Latest Legislation Headlines

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

Republican Farm Bill Calls for Changes to Food Stamps, Renewal of Crop Insurance

Apr 13 2018 // Republicans on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee on Thursday called for changes to the government’s food assistance program for the poor, in a package of long-awaited proposals for the next U.S. Farm Bill that...

Uber Drivers Are Not Employees Under Federal Law, Judge Rules

Apr 13 2018 // A U.S. judge in Philadelphia has ruled that limousine drivers for Uber Technologies Inc. are independent contractors and not the company’s employees under federal law, the first ruling of its kind on a crucial issue...

Missouri’s Nelson Honored with National Insurance Regulator Award

Apr 13 2018 // Angela Nelson, director of the Division of Market Regulation and Chief Industry Liaison at the Missouri Department of Insurance has been selected as the 2018 recipient of the Paul DeAngelo Memorial Teaching Award given by...

Judge Sets Schedule for Opioid Lawsuits Against Drug Companies

Apr 12 2018 // A federal judge pushing for a settlement in lawsuits seeking to hold drug companies responsible for their roles in the U.S. opioid epidemic on Wednesday set an aggressive schedule that would have the first trial take place...

Cautious Facebook CEO Tells Congress ‘Details Matter’ On Any Privacy Regulation

Apr 11 2018 // Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday told lawmakers that his own personal data was included in that of 87 million or so Facebook users that was improperly shared with political consultancy Cambridge...

Montana Marijuana Providers Must Start Testing, Labeling

Apr 11 2018 // Medical marijuana providers in Montana will start testing, labeling and tracking their products as new rules took effect this week for state officials to keep close tabs on pot plants from seedlings until they’re...

Court Rules Employers Cannot Use Salary History to Justify Gender Wage Gap

Apr 11 2018 // A U.S. appeals court on Monday ruled employers cannot use workers’ salary histories to justify gender-based pay disparities, saying that would perpetuate a wage gap that is “an embarrassing reality of our...

Judge Awards North Carolina Residents $163M Over Dam Breach

Apr 11 2018 // North Carolina residents whose community dam was damaged by Hurricane Matthew and later breached by the state have won a $162.5 million judgment against the corporation that owns it. The Fayetteville Observer reports that...

State-by-State Study Shows Drivers Are Texting More Despite Bans

Apr 10 2018 // If you’re driving right now, it’s far more likely you are reading this on your phone than you would have been a year ago. Despite a harrowing surge in traffic fatalities, American drivers appear to be getting...

Connecticut Senator Says Surcharge to Help Homeowners Is Not Dead

Apr 10 2018 // A key Connecticut lawmaker says a proposed surcharge on insurance policies to raise money to help homeowners with crumbling foundations is not a dead issue. Senator Cathy Osten, the Democratic Senate chairman of the...

Judge Dismisses State Farm Car Crash Suit Against Mississippi U.S. Senate Appointee

Apr 10 2018 // A lawsuit against U.S. Senate appointee Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi has been permanently dismissed. The Daily Leader reports Mississippi Circuit Judge David Strong dismissed the case with prejudice April 3. That means...

UK Regulator FCA Calls for Coordination with EU to Assure Smooth Brexit

Apr 9 2018 // Britain’s financial watchdog called on Monday for immediate coordination with European Union counterparts to ensure that Brexit is as smooth and stable as possible for markets. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)...

Former Financial Services Lobbyist, Pawlenty, to Run for Governor of Minnesota

Apr 6 2018 // The former head of the Washington-based Financial Services Roundtable (FSR), Tim Pawlenty, has thrown his hat into the ring in a bid to get a previous job back: that of governor of Minnesota. Pawlenty resigned from his...

Facebook ‘Willing’ to Meet with EU Regulators over Widening Data Scandal

Apr 6 2018 // Facebook Inc. expressed a “willingness to engage” with European Union regulators in the wake of fresh evidence showing that data on most of the social network’s 2 billion users could have been accessed...

Scott Sued by Florida Cities Over 2011 Gun Regulations Law

Apr 6 2018 // A Florida law prohibiting local governments from enacting their own gun regulations is invalid and unconstitutional, according to elected officials from 10 cities suing the state’s governor in the aftermath of a mass...

City Council Approves Changes to Houston’s Floodplain Regulations

Apr 5 2018 // More than seven months after Hurricane Harvey’s destructive floods damaged hundreds of thousands of homes across a wide swath of southeast Texas, the Houston City Council on April 4 approved the first overhaul to...

Massachusetts Can Sue Equifax Over Data Breach, Judge Rules

Apr 5 2018 // Massachusetts can move forward with a lawsuit accusing credit reporting firm Equifax Inc. of failing to safeguard its databases or provide prompt notice of a breach that exposed the personal data of 147 million people, a...

Lawsuits Against Facebook Pile Up Over Cambridge Analytica Scandal

Apr 5 2018 // Facebook Inc. finds itself in the eye of a rapidly building legal storm over the disclosure of user data to political research firm Cambridge Analytica. Lawsuits are piling up from users and investors. U.S. lawmakers are...

State Lawmaker Drops Push to Legalize Medical Marijuana in Tennessee

Apr 5 2018 // One of the lead sponsors of a medical-marijuana bill in Tennessee withdrew the measure Tuesday after telling fellow lawmakers the legislation has been so watered down that passing it would actually harm rather than help...

Florida AOB Reform Efforts Fail Again as Parkland Tragedy Derails Legislative Session

Apr 5 2018 // With over 900 items on the Florida legislative docket and only 60 days to consider them, it’s not surprising that many bills simply die in committee or are never seriously considered. Add to that a tragic event right...