Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Analysis: Health Insurance, Other Issues Put Pressure on Louisiana Governor
Sep 28 2014 // Gov. Bobby Jindal has been viewed as a health care policy wonk, and he’s tried to build on that image ahead of a likely 2016 presidential campaign, positioning himself as the candidate with substantive ideas. But his...
Oklahoma Legislature Urged to Boost Nursing Home Staffing Rules
Sep 26 2014 // A Seminole woman pleaded with Oklahoma state lawmakers recently to “demand changes in the staffing and other requirements of our state’s long-term care facilities.” “We tried to do precisely that...
PCI Lobbyist Brown to Join Florida Law Firm Colodny, Fass
Sep 25 2014 // Attorney G. Donovan Brown, Southeast state government relations counsel for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), is joining the well-connected Tallahassee law firm of Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld,...
Complex Energy Industry Requires ‘Power’ Underwriters
Sep 25 2014 // The energy industry is not a risk for every underwriter; it requires considerable underwriting expertise due to its complexity and rapid growth. “Power is one of the fastest growing segments in the U.S,”...
New York Requires State Agencies to Consider Extreme Weather
Sep 24 2014 // New York state agencies are required to consider the future likelihood of extreme weather in their decisions on public works projects, industrial and commercial permits and regulations, according to a new law signed...
Lawsuit Against Vail Resorts Allowed by Colorado Judge
Sep 24 2014 // Vail Resorts could be required to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to the family of a teenager who died in an avalanche while skiing in Colorado January 2012. Broomfield County District Court Judge Chris...
Administration Relaxes Food Safety Rules for Farmers
Sep 24 2014 // The Food and Drug Administration has revised sweeping food safety rules proposed last year after farmers complained that the regulations could hurt business. The new proposals would relax water quality standards and allow...
Judge Keeps Alabama Newspaper from Publishing Utility’s Safety Plan
Sep 23 2014 // A state court judge sided with Alabama Gas Corp. and blocked the Montgomery Advertiser from publishing information about the utility’s plan for gas line safety, which the Alabama Public Service Commission released...
Montana Judge Approves $73M Punitive Award Against Hyundai
Sep 23 2014 // Hyundai Motor Co. must pay $73 million in punitive damages to the families of two Montana teenagers killed in 2011 crash blamed on a steering defect, a judge said. Lake County District Judge Deborah Kim Christopher...
NYC Council Announces Climate-Change Legislation
Sep 22 2014 // New York’s City Council proposed a package of bills last Friday, Sept. 19, to slash greenhouse gas emissions, shrink the carbon footprint of city operations and reduce the number of cars on the road. The legislation,...
Louisiana Public Worker Health Insurance Program Hemorrhaging Cash
Sep 22 2014 // Despite sweeping changes enacted by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration, the health insurance program for state workers and public school employees will have to use $88 million from its reserve fund to cover its costs...
Franchisee Business Investments Would be Protected by California Bill
Sep 22 2014 // When Kathryn Slater-Carter learned her family would lose $1.5 million after McDonald’s Corp. did not renew the franchise agreement on one of their restaurants in the San Francisco suburbs, she tried for a second time...
Declarations
Sep 22 2014 // Stormy Relations “Storm surge and wind-driven waves flooded homes and moved them off their foundations in Kapoho, Hawaii County.” —Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie describing the damaging force of the tropical...
The Problem with Domestic Excess and Surplus Lines Insurers
Sep 22 2014 // It has been more than five years since states, beginning with Illinois, began to enact laws permitting the formation and licensing of domestic excess and surplus lines insurers. To date, these initiatives have gotten very...
Workers’ Comp Loss Costs Declining Again in Oklahoma
Sep 22 2014 // For the second straight year, workers’ compensation loss costs used by insurers to determine rates for employers will show an overall decrease in Oklahoma. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has...
Once Again, Texas Lawmakers Asked to Do Something about Windstorm Insurer
Sep 22 2014 // What to do about Texas’ wind insurer of last resort? That’s the question being asked again of Texas lawmakers in advance of the coming legislative session. In a surprise visit to a Senate Business &...
Judge Approves $2.9 Million West Virginia Chemical Spill Deal
Sep 19 2014 // A federal bankruptcy judge has approved a $2.9 million settlement that would benefit 300,000 people whose water was contaminated in a January chemical spill. Judge Ronald Pearson filed the order this past Tuesday in U.S....
TNC Battle Ends With Gov. Brown’s Signature
Sep 18 2014 // Gov. Jerry Brown has lent his signature to compromise legislation that clarifies how and when transportation network companies are commercially insured. Sponsored by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, A.B. 2293, was...
Prop. 103 vs. Self-driving Cars Revving up in California
Sep 17 2014 // Way back in 1988 it probably seemed like the idea of self-driving vehicles was about as far off as flying cars or hovercraft. That was the year California voters enacted Proposition 103, giving among other things an...
Judge: Michigan City not Liable for Post-Flood Decline in Property Values
Sep 17 2014 // A judge has ruled that Traverse City isn’t responsible for declines in property values that could be linked to officials’ decision to remove a northern Michigan dam. The Traverse City Record-Eagle reports...
