Regulation guides · 5 categories
Regulation Guides
Plain-language context for the 159 state rules PlainRegWatch tracks across 51 jurisdictions, each guide links to the live category and state pages.
- Rules cited
- 159
- Categories
- 5
- Guides
- 7
- States covered
- 51
Where the archive concentrates
According to the PlainRegWatch five-category archive, Employment & Worker Protection is #1 of 5 by catalog volume (107 rules, 0 pending) at pending-share #2 (0%) ≠ Food Chemical Bans #1 pending share (27.3%, 3 of 11 still pending, volume #3).
- #1
- Employment & Worker Protection volume
- 107
- rules in that category
- #1
- Food Chemical Bans pending share
- 3/11
- still pending there
Figures are live from the PlainRegWatch database. Guides are informational, not legal advice.
Tracked rules by guide topic
Guide map
Which guide topics are broad, and which are dense?
Each point combines the live regulation count for a guide topic with the number of states where PlainRegWatch has at least one record. The highlighted point is the largest topic by catalog volume.
Read the guide-topic figures
- Employment & Worker Protection: 107 tracked regulations, 51 states with a tracked record.
- Data Privacy: 21 tracked regulations, 21 states with a tracked record.
- Food Chemical Bans: 11 tracked regulations, 11 states with a tracked record.
- AI Regulation: 10 tracked regulations, 6 states with a tracked record.
- Right to Repair: 10 tracked regulations, 9 states with a tracked record.
A large topic by regulation count is not automatically the most widely-tracked one: the dashed averages split the archive into large-vs-small volume and wide-vs-narrow state reach. A higher point means the topic appears in more state-level datasets, not that it creates a stronger legal obligation. BROAD/WIDE stamp the state footprint; DENSE/MID/SLIM stamp row mass relative to the largest topic.
These guides are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult a qualified attorney for compliance decisions.
US State Data Privacy Laws in 2026
A guide to enacted US state privacy laws, their core requirements, and multi-state compliance planning.
US AI Regulation Tracker by State
Track state AI legislation, including source-linked records from Colorado, California, Illinois, and New York City.
US State Employment Law Guide for 2026
State-by-state overview of wages, leave, non-competes, pay transparency, salary history, and scheduling rules.
US State Food Chemical Bans: What's Banned and Where in 2026
A state-by-state guide to food-chemical legislation, including records on Red Dye 3, potassium bromate, and BVO.
Right to Repair Laws in the US: State-by-State Guide 2026
Which states have right to repair laws? Guide to consumer electronics, agricultural equipment, and medical device repair legislation.
Multi-State Compliance Strategies for US Businesses
Practical planning for state rules on privacy, AI, employment, and food safety.
Top US State Regulation Trends to Watch in 2026
The biggest regulatory trends shaping US state policy across the five categories PlainRegWatch tracks.
Browse regulations directly
Guides provide context. For enacted and pending records with official source links, use the tracker.
How to read these guides
Use a guide to orient, then verify every obligation on the live regulation and state pages.
- Pick the category that matches your product risk, then open the matching guide and category hub together. Category index
- Catalog volume and pending share are different maps: the largest category can be fully enacted while another still has bills pending. Employment guide
- Effective dates and pending bills change, confirm the source link on each regulation record before you act. Methodology
Archive coverage is limited to the five tracked categories; absence from PlainRegWatch is not absence of law.
Download the regulation-level extract referenced by these guides: state-regulation-landscape.csv. National reference on statistics.
Every figure on PlainRegWatch is rendered from curated state legislative and Federal Register source data, guide figures mix live archive counts with cited primary-source rules. Hub KPIs are live archive counts; linked guides also cite primary-source rules. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026. Tracker scores and rule counts are curated records in five tracked categories - not enforcement strength, legal advice, a complete inventory of US law, or a live bill-status feed.