Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Developers Built Homes Inside Houston’s Reservoirs. But No One Warned Buyers.
Oct 12 2017 // Note: This story was originally published by the Texas Tribune and ProPublica. When Jeremy Boutor moved to a master-planned community in Houston’s booming energy corridor, he saw it as idyllic. Lakes on Eldridge...
Gov’t, TEPCO Held Accountable by Japan Court for Fukushima Nuclear Accident
Oct 12 2017 // A Japanese court on Tuesday [Oct. 10] ordered the government and the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant to pay 500 million yen ($4.5 million) to thousands of area residents and evacuees who were demanding compensation...
$36.5 Billion House Disaster Aid Bill Includes Funds for Puerto Rico, Wildfires, Flood Insurance
Oct 12 2017 // House lawmakers unveiled a bill Tuesday night that would provide $36.5 billion in emergency funding for hurricane and wildfire relief requested by the Trump administration. With Congress under pressure to provide urgent...
New Jersey Court Nixes Class-Action Status for TGI Friday’s Drink Suit
Oct 11 2017 // A lawsuit accusing restaurant chain TGI Friday’s of violating consumer fraud laws with its drink pricing can’t go ahead as a class action that could have included millions of members, but a similar case...
Trump Administration Begins Repeal of Obama Clean Power Plan
Oct 11 2017 // When President Barack Obama unveiled his plan to pare emissions from U.S. power plants two years ago, he stressed the long-term health benefits: 3,600 fewer premature deaths, 90,000 fewer asthma attacks in children and a...
Jones’ Bark Risks Congress’ Bite on McCarran-Ferguson
Oct 10 2017 // California’s elected insurance commissioner, Dave Jones, is in the habit of picking fights he can’t win. From his perch atop the nation’s largest insurance regulatory body, he’s sought a federal...
What Insurance Companies Need to Know About Part 500 Cybersecurity Compliance
Oct 10 2017 // If there were any remaining doubts about the vulnerability of our online systems, they were dispelled in September when giant credit reporting company Equifax revealed it was breached in July by cyber criminals,...
Drug Pricing Transparency Law Signed by California Governor
Oct 10 2017 // California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed state legislation requiring drug companies to report certain price hikes for prescription medicines in a move that could set a model for other states to follow. The law, which aims to...
Is It Time to Say So Long to Social Security Numbers?
Oct 10 2017 // The Trump administration is exploring ways to replace the use of Social Security numbers as the main method of assuring people’s identities in the wake of consumer credit agency Equifax Inc.’s massive data...
Trump Appointees Expected to Reorient Equal Employment Commission
Oct 10 2017 // The federal agency tasked with combating workplace discrimination is about to get a Republican majority for the first time in a decade, inspiring relief among employers and anxiety among workers’ rights...
Oklahoma Mulls Rule Change for Ex-State Employees, Officials Turned Lobbyists
Oct 9 2017 // The Oklahoma Ethics Commission is considering a rule change that would ban all state employees and officials from lobbying for two years after their tenure ends. The proposed rule change would create what Oklahoma...
Kansas Residents Fighting Against Saltwater Injection Wells
Oct 9 2017 // Kansas residents are broadening the fight over an oil-related waste disposal well in the Flint Hills into a protest of similar wells across several counties. Residents of Chase, Morris and other counties known for open...
Judge Awards $120M in Damages Against Missouri Ex-Doctor, Scoutmaster
Oct 9 2017 // A former physician and Boy Scout leader from Missouri has been ordered to pay $120 million to a boy who he sexually abused for years. The Kansas City Star reports a Jackson County judge awarded the damages in a civil...
Why Mandating Cyber Reporting, Basic Coverage Makes Sense: Cyence Exec
Oct 9 2017 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv Matt Honea, cyber manager at Cyence, a San Mateo, Calif.-based cyber risk modeler, thinks a great way to get companies to report cyber attacks is to make them do it. Honea, who believes...
Wells Fargo C-Suite Must Face Shareholder Lawsuit Over Fake Accounts: Judge
Oct 6 2017 // A federal judge said current and former Wells Fargo & Co. officers and directors, including Chief Executive Officer Tim Sloan, must face nearly all of a lawsuit by shareholders seeking to hold them personally liable...
U.S. Senate Panel Gives Green Light to Bill to Speed Use of Self-Driving Cars
Oct 5 2017 // A U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday unanimously gave the green light to a bill aimed at speeding the use of self-driving cars without human controls, a measure that also bars states from imposing regulatory road blocks. The...
Where Trump’s Regulatory Rollback Is Having Impact
Oct 4 2017 // When disaster hits the chemical plants in Port Arthur, Texas, triggering fires like those that flared in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Hilton Kelley is the man fielding panicked calls from neighbors unsure whether they...
Safety Groups Oppose Autonomous Driving Bill Backed by Car Makers
Oct 4 2017 // A coalition of auto safety advocates criticized a bill before the U.S. Congress that would allow automakers eventually to sell up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles annually if they could demonstrate they are as safe as...
Tennessee Valley Authority Appeals Judge’s Order to Remove Coal Ash
Oct 4 2017 // A federal utility is appealing a judge’s order to excavate and move its coal ash at a Tennessee power plant. In Nashville federal court Monday, the Tennessee Valley Authority filed an appeal notice over its Gallatin...
Worker Safety, Regulation Overload Among Highlights of Drone Expo In California
Oct 3 2017 // Drones may already be impacting the world of workers’ compensation. Fewer workers on communications towers are falling to their deaths, according to Todd Schlekeway, executive director of the National Association of...
