Republican Attorneys General Association Summer Meeting Updates

Crowell attorneys attended the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) Summer Meeting in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia from June 26 – June 28. As usual, the conference included receptions and other networking events allowing the Crowell attorneys in attendance to engage with the over a dozen attorneys general (AGs), as well as a host of their respective staff.

The conference included sessions focused on, among other topics, ESG, DEI, general Supreme Court litigation updates, and environmental law. Conference speakers included: Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti; Alabama AG Steve Marshall; a representative from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform; Allison Starmann, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at American Chemistry Counsel; Nebraska AG Mike Hilgers; Montana AG Austin Knudsen; West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey; Iowa AG Brenna Bird; Kentucky AG Russell Coleman; Arkansas AG Tim Griffin; and West Virginia Auditor J.B. McCuskey.

Below please find some key takeaways from the conference:

• The panel entitled "Lawfare" discussed how Republican AGs are seeking to protect industry—namely the pharmaceutical, climate, and plastics industries—from overregulation. Specifically, speakers discussed AGs' use of public nuisance laws to regulate the plastics industry. The speakers highlighted a couple examples: (1) a complaint filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James against PepsiCo and (2) an investigation by California Attorney General Rob Bonta against Exxon Mobil. The speakers also expressed their views on the Federal Trade Commission's Green Guides and how the Guides could be seen as an effort to overregulate industry. The panel closed with a warning about the challenges caused by potential overregulation through non-legislative processes, such as litigation.
• The panels on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) highlighted many Republican AGs' stance on certain ESG and DEI efforts, especially the SEC's Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosure Rules. The speakers shared that government-mandated ESG efforts may indirectly undermine the public marketplace and can force companies to support climate change and other social issues that they may otherwise not support. AGs expressed their intention to work closely with Congress to challenge ESG broadly.
• The panel on Supreme Court litigation updates covered a broad range of topics, including the following:
  • Gender Intervention
    • The panel focused on L.W. by and through WILLIAMS v. Skrmetti, a case that was recently granted certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, initiated in the Middle District of Tennessee, concerns whether the Equal Protection Clause prohibits the State from implementing gender intervention treatments for transgender youth.
  • Title IX
    • The panelists discussed that Title IX rules will continue to be a major area of focus for RAGA. Republican AGs have obtained preliminary injunctions in many Title IX related cases, such as Kansas v. United States Department of Education and Texas v. United States of America, and intend to continue to seek injunctions to the new Department of Education Proposed Rules.
  • Election Integrity
    • The Montana AG discussed a recent election integrity case from the Montana Supreme Court, Montana Democratic Party et al v. Christi Jacobsen. In March 2024, the Montana Supreme Court found that the 2021 election laws that ended same-day voter registration, enacted new vote identification requirements, prohibited paid third-party ballot collection and barred county election officials from distributing mail-in ballots to minors who would be eligible to vote by Election Day, violated the state's constitution.
• The panel on environmental law focused on Alaska v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a case seeking to overturn an agency decision that it claims effectively blocked development of one of the world's largest copper and gold deposits. In March 2024, Alaska filed a complaint in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims seeking damages for alleged confiscated lands. The State estimates the value of the land at issue is more than $700 billion. Alaska filed the complaint after the U.S. Supreme Court's denial of certiorari.

Crowell continues to attend the State AG-based conferences to remain abreast of the top priorities of state enforcers.

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