Laws and Regulations

The Senate on Wednesday passed the record-shattering $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package aimed at rescuing the foundering U.S. economy. The bill is expected to pass the House on Friday. We looked through the full text of the bill and consulted various online sources to see how the legislation applies to the promotional products industry. Here are some key details...

Iowa Sen. Jodi Ernst’s SWAG Act gained momentum in the Senate thanks to support from big-name legislators like Rand Paul and Rick Scott. What we’ve learned since our story last week is that the bill’s new, revised version was done with input from PPAI, and is at a point where the association is happy with it if it becomes signed into law...

Last night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfe ordered the immediate shutdown of non-essential businesses in their respective states, impacting promo suppliers. Today, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a similar order, and it’s more than likely that other states will follow suit as things develop...

The Canadian federal government reportedly plans to designate plastics as toxic substances, giving the government the power to regulate and limit certain products in Canada. According to the Globe and Mail, the government will list plastics as toxins under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, rather than the planned ban of single-use plastics by 2021. By…

We’ve been following Sen. Jodi Ernst (R-IA) and her Stop Wasteful Advertising by the Government Act, known as the SWAG Act, for a few months now. The bill took another step toward becoming law, passing unanimously through a Senate committee...

Patagonia is back in the lawsuit headlines after suing the makers of a "Petrogonia" apparel line. OC Media has been selling a full line of apparel, including T-shirts, hoodies, hats and more, with a logo pretty obviously based on the Patagonia Fitz Roy logo, only replaced with oil field imagery...

Movie merch makes for a very profitable stream of income, but it can also yield some puzzling decisions. Based on findings from the European Union, NBCUniversal executed quite a few baffling moves, leading the EU to fine it $15.8 million for limiting cross-border goods sales to European markets...

Ask the Accountant… Question: I have sales in several states. Do I have to collect sales tax in states other than my own? Answer: Sales tax has always been a complicated issue, and it was made infinitely more complicated by the Supreme Court ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair in 2018. The decision means that…

Operation Team Player announced that U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations nabbed $123 million in bogus merchandise since last year’s Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams...

A bill proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives could change the way promotional products professionals who classify themselves as independent contractors do business. H.R. 2474 reworks the National Labor Relations Act to eliminate independent contractors as a classification of employee, stating that all workers in the U.S. are employees of their organization unless they...