Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Coastal Lawmakers Seek Delays in Flood Insurance Changes
Jul 22 2013 // Just a year after Congress approved changes in the oft-criticized federal flood insurance program, protests from homeowners facing higher premiums have coastal lawmakers pressing for delays to preserve below-cost rates for...
Florida Court Rules on Requiring Examinations Under Oath
Jul 22 2013 // The Florida Supreme Court ruled that prior to a 2012 state law, auto insurer Geico didn’t have the right to force a policyholder to answer questions under oath before paying a personal injury protection (PIP)...
Federal Judge Criticizes But Upholds Mississippi Damages Cap
Jul 22 2013 // A federal judge has upheld Mississippi’s cap of $500,000 on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. The ruling came in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a woman and her unborn baby who died...
Missouri Governor Signs Bill Replenishing Disabled Workers Fund
Jul 22 2013 // Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed legislation raising charges on businesses to replenish an insolvent state fund that provides benefits to disabled workers. The new law will temporarily double the surcharge that...
Europe Insurer Trade Group Criticizes Listing Companies as G-SII’s
Jul 19 2013 // Europe’s insurers criticized the approach taken by international regulators which named firms considered systemically important as they try to reduce financial risks from the sector. Two global financial watchdogs...
Judge Denies BP Bid to Halt Oil Spill Claim Payments
Jul 19 2013 // A federal judge denied BP Plc’s attempt to suspend payments to people and businesses claiming damages related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, while an investigator —— former FBI Director Louis Freeh—...
Industry Told TRIA Won’t Be Renewed Until 2014
Jul 19 2013 // The property/casualty insurance industry should not count on Congress reauthorizing the federal terrorism reinsurance program this year or in time for January renewals, according to a key insurance lobbyist working on the...
Geneva Association Reacts to G20 Insurers’ Capital Mandate
Jul 19 2013 // The Geneva Association, the international insurance think tank, issued a bulletin following the publication of both the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) list of global systemically important insurers (G-SIIs) and...
After Deadly Crash, Alabama Revisits Safety of Allowing Truck Cargo Bed Riders
Jul 19 2013 // Alabama politicians said that they would consider drafting legislation to prevent people from riding in the backs of pickup trucks in the wake of a rollover accident near Guntersville. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Anniston,...
Health Insurance Navigators in Missouri to Need Licenses
Jul 18 2013 // A new Missouri law will require insurance counselors to get state licenses before they can help people search for health plans on an online marketplace. The legislation, Senate Bill 262, signed recently by Gov. Jay Nixon...
Treasury Secretary Lew Urges Congress Not to Change Dodd-Frank Reforms
Jul 17 2013 // U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said he is “stepping on the accelerator” to implement the Dodd-Frank Act and warned lawmakers against trying to change the financial rules overhaul. “Members of...
Georgia Lobbying Gift Limit Doesn’t Apply to All in Executive Branch
Jul 17 2013 // Gov. Nathan Deal’s executive order seems simple: Employees in Georgia’s executive branch should not accept gifts worth more than $25, particularly from lobbyists and vendors. In reality, the policy is more...
New York Judge to Rule If WTC Developer Can Seek Damages From Airlines
Jul 16 2013 // A federal judge is days away from deciding if New York developer Larry Silverstein can recover as much as $3.5 billion from airlines for damages to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, on top of more than $4 billion...
Judge to Mull If Airlines Owe WTC Owners Over 9/11
Jul 15 2013 // A judge who has presided over most of the litigation stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks will decide whether the owners of the World Trade Center can try to make aviation companies pay billions of dollars...
Georgia Regulators’ Meals, Golf Paid by Insurance Agents Under Scrutiny
Jul 12 2013 // Georgia’s top insurance regulator and two senior staffers accepted $100-per-head meals and, in one case, a round of golf last month funded by the industry they oversee, according to recent financial disclosures. That...
Missouri Governor Signs Bill Replenishing Disabled Workers Fund
Jul 12 2013 // Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed legislation raising charges on businesses to replenish an insolvent state fund that provides benefits to disabled workers The new law will temporarily double the surcharge that businesses...
House Passes Republican Farm Bill Without Food Stamps
Jul 11 2013 // House Republicans passed a five-year U.S. farm-policy bill that retains subsidies to farmers and strips out food-stamp spending, costing it Democratic support. The plan was approved today 216-208, with no Democrats in...
Bipartisan Senate Megabank Bill Would Split Banking from Insurance, Other Risks
Jul 11 2013 // A small bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Thursday introduced legislation that would break up Wall Street’s megabanks by separating traditional banking activity from riskier financial services. The bill, called...
Maryland Court Rules Asbestos Firms Not Responsible for Family Exposure
Jul 11 2013 // An asbestos company is not liable for an illness suffered by a woman who became exposed to the hazardous material while doing her grandfather’s laundry in the 1960s, Maryland’s highest court ruled Monday. The...
Pennsylvania Lawmakers Hold Hearing on Fatal Building Collapse
Jul 11 2013 // Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering stricter regulations on demolition projects in the wake of a building collapse in downtown Philadelphia last month that killed six people. The House Labor & Industry and the...
