Latest Legislation Headlines

All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Judge: 4 African Americans Rejected from Louisiana Parish Jury Can Seek Damages

Apr 5 2019 // Four African Americans can move ahead with a lawsuit seeking damages from a Louisiana district attorney’s office over the racial composition of juries, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Dee Drell in...

California Weighs Catastrophic Wildfire Fund as Way to Protect Utilities

Apr 5 2019 // Creation of a catastrophic wildfire risk pool is emerging as the most likely option as California lawmakers seek to protect the solvency of investor-owned utilities from record payouts for fire damages. PG&E filed for...

Trump Deregulation Plan Facing Court Challenge by 3 States

Apr 5 2019 // California, Oregon and Minnesota sued President Donald Trump and several top cabinet officials over the administration’s requirement that federal agencies delete two regulations for every one they add. Lodged by...

Tech Firms Face Fines and Jail for Failure to Remove Violent Content in Australia

Apr 4 2019 // Australia will fine social media and web hosting companies up to 10 percent of their annual global turnover and imprison executives for up to three years if violent content is not removed “expeditiously” under...

UK Parliament Votes to Block Damaging No-Deal Brexit as Deadlock Continues

Apr 4 2019 // Britain took a decisive step away from a damaging no-deal Brexit as members of Parliament and political leaders backed efforts to prevent a disorderly departure from the European Union. The House of Commons vote shortly...

Judge Tells PG&E to Hold Dividends to Pay to Help Reduce Wildfire Risks

Apr 3 2019 // A U.S. judge said on Tuesday that PG&E Corp. cannot resume dividends and must use the money to reduce wildfire risk in California, stopping short of more costly measures he proposed earlier this year. The new criminal...

Twitter CEO Agrees with Facebook CEO, Supports Regulation of Social Media Platforms

Apr 3 2019 // Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey said rules like Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation have had a positive impact on the technology industry, remarks that come days after Facebook Inc. CEO Mark...

New York Judge Dismisses Some of Levine’s Claims Against Met Opera

Apr 3 2019 // A New York judge last week dismissed portions of a lawsuit filed by former Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine against the company last year. Levine was the Met’s music or artistic director from 1976-2016,...

3 Major Automakers Partner to Develop Autonomous Vehicle Safety Standards, Testing

Apr 3 2019 // Three major automakers said on Wednesday they were forming a consortium to help draw up safety standards for self-driving cars that could eventually help create regulations in the United States. General Motors Co., Ford...

Purdue’s Sackler Family Asks Judge to Toss Massachusetts Opioid Case

Apr 3 2019 // Members of the Sackler family behind OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP have asked a judge to toss a lawsuit by Massachusetts’ attorney general claiming they helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic, arguing it contains...

California Lawmaker Introduces Resilient Homes Initiative

Apr 2 2019 // A bill to that would enable the California Earthquake Authority to expand mitigation programs is making its way through state Legislature. State Sen. Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, this week released the...

Facebook CEO Zuckerberg Says He Backs Regulation of Internet Content, Privacy

Apr 2 2019 // Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg called for new global regulations governing the internet, recommending overarching rules on hateful and violent content, election integrity, privacy and data...

Government Relief Bypasses Farmers Who Lost Stored Crops in Floods

Apr 2 2019 // The Black Hawk military helicopter flew over Iowa, giving a senior U.S. agriculture official and U.S. senator an eyeful of the flood damage below, where yellow corn from ruptured metal silos spilled out into the muddy...

Big 4 Accounting Firms Should Separate Auditing, Consulting Work: UK Lawmakers

Apr 2 2019 // The “Big Four” accounting firms should be forced to legally separate their “cash cow” consulting work from their auditing businesses, a U.K. Parliament committee said...

Modernization on the Mind of Texas Insurance Commissioner

Apr 2 2019 // Note: This is the first of a three-part series resulting from a conversation with Texas Insurance Commissioner Kent Sullivan. Becoming the chief insurance regulator of a large and populous state with the second largest...

Florida Looks to Add Insurance Requirements, Regulations for Cosmetic Surgery Clinics

Apr 1 2019 // Choeun Nuon traveled from her home in California to a Miami-area cosmetic surgery clinic to have a so-called Brazilian butt lift in February 2017. Instead of recovering after the procedure, the 32-year-old mother of two...

Montana Lawmakers Reject Recreational Marijuana

Apr 1 2019 // A state House committee has rejected a bill that would have legalized recreational marijuana use in Montana. The Independent Record reported that the House Taxation Committee voted 12-6 last week to table House Bill 770,...

U.S. Judge Finds No Liability for European Banks in Iran Terrorism Financing

Apr 1 2019 // A U.S. judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to hold nine large European banks liable for allegedly providing banking services to Iran that enabled militants to conduct 55 attacks against U.S. armed forces in neighboring...

New Flood Insurance Rule from Bank Regulators a Win for Consumers, Agents and Brokers

Apr 1 2019 // While lawmakers continue their struggle to agree on the long-term reauthorization of the financially burdensome National Flood Insurance Program, federal lending regulators have concluded their own six-year struggle to...

People

Apr 1 2019 // Ironshore Specialty Casualty has appointed Casey Hartley as senior vice president and head of programs. She will oversee the development, marketing and distribution of programs lines, working with programs administrators...