Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New Texas Law Addresses Surprise Medical Bills Received by Injured Workers
Jun 28 2019 // Texas lawmakers in the recent legislative session passed a bill addressing surprise medical bills injured employees have received after being treated at federal military facilities. Senate Bill 935 requires workers’...
Poll: Majority of Americans Say Global Warming is Affecting U.S. Weather
Jun 27 2019 // The majority of Americans say global warming is important to them, and that it’s affecting the weather in the U.S. A national survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason University...
With Governor’s Signature, Illinois Is 11th State to Legalize Recreational Marijuana
Jun 27 2019 // Illinois’ new governor delivered on a top campaign promise by signing legislation making the state the 11th to approve marijuana for recreational use in a program offering legal remedies and economic benefits to...
Supreme Court Scales Back Doctrine Giving Deference to Regulatory Agencies
Jun 27 2019 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday constrained the power of federal agencies, scaling back a legal doctrine that calls for judges to give agencies deference to interpret their own rules but declining to eliminate it as...
What Passed, What Didn’t: New Florida Laws Taking Effect July 1
Jun 27 2019 // The Florida Legislature looked at and passed many pieces of legislation in the 2019 session that will impact the insurance industry. The following are summaries of what passed — and what didn’t. What Passed HB 7065...
California Workers’ Comp Bureau Submits 2020 Regulatory Filing
Jun 26 2019 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California on Wednesday submitted a Jan. 1, 2020, regulatory filing to the California Insurance Commissioner. The filing contains the following proposals:...
Judge Open to ‘Novel’ Idea of Local Government Class for Opioid Settlement Talks
Jun 26 2019 // A judge backed a push by U.S. cities and counties suing opioid makers such as Purdue Pharma LP and Johnson & Johnson to negotiate a settlement as a group but put off until August a final decision on the request. U.S....
Ex-AIG Employees, Seeking Back-Bonuses of $100M, Win British Court Ruling
Jun 26 2019 // A group of former traders and managers at American International Group Inc. won a London judge’s backing in their battle to obtain $100 million dating back to the financial crisis, after he said that the insurance...
Kentucky Looks to Encourage Insurtech Investments Through Regulatory ‘Sandbox’
Jun 26 2019 // The Kentucky Legislature has passed the first state law in the U.S. providing comprehensive framework for an insurance regulatory “sandbox” for insurance technology products. The new regulatory sandbox, which...
Oregon Lawmakers Repealed Tsunami Zone Building Law
Jun 25 2019 // The Oregon Legislature has repealed a nearly 25-year-old law prohibiting new schools, hospitals, jails, and police and fire stations from being built in the state’s tsunami inundation zone. The Statesman Journal...
Reuters Report: How Judges’ Secrecy Has Added to Toll of Opioids and Other Products
Jun 25 2019 // WELCH, West Virginia —The opioid epidemic that has so far killed half a million Americans is routinely blamed on greedy drug makers, feckless doctors and lax regulators. But there’s another group that has...
Oklahoma Judge Approves Revised $85M Opioid Settlement With Teva
Jun 25 2019 // An Oklahoma judge has approved a revised $85 million settlement with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. resolving claims by the state’s attorney general that the drugmaker helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic. The...
Viewpoint: Why Medical Marijuana Laws Are Not a Gateway to Adult Use Legislation
Jun 24 2019 // The 2018-2019 legislative sessions of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania have all but ended without the passage of adult use cannabis legislation. This was especially surprising in New York and New Jersey,...
Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Gets Pushback from Global Financial Watchdogs
Jun 24 2019 // Facebook Inc. was hours away from the formal announcement of its ambitious foray into financial services, but French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire was already broadcasting his discontent. “It’s out of the...
Facebook Faces Lawsuit for Data Breach Affecting Nearly 30 Million Users
Jun 24 2019 // Facebook Inc. failed to fend off a lawsuit over a data breach that affected nearly 30 million users, one of several privacy snafus that have put the company under siege. The company’s disclosure in September that...
California Governor Wants Wildfire Fund to Help Utilities
Jun 21 2019 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom is pressing lawmakers on a wildfire fund that may be financed through bonds to help utilities pay for the catastrophic blazes their power lines keep igniting, according to people familiar with...
Lawrence Sworn In as Interim Tennessee Insurance Commissioner
Jun 21 2019 // Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has sworn in a new interim commissioner of commerce and insurance. The state Department of Commerce and Insurance tweeted out a photo of Carter Lawrence taking the oath of office this week. Lawrence...
Retired Judge to Mediate Dispute Over Oklahoma Opioid Settlement Funds
Jun 20 2019 // A former Oklahoma State Supreme Court justice will attempt to resolve a dispute over how to disburse an $85 million settlement of a state lawsuit with Teva Pharmaceuticals. Cleveland Count District Judge Thad Balkman said...
Penn. Governor Wolf Wants Power Plant Emission Plan to Fight Climate Change
Jun 20 2019 // Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf is asking Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature to take steps toward authorizing the state to join a regional consortium that sets a price and caps on greenhouse gas...
New York to Adopt Aggressive Emission Reduction Goals
Jun 20 2019 // New York would adopt some of the nation’s most aggressive emission reduction goals under a proposal worked out by state leaders and set for a vote in the state Legislature Tuesday night. Under the proposal, New York...
