Each week, Crowell & Moring’s State Attorneys General team highlights significant actions that State AGs have taken. See our State Attorneys General page for more insights. Below are the updates from July 2-8, 2026:

Multistate

• A multistate coalition of 22 attorneys general submitted a comment letter urging the Trump Administration to withdraw a proposed information collection request associated with Executive Order 14398, “Addressing DEI Discrimination by Federal Contractors.” The proposed collection would impose reporting, recordkeeping, and information-sharing obligations on federal contractors and subcontractors in connection with a new prohibition to be included in federal contracts related to DEI activities. The coalition argued that the proposed collection would violate the Paperwork Reduction Act, that the public notice did not provide enough information for meaningful public comment and underestimated the burden on contractors, and that the proposal does not establish adequate protections for sensitive and personally identifiable information.

• A multistate coalition of 22 attorneys general submitted a comment letter opposing the Trump Administration’s proposed tariffs on 59 countries and the European Union under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which were initiated following a U.S. Trade Representative investigation into those countries’ alleged failure to prohibit the importation of goods produced with forced labor. The proposed tariffs range from 10% on 15 countries and the European Union to 12.5% on the remaining 44 countries, which together account for approximately 99% of U.S. imports. In their letter, the coalition argued that the proposed tariffs are not sufficiently tailored to address the conduct identified in the investigation, and are both arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act and in excess of the statutory authority conferred by Section 301.

• A multistate coalition of 25 attorneys general filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in support of dismissing a lawsuit that seeks to require farmers and ranchers to track and report livestock emissions, and in support of the EPA’s existing exemption for routine agricultural operations. The coalition, joined by the Trump Administration, argued that agriculture represents a significant portion of state economies and that states are best positioned to oversee their own agricultural industries. A federal court had previously upheld the EPA exemption at issue, and the coalition’s brief urges the D.C. Circuit to affirm that result.

• A multistate coalition of 19 attorneys general submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency opposing a proposed rule that would delay by two years the compliance schedule for Tier 4 emissions standards applicable to light- and medium-duty vehicles, which were adopted in 2024 and are designed to reduce vehicle emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide. The coalition argued that the EPA has not provided evidentiary support for its position that compliance with the current schedule is infeasible, and that the agency failed to conduct air quality modeling or assess the economic costs of delaying the public health benefits associated with the standards. The coalition further contended that the Clean Air Act does not authorize the EPA to weaken existing criteria and toxic air pollutant standards or to take actions that would make it more difficult for states to meet federal air quality requirements.

District of Columbia

• Attorney General Schwalb announced a settlement with Park Place Inc., the owner and operator of The Park at 14th, a restaurant, nightclub, and event venue in Washington, D.C., resolving an investigation into alleged violations of the District’s wage and hour laws. The investigation found that the company failed to provide paid sick leave to over 200 workers, misclassified certain workers as independent contractors rather than employees, retaliated against workers who raised concerns about their compensation by reducing their hours or pay, and failed to provide workers with required written notice of their pay rates and related policies. Under the terms of the settlement, the company will pay $127,321 to more than 270 affected workers and $116,029 in civil penalties to the District and must also provide retroactive sick leave to current employees and submit annual compliance reports to the Office of the Attorney General for three years.

Florida

• Attorney General Uthmeier issued a Civil Investigative Demand to Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) as part of an investigation into whether the company has engaged in anticompetitive conduct in violation of the Florida Antitrust Act. The demand requires FICO to produce documents and respond to questions related to its market position, pricing practices, licensing agreements with the major credit bureaus, and communications regarding competitors in the credit scoring market. FICO, whose credit scores are used in over 90% of U.S. lending decisions, has faced allegations of predatory pricing, exclusionary contracts, and illegal product bundling as its per-score pricing has increased significantly in recent years.

Illinois

• Attorney General Raoul announced a settlement of approximately $95,000 with GigSmart Inc., resolving allegations that the company misclassified workers placed in temporary labor positions through its online platform as independent contractors rather than employees. The investigation found that misclassified workers were denied overtime premiums, some were paid below the state minimum wage, and workers whose job placements were canceled were not paid the four-hour minimum required under the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act. The settlement provides 479 eligible workers with unpaid wages, penalties, and interest, and requires GigSmart to classify future platform workers as employees entitled to the full protections of state labor law.

Kentucky

• Attorney General Coleman announced that investigations by his office uncovered nearly $11 million in Medicaid fraud, resulting in state or federal charges against six individuals. Two Louisville defendants, Angela Renfro and Briana Gosnell, were federally indicted in connection with more than $11 million in fraudulent Medicaid claims submitted through two companies between 2021 and 2024, resulting in over $10 million in unauthorized payments. Four additional individuals face state charges in connection with separate Medicaid fraud schemes involving fraudulent billing for services never rendered, false representations to obtain benefits, prescription forgery, and theft by deception.

Massachusetts

• Attorney General Campbell announced the release of updated draft Fantasy Contest Regulations for public comment, aimed at strengthening consumer protections in the online fantasy gaming space. The updated regulations, which replace Daily Fantasy Sports regulations first issued in 2016, expand responsible gaming tools, messaging, and advertising requirements; clarify the definition of “fantasy contests” to distinguish them from sports wagering; strengthen operator registration, operations, and reporting requirements; and enhance data privacy, security, and retention obligations. Among the specific protections, the draft regulations ban the use of credit cards and cryptocurrency, prohibit auto-deposits and recommended deposit amounts, require self-imposed player limits and cool-off periods, mandate access to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s Voluntary Self-Exclusion program, and require technology to prevent minors from accessing platforms.

• Attorney General Campbell announced a $2.75 million settlement with Bear Mountain Healthcare LLC and its affiliates, resolving allegations that the nursing home ownership group systematically understaffed its skilled nursing facilities in violation of state minimum staffing requirements, resulting in resident harm including pressure ulcers, medication errors, malnutrition, and falls. Under the agreement, Bear Mountain will pay $2.75 million—including $1 million designated solely for the benefit of residents at its remaining facility—and will enter into a three-year compliance monitoring program overseen by an independent monitor for all facilities it currently or will operate in the future.

• Attorney General Campbell announced a $495,000 settlement with two food distribution companies, City Line Distributors LLC and Poultry Products Company of New England LLC, both operating in Massachusetts as Prime Source Foods, resolving allegations that the companies sold meat and egg products derived from farm animals confined in violation of Massachusetts’s Animal Cruelty Prevention Act. The law, passed by ballot initiative in 2016, prohibits the sale in Massachusetts of products from animals kept in conditions that prevent them from turning around, lying down, or fully extending their limbs. The Attorney General’s Office found that Prime Source marketed noncompliant products as “all natural” and of “superior selection” in violation of the state Consumer Protection Act. In addition to the monetary penalty, the settlement requires the companies to cease selling noncompliant products to Massachusetts consumers and to implement resource planning systems to prevent future violations.

New York

• Attorney General James filed a lawsuit against Quality Canines Inc., a Brooklyn pet store operating as Puppy Boutique, for allegedly advertising and selling hundreds of puppies in violation of the Puppy Mill Pipeline Act, which has prohibited the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits by New York pet stores since December 2024. An undercover investigation by the Attorney General’s Office found that despite receiving cease-and-desist letters from both the Attorney General’s Office and the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the store continued to source and sell puppies from puppy mills, including through social media platforms and associated websites. The lawsuit seeks to immediately halt the store’s continued sale of dogs.

Pennsylvania

• Attorney General Sunday announced a court-approved settlement resolving the Office of the Attorney General’s antitrust review of Allegheny Health Network’s acquisition of Heritage Valley Health Systems. The settlement requires the parties to maintain Beaver Hospital so long as sufficient demand exists and Sewickley Hospital for at least five years, prohibits termination of existing health plan contracts except for cause, bars anticompetitive contracting practices, and requires that physician referrals be based on patient interest rather than financial incentives. The parties must submit annual compliance reports to the Attorney General’s Office.

West Virginia

• Attorney General McCuskey announced that a federal court has remanded the state’s lawsuit against Apple Inc. to West Virginia state court, rejecting Apple’s attempt to invoke the federal officer removal statute on the basis that its reporting of child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children made it a person “acting under” a federal officer. The lawsuit, filed in February 2026, alleges that Apple’s business and product design decisions have facilitated the storage and distribution of child sexual abuse material on its platform, and that the company abandoned a previously announced commitment to deploy detection technology despite internally acknowledging the severity of the problem. The complaint further alleges that Apple’s reporting of known child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children lagged dramatically behind other major technology companies, with Apple filing just 267 reports in 2023 compared to more than 30.6 million by Meta.