Issue Spotlight

Here’s some of the issues we’re working on and watching this year:

NHTSA Finalizes First Occupant Protection
Safety Standards for Vehicles Without Driving Controls

In March 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued its first-ever set of rules regarding passenger safety in automated vehicles.  With self-driving cars already on the road, the rule is an attempt to establish “robust” standards for occupant safety. The rule is just first step. More action will likely be needed in light of manufacturers who are pushing the regulatory boundaries with through a wide-deployment of their self-driving technology throughout the United States.

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Read the rule here

Keeping The Hemp Loophole Closed to Protect Children and Consumers

In 2018, Congress passed the Agriculture Improvement Act, also known as the Farm Bill, which included language effectively removing hemp from the federal list of controlled substances. This change meant to expand hemp as an agricultural commodity. However, it also created a loophole that developed a booming market of unregulated hemp-derived psychoactive products. 

Health authorities have flagged the dangers of delta-8 THC products, citing a near-total absence of safety oversight and quality control. This includes products that contain mold, fungus, pesticides, and other chemicals, potent, synthetic cannabinoids well over the listed THC per serving, and packaging that markets to children without safety packaging or age-gating.

Many states have moved to regulate or ban these products and, in November 2025, Congress voted to close the loophole. Now there are efforts to delay or rollback these protections, putting children and consumers at risk. The loophole undermines states’ regulation of these intoxicating products. Congress must keep the hemp loophole closed.

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To Protect American Jobs, Healthcare and the Economy, the EPA Must Use Sound Science to Evaluate Formaldehyde

To protect Americans’ jobs, the economy, and healthcare, the EPA must follow the science to regulate formaldehyde. The EPA’s risk assessment, which could recommend exposure standards below what even the human body produces, would set off a chain reaction that could disrupt nearly a million American jobs and $500 billion worth of economic output on auto manufacturing, construction materials, medical devices and more. 
 
Even though decades of peer reviewed research maintain that the current regulatory limit on formaldehyde exposure levels are safe, the EPA has hinted that they will go well beyond what even officials at the World Health Organization and European Union said are safe levels of formaldehyde. The EPA must follow the science as it evaluates formaldehyde’s risk.

Closing the GENIUS Act Loophole

In July 2025, Congress passed the GENIUS Act to promote responsible innovation in digital payments, particularly those involving stablecoins. While the legislation prohibits stablecoin issuers from offering interest or rewards, it leaves a loophole: crypto trading platforms can still provide incentives like high-yield earning accounts. 

This loophole effectively allows crypto trading platforms to operate like banks without being subject to the same regulations. If this loophole remains open, more people will move their deposits to crypto platforms instead of community banks, destabilizing local economies and exposing consumers to greater financial risk. Unlike traditional banks, crypto investments aren’t protected by the FDIC, meaning users could lose everything if a platform fails. Meanwhile, community banks depend on deposits to fund loans for small businesses, homebuyers, and other local needs. Without those funds, access to credit in communities could shrink significantly.

Better Reg calls on Congress to close this loophole to further protect consumers.

PAID FOR BY BETTER REGULATION