Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Detroit Bond Insurer to Judge: Debt Plan Causes ‘Serious Mayhem’
Sep 5 2014 // Detroit’s proposal to exit its record municipal bankruptcy by paying retirees more than bond investors will cause “serious mayhem,” an attorney for the plan’s opponents told a judge. Marc...
California Judges Recommend $1.4B Safety-related Penalty Against PG&E
Sep 4 2014 // California regulatory judges recommended a $1.4 billion penalty on Tuesday _ the largest safety-related levy ever against a public utility in the state _ for a fiery 2010 gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people in...
Judge Rules BP Was ‘Grossly Negligent’ in Gulf Oil Spill
Sep 4 2014 // BP Plc acted with gross negligence in setting off the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, a federal judge ruled, handing down a long-awaited decision that may force the energy company to pay billions of dollars...
Global Regulators Call for Closer Regulation of Financial Firms
Sep 3 2014 // Financial industry regulators need better coordination in the event of a big multinational financial institution failing or breaching compliance rules, the world’s top supervisory bodies have concluded in a...
South Carolina Ex-Lawmaker Viers Pleads Not Guilty in Contractor Insurance Case
Sep 2 2014 // A lawyer for a former South Carolina House member said he may not have realized what he was doing was wrong when he moved around the assets of a businessman who an insurance company was pursuing after he defaulted on a...
Florida Judge Sentences Mastermind of $800M Fraud Scheme to 20 Years
Sep 2 2014 // The man who masterminded an $800 million insurance scam that fleeced tens of thousands of investors in one of Florida’s all-time largest fraud schemes was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison. U.S. District Judge...
Illinois Rideshare Bills Vetoed; Insurance Groups Urge Override
Aug 27 2014 // Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has vetoed legislation that would have imposed statewide regulations on commercial ridesharing companies, also known as transportation network companies (TNCs). Quinn said he vetoed House Bill 4075,...
NCCI Proposes Average Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease of 2.5% in Florida
Aug 26 2014 // Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation announced it received the 2015 Florida workers’ compensation rate filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), which proposes a statewide average...
A Fracking Compromise for Colorado
Aug 26 2014 // On the second day of his vacation, surrounded by science fiction and comic book fans at Comic Con, Alan Salazar looked around the San Diego Convention Center for a quiet place so he could take a phone call from his...
Obama Administration Offers Birth Control Fix for Religious Groups
Aug 25 2014 // Seeking to quell a politically charged controversy, the Obama administration announced new measures Friday to allow religious nonprofits and some companies to opt out of paying for birth control for female employees while...
Judge Rebukes Whistleblower’s $265B Claim Against BP Over Gulf Safety
Aug 22 2014 // BP Plc won’t face a $256 billion lawsuit brought by a whistleblower who claimed the company’s Atlantis oil production platform in the Gulf of Mexico was unsafe. Kenneth Abbott, a former BP contractor, and Food...
North Carolina Lawmakers Approve Law Regulating Duke’s Coal Ash Dumps
Aug 21 2014 // State House and Senate leaders said this week that they have reached a compromise on legislation to make Duke Energy curb pollution from its 33 coal ash dumps across North Carolina. House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate...
Florida Opens, Closes Surplus Lines Opportunities
Aug 20 2014 // The recent legislative session in Tallahassee was relatively quiet, a matter some attribute to this being an election year. But even in quiet years, Florida lawmakers tend to make some noise about the insurance industry...
Virginia Task Force to Target Worker Misclassification, Payroll Fraud
Aug 19 2014 // Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently signed an executive order establishing an inter-agency task force that will target worker misclassification and payroll fraud. “Every Virginian who works hard and follows the...
Appeal Expected Over Ruling Overturning Florida Workers’ Comp System
Aug 19 2014 // A Florida circuit court judge has ruled that the state’s workers’ compensation law is unconstitutional because it no longer provides adequate benefits to injured workers giving up their right to sue. Florida...
QBE to Sell $750 Million in Shares, Some Assets as Profit Drops
Aug 19 2014 // QBE Insurance Group Ltd. plans to raise about $750 million in a share placement and sell assets including part of its lenders’ mortgage insurance business in Australia after reporting an 18 percent drop in...
Texas Bill Would Delay New Rules on Storing Hazardous Chemicals
Aug 18 2014 // The massive fertilizer plant explosion that killed 15 people last year is unlikely to meaningfully change regulatory or safety rules in Texas until at least 2016 under a bill proposed by lawmakers tasked with scrutinizing...
Government Rescue Behind It, AIG Beefs Up Washington Lobbying Corps
Aug 17 2014 // Insurer American International Group is ramping up its lobbying team in Washington, almost six years after it halted such efforts following its rescue by the U.S. government during the financial crisis. Many large...
N.H. Insurance Department Appoints Financial Regulation Director
Aug 15 2014 // The New Hampshire Insurance Department recently appointed Deb Stone as director of financial regulation. Stone, who formerly served as an actuary and director of market regulation division at the Insurance Department,...
Judge Approves $48M Settlement Over Louisiana Sinkhole
Aug 15 2014 // A federal judge has granted final approval of a $48.1 million class-action settlement for Louisiana residents affected by a 37-acre sinkhole that opened two years ago has been swallowing land ever since. U.S. District...
