Regulatory Compliance

Camden, N.J. – September 24, 2026 -- New Jersey American Water has appointed Fred DeAndrea as director of Government Affairs and promoted Sakeema M. James to senior manager of Government Affairs, strengthening a team tasked with managing regulatory and legislative relationships as the utility expands infrastructure investment across the state.

DeAndrea joins from Comcast after two decades in New Jersey public policy roles

DeAndrea most recently served as senior director of government and community affairs for New Jersey at Comcast, leading advocacy efforts across the state. He began his career as a district representative for U.S. Rep. Robert E. Andrews and holds a political science degree from Rutgers University. He has served on the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce board and the Southern New Jersey Development Council.

Sacramento, Calif. – September 24, 2026 -- HealthSherpa is expanding its multi-year partnership with AmeriHealth Caritas to include Marketplace Operations, its enrollment, premium billing and reconciliation platform for individual and family health plans sold on and off the Health Insurance Marketplace.

AmeriHealth Caritas will use the platform to reconcile enrollments and collect premiums

Under the expanded deal, AmeriHealth Caritas will process and reconcile enrollments directly with the Health Insurance Marketplace, collect subsidy and member premiums, and resolve data discrepancies before they affect member bills or coverage status.

Sacramento – – September 24, 2026 -- Ten California home insurers have requested $571 million in combined rate increases under Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara's climate-model rules while committing to sell only 12,000 new home insurance policies, according to an analysis of Department of Insurance filings by Consumer Watchdog.

Burlingame – September 24, 2026 -- Horizon Treatment Services will proceed with a 69-bed Recovery Center at 826 Mahler Road in Burlingame after the California Department of Health Care Services approved relocating the project's state funding and the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved a $2.5 million local match.

State grant of $25.5 million anchors integrated treatment facility

The project is backed by a $25.5 million grant from California's Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP). The facility will consolidate sobering, withdrawal management, and residential treatment services into a single site, expanding medically supervised substance use disorder care for San Mateo County residents.

Oakland – September 24, 2026 -- The Kapor Center unveiled its PRIME Alliance at the Clinton Global Initiative, selecting El Paso, Texas; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Oakland, California as the inaugural cohort for a multiyear program designed to fast-track partnerships between local governments and startups tackling housing, child care, health care, education, workforce development, and financial stability gaps.

Washington – September 24, 2026 -- Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has joined the Rare Access Action Project (RAAP), adding a major biopharmaceutical player to a coalition working to resolve coverage and access barriers for rare disease patients.

RAAP expands coalition with BMS to tackle patient access barriers

RAAP, a coalition of patient advocates and life sciences companies, confirmed BMS's membership as part of its ongoing effort to develop policy solutions for structural access and coverage gaps affecting rare disease patients. Michael Eging, Executive Director of RAAP, said BMS brings a long history of scientific innovation and a strong commitment to patients facing serious and complex diseases.

Durham, N.C. – September 24, 2026 -- Avalara, Inc. unveiled Avalara Aviator, an AI agent hub designed to cut manual tax and compliance work from days to minutes, at its CRUSH customer and partner conference.

Avalara Aviator connects specialized AI agents to close gaps between automated compliance tasks

For years, tax software automated discrete steps such as calculations, filings, and exemption certificate management, leaving finance teams to manually bridge the gaps, chasing approvals, interpreting reports, and building business logic. Avalara says it is the first company to unify specialized AI agents, compliance workflows, and its trusted tax technology into one connected agent hub. Customers interact via Avi, an orchestrator agent that delegates to lead agents overseeing research, certificates, and returns, validating and executing work while leaving judgment-based decisions to humans.

Helsinki – September 24, 2026 -- Helsinki has ranked first on the Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index for the third consecutive year, with results published Wednesday, September 24, 2026, scoring 93% across more than 70 sustainability indicators.

Helsinki scores 93% while over 100 global cities compete on sustainability metrics

The GDS Index evaluates tourist destinations across four categories: environmental performance, supply chains, destination management and social sustainability. More than 100 cities committed to sustainability were assessed in this year's comparison, and Helsinki again topped the ranking.

"Securing the top position for the third consecutive year demonstrates that sustainability is not a one-off achievement but a long-term strategic commitment," said Nina Vesterinen, Director of Tourism, City of Helsinki.

Los Angeles – September 24, 2026 -- Armata Pharmaceuticals has received an additional $3.7 million in non-dilutive funding from the U.S. Department of War, pushing cumulative government support for its lead bacteriophage candidate AP-SA02 to approximately $32.4 million.

New funds mark first Phase 3-specific allocation under existing DoW award

The $3.7 million tranche represents the first capital earmarked specifically for Phase 3 execution under a previously announced award, following $28.7 million already disbursed. The funding flows through the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium and is managed by the Naval Medical Research Command's Naval Advanced Medical Development unit, with backing from the Defense Health Agency and Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program.

Grants, N.M. – September 24, 2026 -- The Clean Energy Association of New Mexico (CLEAN) has come out against a New Mexico State Land Commission Executive Order banning uranium exploration, development, and extraction on state lands, calling the move a setback for energy and economic opportunity.

State Land Commission bans uranium activity despite no new leases issued in over a decade

CLEAN noted the Order applies only to State Lands, where no new uranium lease has been granted in more than ten years, yet argued the restriction still forecloses future economic activity, energy access, and adoption of modern extraction technology on those lands.