by Courtney M. Malveaux, Esq.

"Recording injuries and illnesses of workers is nothing new to high-hazard industries.  But a new rule by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") has introduced another dimension to an otherwise routine task: public shaming.

O SHA has long publicized its enforcement actions, calling out companies cited for the heftiest fines on its website, electronic newsletter and news releases.  OSHA handpicks its biggest targets and publicizes citations before they are adjudicated, but rarely walks the story back when a judge finds the employer was never at fault.

Historically, smaller targets generally escaped notice.  Less catastrophic incidents and less-recognizable corporate names rarely made news, allowing cooler heads to correct workplace hazards outside the media glare.  Most data OSHA collected were released in aggregate, helping industries address hazards globally, while allowing individual companies to address particular concerns in quieter corners.

Those days are done."

To read the full blog post, click here. 

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, college administrators are trying to cut back on the amount of "super seniors" or those who take extra years to graduate from college, by offering incentives for students to graduate on time.  Lessening the amount of time toward the completion of a degree is one of the most effective ways to lower student debt, so colleges and universities across the nation are becoming creative in offering programs to help students graduate on time. Schools are embracing changes such as pricing semester credits to encourage students to stay on pace to graduate on time and altering the classes offered in a given semester so students take the courses they need to graduate for their majors.  For instance, Cleveland State University now charges the same price for 18 credits as for 12 in a semester, and allows students to register for a full year of courses at once to help them plan more effectively.  This change helped them see their four-year graduation rates double between the 2007-2011 entering classes. 

 

Nationally, 4 in 10 students who entered college for the first time as full-time freshmen in 2008 graduated in four years. About 60% of students graduate within six years. A report last month by personal-finance website NerdWallet found that two additional years in school can cost $300,000 over a person's life, including money spent on tuition and student loans, lost income and missed retirement savings. 

 

The federal debt as a share of gross domestic product has more than doubled since 2007, to around 75 percent. The Congressional Budget Office last month said the federal debt was on track to exceed the total output of the economy by 2033, six years earlier than last year's forecast.  According to data released by the U.S. Treasury, at the close of business on Tuesday, July 19, the federal debt had risen to $19,402,361,890,929.46.  

On Friday, Oct. 30, 2015, Congress passed the "Bipartisan Budget Act," which suspended the legal debt limit until March 15, 2017. President Obama signed that bill into law on November 2, 2015. Under Title IX of the Bipartisan Budget Act, entitled "Temporary Extension of Public Debt Limit," the public debt limit is suspended through March 15, 2017. On March 16, 2017, the limit is increased to accommodate obligations issued during the suspension period.  At the close of business on October 30, the federal debt stood at $18,152,981,685,747.52.  In the less than nine months since then, the federal debt has increased by $1,249,380,205,181.94.