. Today’s modern laws seek to address both federal and state regulations impacting everything from the interplay between federal and state tax dollars to more local administrative agency concerns. Topics under this umbrella also include issues such as eligibility for aid under the federal Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment Insurance Acts to ensuring environmental compliance from big business. If you are an attorney researching how the federal government awards or negotiates contracts, including an explanation on the bidding process and procurement integrity, FindLaw has a series of articles to help better inform your government law-based practice. Click on the links below to learn more.

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Government Law Articles

Presidential Impeachment: The Legal Standard and Procedure

The involuntary removal of a sitting President of the United States has never occurred in our history. The only legal way such can be accomplished is by the impeachment process. This article discusses the legal standard to be properly applied by ...
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Privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa: New Opportunities Await

Over the last number of years, several African Governments have embarked on privatization programs. A 1996 World Bank survey, for example, estimated that whereas in 1990 there were 6069 state owned enterprises (SOEs) in the Sub-Saharan region of ...
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Proposed Bill Would Empower Environmental Compliance Assistance

Representative Ron Raymond and 42 co-sponsors are working this fall to make more resources available for environmental compliance assistance. The assistance programs undertaken would target small businesses through the 16 university-based PA Small ...
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Proposed Federal Regulations on “Blacklisting”

In February 1997, Vice President Gore promised the AFL-CIO that the Administration would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation ("FAR") to prevent contractors with "unsatisfactory labor records" from receiving federal contracts. He also promised ...
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Proposition 209 Update

Implementation of California's controversial Proposition 209, the ballot initiative passed in November, 1996 that would, among other things, prohibit gender or race based preferences in public contracting, remains on hold. A federal judge for the ...
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Public Agency Liability for Failing to Obtain Payment Bond

Because a lien cannot be filed against public property, subcontractors and suppliers furnishing goods and services on public projects are forced to rely on the contractor's payment in the event the contractor fails to pay for the goods and services ...
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Public Employees “Escape” Social Security Inclusion For Now

Representatives of state and local retirement plans are resting easy now that the administration's Social Security proposals do not include any provision mandating that new state and local public employees be brought into the system. However ...
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Recalculated Disability Pension Not Taxable

In a very important decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that reduction of an individual's disability retirement benefits on the 25th anniversary of his date of hire was not a determination of benefits based on his ...
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Receipt of Social Security Disability Benefits Does Not Preclude Disability Discrimination Claim

The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that receipt of social security disability benefits does not necessarily preclude a disability discrimination claim under the Michigan Persons with Disabilities Act ("PDA"). Tranker v Figgie Int'l, Inc ...
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Recent Developments in the California False Claims Act

A recent Court of Appeals case and a new statute will make California's False Claims Act (Government Code Section 12650 et. seq.) a much more potent weapon in the fight by public entities against contractor's payment claims. These developments in ...
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