Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge Sends Suit for California Man’s Helicopter Crash Death to Workers’ Comp
Aug 18 2017 // A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died in an ambulance helicopter crash has been thrown out by a judge who said the case must go through California’s workers’ compensation death benefits...
GOP Facing Resistance to State Bills Shielding Drivers Who Hit Protesters
Aug 18 2017 // Republican lawmakers in six states have pushed this year for legal protections for motorists who hit protesters blocking traffic. Fairly or not, they’re facing an intense backlash now that violent images of a car...
Insurance Professionals, Meteorologists to Kick Off ‘Hurricane Tour’
Aug 17 2017 // Texas insurance experts and meteorologists will be touring the Texas coast to inform the public about hurricane awareness and new legislation aimed at mitigating storm damage and related insurance costs. The Insurance...
Takata Bankruptcy Judge Halts Air Bag Victims’ Lawsuits for 90 Days
Aug 16 2017 // A U.S. judge overseeing the bankruptcy of Takata Corp.’s U.S. business on Wednesday halted lawsuits for 90 days against automakers brought by victims of its faulty air bag inflators. Takata requested a six-month stay...
Massachusetts Governor Signs Bipartisan Pregnant Worker Protection Legislation
Aug 16 2017 // Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker last month signed H. 3680, a bipartisan bill to extend protections to pregnant workers in the state. The legislation, An Act Establishing the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness...
Trump Delivers To-Do List for McConnell: Repeal & Replace, Infrastructure, Tax-Code
Aug 11 2017 // President Donald Trump laid out a path for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to get back in his good graces: replace Obamacare, overhaul the U.S. tax code and find a way to pay for big infrastructure improvements. Yet...
Wisconsin Dairy Group Sues State Over Pollution Discharge Rules
Aug 10 2017 // Wisconsin environmental officials are over-regulating large livestock operations, imposing pollution requirements that are tougher than federal law and arbitrarily changing runoff standards without going through the...
Global Insurance M&A in H1 Drops to Lowest Point in 2 Years: Clyde & Co.
Aug 10 2017 // The volume of completed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the global insurance industry continued dropping during the first six months of 2017 to 170 deals, compared to 186 deals reported for the second half of 2016,...
Maryland Insurance Administration Names Associate Commissioner of Compliance
Aug 10 2017 // The Maryland Insurance Administration has appointed Erica J. Bailey as its associate commissioner of compliance and enforcement. Bailey brings 15 years of experience to the team, including the last ten investigating...
Trump Seeks 18 Month Delay, Rewrite of Parts of Fiduciary Rule
Aug 10 2017 // The Trump administration is moving to further delay part of an Obama-era rule to require brokers who offer retirement advice to put their customers’ interests ahead of their own. The U.S. Department of Labor said in...
Swing Voters in California Climate Deal Among Top Oil Money Recipients
Aug 9 2017 // California Assembly members considered swing votes on legislation to reduce carbon emissions by charging polluters were among the top recipients of donations from oil companies, an analysis of campaign finance filings...
New Regulations to Improve Safety at California Oil Refineries Finalized
Aug 8 2017 // New regulations designed to strengthen workplace and environmental safety at oil refineries across the state were finalized this week. The regulations, which take effect on Oct. 1, include recommendations of the...
Fatalities Rising as Coal Mine Production Increases
Aug 8 2017 // Ray Hatfield Jr. was six months into his latest coal job when he was crushed to death in a Kentucky mine. Hatfield, a 23-year industry veteran, was cleaning a conveyor belt that shuttled coal to the surface of the...
Trump Administration Drops Rule to Address Truck Driver, Train Engineer Fatigue
Aug 7 2017 // The Trump administration is halting a year-old effort to seek better ways to diagnose truckers and railroad workers who have sleep apnea, a health condition linked to deadly accidents. Two agencies in the Department of...
Judge Orders Tennessee Valley Authority to Remove Coal Ash at Power Plant
Aug 7 2017 // A federal judge on Friday ordered the nation’s largest public utility to dig up its coal ash at a Tennessee power plant and move it to a lined waste site where it doesn’t risk further polluting the Cumberland...
Stewart to Head Governmental Affairs for Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina
Aug 7 2017 // The Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC) has added Joe Stewart to its staff as vice president of Governmental Affairs, effective October 1, 2017. In this role, Stewart will help oversee the legislative...
Texas Bill Allows More Flexibility in Employee Health Benefit Plans
Aug 7 2017 // Small employers in Texas may now get some flexibility in selecting and retaining the health benefit plan of their choosing for their employees following the passage of a bill in the regular session of the Texas...
Judge: Insurer Off the Hook for Payment in Ohio Arson Case
Aug 7 2017 // A judge has ruled that an insurance company doesn’t have to pay an Ohio man accused of burning down his house. The ruling came on July 14 in southwest Ohio’s Butler County in a civil lawsuit filed by the...
The Competitive Advantage: On the Other Side of the Desk
Aug 7 2017 // It is always interesting to be on the other side of a desk. I’m always consulting and writing on “all things” insurance but I’m not always buying insurance. This year I purchased a couple of new...
Court Rules for NBC in Defamation Suit by Oregon Sporting Goods Company
Aug 7 2017 // A federal appeals court has ruled that NBC News did not defame an Oregon sporting goods company by characterizing its exploding rifle targets as “bombs” in a report on the “Today” show. The 2nd U.S....
