Audit Exemptions, Cannabis Clearances, and a Federal-Only Quiet Day

A bill exempting certain privately held broker-dealers from federal audit requirements and a bill barring past marijuana use from security-clearance and federal employment decisions both entered the record on September 27, alongside 129 federal court opinions, for a day of 131 items that were entirely federal.

Why it matters: Compliance teams tracking broker-dealer audits and federal employment screening have new bills to review, and federal-docket watchers have 129 opinions to log from the day.

What moved

• Small Business Audit Correction Act of 2026 (SB5454), federal. The bill would amend the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to exempt audits of privately held, non-carrying brokers or dealers in good standing from certain PCAOB audit requirements, and requires the SEC and PCAOB to issue implementing regulations within 180 days, with an effective date 180 days after enactment. Status is Introduced; the bill was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and next awaits committee or floor action in its chamber of origin. It applies to privately held, non-carrying brokers and dealers meeting the bill's good-standing criteria, and to the SEC and PCAOB as the agencies that must write the implementing rules.

• CURE Act Cannabis Users’ Restoration of Eligibility Act (HB10504), federal. The bill would amend the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to bar adverse security clearance and federal employment suitability determinations based solely on past marijuana use, and requires federal agencies to build a review process within one year to reassess denials made since January 1, 2008, with 90-day reconsideration timelines upon request. Status is Introduced; it was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and next awaits committee or floor action. It applies to federal agencies handling clearance and suitability determinations, and to applicants and employees affected by past denials.

• Folsom Street v. Small Business Administration, federal. A nonprofit organization challenged the SBA's denial of a Shuttered Venue Operators Grant under a statutory provision barring awards to entities presenting live performances of a prurient sexual nature. The court held that the SBA's interpretation of "prurient" was reasonable and that substantial evidence supported the agency's conclusion. The opinion is Published. It concerns the nonprofit organization's own grant application under the pandemic relief funding program described in the case.

• Philip Rogers, Carol Marin, Alison Flowers, Robin Amer, Lindsey Dorcus, Yohance Lacour, and Victoria Nassif, each individually and on behalf of all other similarly situated v. NVIDIA Corporation, a Delaware Corporation, federal. Plaintiffs allege NVIDIA used their voices to train AI products without consent, in violation of Illinois biometric privacy, publicity rights, consumer fraud, and unjust enrichment laws. The court granted a stay of discovery pending resolution of NVIDIA's motion to dismiss, finding discovery would be costly given nine claims and eight AI models at issue. The case next awaits a ruling on that motion to dismiss. It concerns NVIDIA and individuals whose voice data the complaint says was used for AI training.

By the numbers

Federal courts logged 129 opinions, against a trailing 30 day weekend average of about 57, more than double that pace. Federal bills held at 2, close to the trailing weekend average of about 3. No federal regulations entered the record, compared with a trailing weekend average of about 54, and no executive orders entered the record, compared with a trailing weekend average of about 1. Federal totals across all record types reached 131 items, close to the trailing weekend average of about 115. No state bill, regulation, or opinion entered the record on this collection day.

Bill actions

Among tracked bills, no bill carried a status action dated September 27.

Methodology

"Collected" means the date OmniLegislation's pipeline processed a record, not the date it was originally filed or decided. Counts are deduplicated processed records from OmniLegislation's own pipeline. Item descriptions come from the pipeline's own summaries of each record. Baselines are trailing 30 day daily averages for the same kind of day (weekend days against weekend days, weekdays against weekdays), excluding known bulk-load days; highest single-day counts are measured since tracking began on April 5, 2026, and include load days, which are labelled. Bill actions cover tracked bills only. This report covers September 27, 2026. Bill records originate from LegiScan; court opinions from CourtListener, a Free Law Project service; federal regulations from the Federal Register.