Advocacy Successes

(Insights Association testimony at the Joint Economic Committee)

Some of the most notable successes of the Insights Association's advocacy for the insights industry.

The Insights Association (and its predecessors) have been advocating, and winning, on public policy issues impacting the insights industry for many years. We lay them out below by topic, then by year.

Consumer Privacy and Data Security

November 14, 2022
California 2022 Privacy Legislation Round-up: Wins, Losses and New Laws
As usual, we’ve had some wins in California as legislators have tried to amend the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) in 2022, along with related privacy and data security-related legislation, but a few losses, too. A spate of new laws are coming soon (and not just CPRA, which comes into effect January 1, 2023).

August 23, 2022
Delaware Bill H.B. 262 Dies, Would Have Restricted Insights Companies as Data Brokers
Delaware H.B. 262, legislation that would have instituted a data broker registry and restrict data brokers' behavior (with many insights companies being captured pejoratively as data brokers), died at the end of the state's legislative session.

April 18, 2022
State Comprehensive Consumer Privacy Bills: Spring 2022 Update
The insights industry has faced a variety of state comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation so far in 2022, with one such bill ending up in law and such bills defeated in 16 other states.

March 28, 2022
Oregon Data Broker Bill H.B. 4017 Dies in Committee
The threat from Oregon H.B. 4017, legislation that would have required some insights companies, particularly sample providers, to register as “data brokers” in the state and share significant information about their operations, is over for 2022.

December 31, 2021
State comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation 2021: What passed and what failed
The insights industry faced comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation across the U.S. this year, with two such bills ending up in law and comprehensive privacy legislation defeated or deferred in 25 other states.

OCTOBER 18, 2021
CCPA-CPRA Roundup at End of 2021 Legislative Session
As usual, we’ve had some wins in California as legislators have tried (and in some cases succeeded) to amend the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) in 2021. Bills we opposed were amended or defeated. Let’s survey the new laws and what went down to defeat, at least for now.

JULY 7, 2021
Connecticut Law H.B. 6607 Prohibits Punitive Damages in Data Breach Lawsuits Against ISO-Compliant Companies
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D) signed H.B. 6607 into law on July 7, 2021. The IA-supported law prohibits punitive damages in data breach tort litigation if a breached company abides by the right data security standards, like ISO 27001.

March 17, 2021
New Utah Law Provides Defense Against Data Breaches for ISO-Compliant Organizations
The Utah Cybersecurity Affirmative Defense Act (H.B. 80), provides an affirmative defense against data security breach litigation if a breached company abides by the right data security standards, like ISO 27001. The Insights Association had endorsed H.B. 80 in February.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2020
New California Law A.B. 1281 Extends B2B and Employee Data Exemptions in CCPA That Were Expiring
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed A.B. 1281 into law, extending the sunset date on critical exemptions for employment and business-to-business data from the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as urged by the Insights Association.

APRIL 20, 2020
Washington Privacy, Minors and Data Broker Bills Fail for 2020
Despite the Evergreen State legislature's efforts, complicated consumer privacy legislation, minors privacy provisions, and data broker restrictions all faltered, dying at the end of Washington's legislative session.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019
CCPA Wins: Amendments Head to Governor for Signature
With the convoluted California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) coming into effect on January 1, 2020, the California legislature approved a handful of changes to the law last week advocated by the Insights Association before adjourning for the year and sent them to the Governor’s office.

JULY 10, 2019
Oregon S.B. 472 Fails - Would Have Prohibited Selling or Purchasing Telephone Research Sample
Oregon S.B. 472 died in committee with the conclusion of Oregon's legislative session at the end of June. This legislation would have prohibited the purchase or sale of a list of telephone numbers to be used for unsolicited calls, including calls for research.

JULY 29, 2016
2016 GOP and Democrat Platforms Hit on Some MRA Issues and Miss on Others
The major party presidential campaign platforms for 2016 reflect some of the concerns of the survey, opinion and marketing research profession.

JUNE 30, 2016
New NTIA Facial Recognition Best Practices Advance Research and Consumer Privacy
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)'s industry best practices for protecting consumer privacy in facial recognition technology will advance privacy safeguards while also carving out most research and analytics uses of the technology.

FEBRUARY 24, 2013
FTC resists dramatically expanding enforcement order against marketing research company for privacy and data security violations
In finalizing the Compete, Inc. settlement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appears to have accepted points made by MRA and rejected activist proposals to turn the order into a bad precedent against the research profession.

JULY 21, 2011
MRA's Data Security Amendments Approved by House Subcommittee Before Passing the SAFE Data Act
Amendments promoted by MRA, and accepted by the House Commerce Subcommittee, set the standard that the FTC should not be given unfettered authority to expand the definition of "personal information" in data security legislation. That same standard was later adopted by the Senate Commerce Committee in their data security legislation in November 2011, as requested by MRA.

OCTOBER 22, 2010
FDA Recognizes Need to Keep Respondent Data and MR Trade Secrets Confidential
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed with MRA on the need to keep respondent data and possible proprietary and trade secret information on research processes confidential, as part of a government investigation of a tobacco company.

JULY 15, 2010
Research Industry Self-Regulation Supported By Preventing Dramatic Expansion of FTC Power and Authority
MRA helped to remove provisions from the Dodd Frank financial regulation law that would have dramatically expanded the power and authority of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and facilitated increased Federal regulation of the marketing research profession.

OCTOBER 19, 2009
Maine Set to Repeal Minors Data Law
Maine voted to recommend the prompt repeal of a law prohibiting the transfer of personal information regarding minors (under 18). MRA had filed our comments in opposition to the law, and looks forward to working with state legislators to craft a new, more carefully crafted law, which will not impede survey and opinion research.

MARCH 19, 2009
Federal Court Upholds Respondent Confidentiality
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma ruled last week in State of Oklahoma v. Tyson Foods that the personal identification of respondents in survey research is confidential information.

Census

July 29, 2022
Senate Appropriators Demand Census Bureau Transparency on Ask U.S. Panel
IA convinced the Senate Appropriations Committee to require a detailed report from the U.S. Census Bureau about a project that would "compete with existing online research panel providers, instead of simply purchasing those services on the open market for a fraction of the cost."

FEBRUARY 19, 2021
Census Bureau Allowed To Do Necessary Work Before Finalizing 2020 Census Results
Along the lines of the legislation we had advocated last year to give the Census Bureau more time, the Bureau announced recently that it would not be able to report 2020 Census state-level results for purposes of apportionment until approximately April 30. The more useful data release – detailed redistricting data – won’t be ready until the end of September.

DECEMBER 23, 2020
Wins for Insights Industry in Final 2020 COVID-19 Relief and Funding Package: Census; PPP Forgivable Small Business Loans; and Payroll Tax Credit
The omnibus package of coronavirus relief and Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) appropriations includes important wins for the insights industry: (1) funding for the census; (2) the extension and expansion of forgivable loans for small businesses; and (3) the extension of the payroll retention tax credit.

DECEMBER 20, 2019
Feds End Decade With a Fully Funded 2020 Census
With the decennial headcount just about to start, Congress finally delivered full funding to the Census Bureau for Fiscal Year 2020. "The Insights Association has lobbied hard to get us to this point because the marketing research and data analytics industry can't conduct representative research studies without the most accurate census data as a statistical benchmark."

NOVEMBER 26, 2019
Latest Funding Resolution is a Win in the Bigger Census Funding Battle
The latest Continuing Resolution funding the federal government contains increased funding for the 2020 Census, improving the odds of decennial preparations getting completed and setting the stage for the completion of full-year funding before the end of the year.

JUNE 27, 2019
SCOTUS Blocks Citizenship Question from 2020 Census
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Department of Commerce's attempt to add a citizenship question to the decennial questionnaire in a 5-4 decision this morning. The Insights Association had joined an amicus brief at the Supreme Court in opposition to the citizenship question's addition in this controversial case, with 24 other companies and business groups. Research indicated that it would reduce response rates.

FEBRUARY 15, 2019
Census Bureau Gets $1 Billion Increase in Final FY2019 Funding Law
Congress sent President Trump legislation yesterday including $3.82 billion for all Census Bureau operations in Fiscal Year 2019, a billion dollar increase over FY18, as requested by the Insights Association. The President is expected to sign the bill today.

MARCH 12, 2014
An ACS Win, for Now: Congressional Committee Pulls Bill From Agenda
MRA and our coalition allies convinced a House Committee not to bring up legislation that would hurt the American Community Survey (ACS) by making response voluntary.

JULY 14, 2011
Congressman Withdraws Amendment, Census Funding Maintained
MRA convinced a House Republican to withdraw his amendment which would have reduced Census Bureau funding.

FEBRUARY 16, 2009
Census 2010 Gets $1 Billion More, Aided by MRA Grassroots Lobbying
MRA applauded the U.S. Congress for including $1 billion in immediate funding for the decennial Census in the just-approved economic stimulus law. MRA had advocated throughout the process, in Congress and through grassroots outreach. An amendment to axe the Census funds was subsequently defeated during Senate floor debate.

Research Participants = Independent Contractors

October 5, 2021
New Law California A.B. 1561 Protects Research Subjects and Researchers
California A.B. 1561, legislation fixing the state’s 2020 law requiring prorated hourly minimum wages for California research subjects who receive incentives, is now law. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill, with language proposed and endorsed by the Insights Association, on October 2, 2021.

OCTOBER 4, 2019
Three States Improve Independent Contractor Status Protection with New Laws
The Insights Association helped Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee approve changes this year harmonizing their treatment of independent contractors, including respondents who receive incentives for their participation in research studies.

MARCH 1, 2013
Researcher’s testimony secures crucial amendment for research profession in Washington State
Thanks to help from MRA volunteer Vera Cooley, the Washington State House Committee on Finance amended legislation before passage, preventing a detrimental impact on the use of respondent incentives in survey, opinion and marketing research. The bill would have created the presumption that anyone receiving payment for services is an employee.

JUNE 11, 2012
Legislation Introduced to Protect Marketing Research Companies from Unfair U.S. Labor Department Actions
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA-03) introduces The Research Fairness Act (H.R. 5915) to clarify in federal labor law that research respondents receiving incentives are not employees. A joint MRA effort with the Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA).

Healthcare

FEBRUARY 28, 2021
Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Prohibited Gifts Act of 2021 - H.B. 593
The Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Prohibited Gifts Act (H.B. 593) includes an amendment recommended by the Insights Association that would protect bona fide marketing research with health care professionals.

JUNE 8, 2020
Maine Finalizes Pharmaceutical Regulations, Clarifying the Legality of Research Respondent Incentives for Physicians
In finalizing Maine’s ban on pharmaceutical manufacturer gifts to health care practitioners, the Maine Board of Pharmacy responded to the Insights Association that it should not restrict respondent incentives for participation in bona fide marketing research.

FEBRUARY 8, 2019
Philadelphia Rejects Bill That Would Have Banned Pharmaceutical Marketing Research with Healthcare Professionals
Legislation in the city of Philadelphia that would have cut off pharmaceutical marketing research with doctors was defeated in the city council.

JANUARY 8, 2018
New Jersey Pharmaceutical Regulations Exclude Independent Marketing Research with Prescribers
New regulations in New Jersey restricting interactions between medical professionals and pharmaceutical manufacturers should not impede marketing research, thanks to the advocacy of the Insights Association.

JUNE 22, 2017
S.B. 790 in California Exempts Blinded Pharmaceutical Marketing Research
The sponsor of S.B. 790, a bill that would otherwise ban respondent incentives for California doctors participating in most pharmaceutical marketing research, has agreed to the Insights Association's amendment that would exempt bona fide research.

FEBRUARY 2, 2013
Final Physician Payments Sunshine Act Rules Released, MR Incentives Exempted
The final Sunshine Act rules explicitly carved out marketing research incentives for physician respondents. CASRO filed comments and MRA lobbied via contacts in Congress. The result caps a 5-year MRA campaign.

JULY 8, 2011
Maine Repeals Pharma Reporting Law That Prevented MR With Doctors; DC Clarifies Regulations to Allow MR with Doctors
Maine's Governor signed a bill into law repealing Maine's pharmaceutical reporting law, whose implementing regulations had prevented most pharmaceutical marketing research with Maine physicians. MRA had testified in favor of repeal. Meanwhile, CASRO and MRA lobbying convinced the District of Columbia to exempt market research with health care professionals.

MARCH 4, 2011
Bill in Maryland Amended to Exempt Pharma MR Incentives for Doctors
MRA convinced a state legislator to exempt respondent incentives for marketing research from his legislation, which would have banned most payments from pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers to health care professionals.

MARCH 23, 2010
New U.S. Health Care Law Contains Huge Victory for Marketing Research
Thanks to lobbying by MRA, with help from PMRG, and targeted outreach by MRA grassroots volunteers, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (part of the Affordable Care Act, AKA "Obamacare") excludes incentive payments for doctors who participate in pharmaceutical and medical device marketing research studies. (This victory would be cemented in the final implementing Sunshine Act regulations in 2013).

FEBRUARY 3, 2010
Minnesota Clears the Way for Survey Research with Physician Respondents
A joint MRA-CASRO-PMRG effort yields a clarification in regulations that research companies can legally conduct market research with Minnesota health care practitioners.

MAY 29, 2009
Massachusetts Physician Payment Reporting Regulations Exclude Blind MR Incentives for Physicians
Official guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Health uses MRA-provided language to exempt market research incentives from the application of the state’s new Marketing Code of Conduct for pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers.

MARCH 23, 2009
MRA Helps Beat Back Legislation in Maryland, Mississippi and Rhode Island That Would Have Crippled Research with Health Care Practitioners
MRA recently helped to convince legislators in Maryland and Rhode Island to withdraw their bills and helped to defeat legislation in Mississippi, victories in the ongoing fight against legislation to require public reporting of survey research incentives for health care practitioners or that ban them outright.

MARCH 3, 2009
MRA Helps Defeat Bill in New Mexico That Would Have Crippled Research with Physicians
The New Mexico State Senate recently defeated a bill which would have required the public reporting of incentives paid to health care professionals for participation in marketing research studies sponsored by pharmaceutical, medical device or medical supply manufacturers. After MRA reached out to legislators, the legislation was defeated.

Tax

JULY 29, 2020
DC Rejects New Tax on Data
The City Council for Washington, DC voted on July 28, 2020 to reject the proposed three percent tax on the sale of data, as requested by the Insights Association and our allies.

Data Collection

APRIL 5, 2021
U.S. Supreme Court Clarification of TCPA Autodialer Definition a Win for Insights Industry
The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified the definition of an autodialer in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The case, in which the Insights Association had joined an amicus brief, potentially clears up decades of convoluted and conflicting rules and decisions from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and various courts that have tied legitimate actors in knots and fueled a deluge of class action litigation.

JUNE 3, 2020
California A.B. 3007 Defeated, Would Have Prevented Most Research Calls to Californians
Legislation opposed by the Insights Association that would have prohibited most marketing research calls to Californians (at their residential, business or cell phone lines) has been defeated in the state legislature.

OCTOBER 17, 2019
California A.B. 1677, Vetoed by Governor, Would Have Penalized Offshoring of Call Centers
Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the Protect Call Center Jobs Act of 2019 (A.B. 1677), which would have penalized California companies that move their call centers out of the country or out of the state.

JANUARY 16, 2018
iconectiv Confirms That Number Portability Database is Not Just for Telemarketers
The Insights Association convinced iconectiv, the new administrator of the database, to come up with better terminology for companies who need to access the wireless do not call registry, instead of just calling everyone (including marketing researchers) "telemarketers."

JUNE 1, 2014
Missouri Threat to Government Surveys Defeated
Legislation that would have restricted telephone survey research by or for a Missouri state government agency has been defeated by a coalition organized by MRA.

FEBRUARY 15, 2012
U.S. Regulator Shields Telephone Survey Research From Further TCPA Restrictions
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) makes TCPA autodialer-cellphone restrictions tougher for telemarketers, but shields survey, opinion and marketing research at MRA’s request.

AUGUST 12, 2011
Victories in Alabama and Alaska for automated telephone research and political polling
MRA's cooperative lobbying efforts with the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) bore fruit, helping to kill a bill that would have inserted bias into political research calls and another that would have forbidden automated telephone research calls.

Politics and Polling

MAY 11, 2015
Push Poll Bill in Maine Gets Fixed
Legislators in Maine recently fixed a misguided bill targeting "push polls" that could have irreparably biased the results of political polling in the state, heeding testimony from MRA.

APRIL 24, 2014
New Hampshire Safe for Real Research as Governor Signs “Push Poll” Fix
MRA and AAPC helped to draft and pass legislation fixing a New Hampshire law that had curtailed bona fide polling in the Granite State.

FEBRUARY 14, 2013
New Hampshire Attorney General loses "push poll" case against Bass Victory Committee
Merrimack County Superior Court dismisses a case of purported violation of New Hampshire's "push poll" law after accepting an MRA-AAPC amicus brief.

APRIL 27, 2012
FEC supports survey research in New Hampshire
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) approves an MRA-supported advisory opinion declaring that federal election law preempts aspects of New Hampshire's "push poll" law.

APRIL 1, 2010
New Law Legalizes Exit Polling at Minnesota Voting Places
The Governor of Minnesota today signed a bill into law that legalizes exit polling at Minnesota voting places. MRA testified in support of the law in the state legislature.

JULY 11, 2008
Legislation Protecting Research Signed By Louisiana Governor
Legislation drafted by CMOR to combat political persuasion calls ("push polls") while protecting legitimate survey and opinion research (including message testing) was signed into law by the Governor. Collaboration with grassroots volunteer Jude Olinger was critical, both to kill the original bill that woud have severely harmed political survey and opinion research with residents of Louisiana, and then to get the sponsor of that bill to instead promote legislation authored by CMOR.

AUGUST 7, 2007
CMOR Wins Victory for Polling in Florida
In less than a month’s time, CMOR convinced Florida election officials to retract an advisory opinion which would have prohibited political issue polling in Florida.

Miscellaneous

JULY 8, 2021
Missouri Law Limits Liability for COVID-19-Related Exposure - S.B. 51
Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) signed S.B. 51 into law on July 7, 2021, limiting liability for COVID-19-related exposure except in cases of recklessness or intentional misconduct. The Insights Association endorsed the legislation back in February.

MARCH 30, 2021
New Florida Law S.B. 72 Limits COVID-19-Related Exposure Liability for Reopening Insights Businesses
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed S.B. 72 into law as Chapter No. 2021-1 on March 29, 2021, providing limited liability protections for COVID-19-related claims against companies and organizations making good faith effort to comply with applicable public health guidance and government requirements. The IA-endorsed law passed the state senate 24-15 on March 18, and the state house 83-31 on March 26.

MARCH 26, 2021
PPP Refundable Small Business Loan Program Extended - H.R. 1799
Congress has approved the PPP Extension Act of 2021 (H.R.1799), a bill supported by the Insights Association that extends the life of the refundable loan program that has helped many small businesses in the insights industry and their staff persevere despite the COVID-19 crisis.

MARCH 2, 2021
California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program - S.B. 87 - Signed into Law
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed S.B. 87 into law on February 23, 2021, appropriating money to support the new California Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant Program. IA endorsed and supported S.B. 87.

OCTOBER 23, 2020
Michigan Approves New Laws Limiting COVID-19-Related Liability
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed four bills into law on October 22, 2020 -- H.B. 6030, H.B. 6031, H.B. 6032, H.B. 6101 -- to limit unwarranted COVID-19 exposure-related lawsuits against businesses and protect workers against workplace infection. The Insights Association supported the bills, which were locked together as a legislative package.

JUNE 23, 2020
New Louisiana Law S.B. 435 Provides COVID-19 Liability Protection to Insights Businesses as They Reopen
A new law in Louisiana, backed by the Insights Association, provides people and businesses in the state basic protection from liability for exposure to COVID-19 during the “public health emergency” if following “applicable government standards and guidance.”

JUNE 5, 2020
Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act Signed Into Law
President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (H.R. 7010), legislation advocated by the Insights Association, into law on June 5, 2020. It improves the ability of small businesses to utilize the Small Business Administration (SBA)'s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to offset the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.

APRIL 30, 2020
Texas Supreme Court Upholds Legitimacy of Survey Research for Trials: IA Helps Court Evaluate Supposed "Push Poll"
The Texas Supreme Court rejected a lower court’s order against a law firm for a supposed “push poll” in what the Insights Association called “a crucial victory for the right of litigants to use bona fide marketing research in court trials.”

APRIL 24, 2020
President Trump Signs Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act into Law
President Donald Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 226) into law on April 25, 2020, providing $484 billion in financial assistance and funding for various programs in response to the COVID-19 crisis, including the small business loan programs launched and expanded by the March 27th CARES Act.

AUGUST 9, 2009
MRA Develops Legal Definition of Survey, Opinion and Marketing Research
MRA develops an ideal legal definition of research after a public consultation process. This definition would eventually be adopted in the Research Fairness Act (2012) and New Hampshire's "push poll" fix law (2014)..

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2022

2021

2020

JANUARY 29, 2020
President Signs USMCA into Law to Protect Digital Trade
The President signed H.R. 5430 into law on January 29, 2020, implementing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The new trade deal replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and includes protections for cross-border digital trade of benefit to the insights industry.

2019

2018

MARCH 22, 2018
Huge Win for Census in Final FY2018 Omnibus Funding Bill
Insights Association advocacy helps secure $1.344 billion increase for the Census Bureau and 2020 Census preparations

AUGUST 10, 2018
OMB Agrees Not to Rush Statistical Agency Reorganization
The Office of Management and Budget recently assured the Insights Association that any government reorganization of statistical agencies involving the Census Bureau will not occur until after the 2020 Census, as we had requested.

MARCH 16, 2018
Circuit Court Rejects FCC's TCPA Regulations on Autodialer Definition and Calls to Reassigned Cell Phone Numbers
Full analysis of the DC Circuit Court decision that rejected much of the FCC's 2015 TCPA regulations and accepted a lot of the Insights Association's arguments in the case, in which we were intervenors.

MARCH 8, 2018
Texas Comptroller Abandons Attempt to Tax Custom Market Research
The Insights Association helps prevent Texas from taxing sales of marketing research services.

FEBRUARY 9, 2018
Census Gets Big Boost in Latest Continuing Funding Resolution
The big budget deal (after a momentary government shutdown) includes a much-needed boost in funding to prepare for the 2020 Census, as sought by the Insights Association.

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011