Latest Legislation Headlines

All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Texas Judge Allows Insurer’s Lawsuit Against Armstrong to Proceed

Jul 10 2013 // A Texas judge has refused Lance Armstrong’s request to dismiss an insurance company’s lawsuit seeking $3 million in bonuses it paid him from 1999 to 2001. Nebraska-based Acceptance Insurance Holdings sued...

Rhode Island Approves 7.4% Workers’ Comp Loss Cost Increase

Jul 10 2013 // The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation approved this month a 7.4 percent overall voluntary loss cost increase for new and renewal workers’ compensation policies. The change will take effect in August. The...

Judge Rules North Carolina Town Can Sue Failed Dam Contractors

Jul 10 2013 // A North Carolina judge says the town of Hope Mills can sue companies that built a dam that failed. The Fayetteville Observer reported that Superior Court Judge Erwin Spainhour said that the companies can be sued for breach...

Lloyd’s Says High Taxes, Regulation Burden European Firms

Jul 10 2013 // High taxation and new regulations are among the most pressing concerns for senior European company executives, according to a survey by Lloyd’s of London. The Lloyd’s Risk Index survey also found executives...

House May Split Food Stamps from Rest of Farm Bill

Jul 10 2013 // U.S. House leaders have decided to split food stamps and other nutrition programs from farm subsidies and bring an agriculture-only bill up for a vote before the August recess, a Republican leadership aide said. Such a...

Pennsylvania Insurance Department Gets Dedicated Funding Structure

Jul 9 2013 // The Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced this week that it now has access to a dedicated funding source, thanks to Gov. Tom Corbett’s recently signed 2013-14 budget and newly enacted legislation, Act 46. This...

U.S. EU Launch Free Trade Talks Despite Spying Concerns

Jul 9 2013 // The United States and the European Union began talks on Monday on a landmark bilateral free trade agreement, despite European concerns about U.S. spying that had threatened to delay the start after nearly two years of...

Judges Question BP Over Its Objections to Oil Spill Claims Payouts

Jul 9 2013 // BP Plc drew tough questions on Monday from U.S. appeals court judges hearing a complaint by the oil company objecting to the payment of certain claims for damages related to the Gulf of Mexico spill, casting doubt on...

Coastal Lawmakers Seek Delays in Flood Insurance Changes, Rate Hikes

Jul 8 2013 // Just a year after Congress imposed significant changes in the government’s oft-criticized flood insurance program, howls of protest from homeowners facing higher premiums have coastal lawmakers pressing for delays...

Insurers’ Group Urges R.I. Governor to Veto Auto Body Legislation

Jul 8 2013 // The Rhode Island Legislature passed legislation before adjournment on July 3 that could impact the pockets of Rhode Islanders when they have to pay for auto body repairs, according to the Property Casualty Insurers...

Governor Vetoes Missouri Workers’ Comp Database Bill

Jul 8 2013 // Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon pointed to privacy concerns in vetoing a proposed online database that businesses could use to check a prospective employee’s workers’ compensation claims. Nixon said in a message...

New Jersey Court Rules Against Homeowners in Dune Dispute

Jul 8 2013 // A New Jersey town can present evidence of the benefits of building dunes as storm barriers when homeowners with beachfront properties seek compensation for losing their ocean views, the state’s highest court...

Prudential Will Appeal SIFI Designation; AIG, GE Will Not

Jul 3 2013 // Prudential Financial Inc., the No. 2 U.S. life insurer, is contesting a U.S. finding that it poses a potential risk to the financial system, becoming the first company to challenge the label that brings additional...

Insurers, State Regulators Try to Block Bank-Like Rules by Federal Reserve

Jul 3 2013 // MetLife Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc. have been joined by state regulators challenging the Federal Reserve on how to oversee the biggest insurers under the Dodd-Frank law. The insurers and watchdogs are pressuring the...

China-Style Eldercare: Kids Can Be Sued For Not Visiting Parents

Jul 3 2013 // What are elderly parents to do when their children no longer bother to visit? In China, there’s a new answer: sue the kids. That’s what 77-year-old “Granny Chu,” of Wuxi, China, did in April. On...

Lien Fees Working Out in California Workers’ Comp

Jul 2 2013 // Jason Molnar makes a living deep in the trenches of workers’ compensation battles in California, so you’d think when there was a no show from an opponent at an official lien hearing that he’d be relieved...

Drugmakers Work on Safer Painkillers as Opioid Abuse Epidemic Rages

Jul 2 2013 // Backed by a U.S. campaign to slow abuse of prescription painkillers, drugmakers are devising new forms of the medicines that don’t lead to misuse and new products that treat dependency in a bid to change the face of...

San Francisco Bay Area Car Rental Startup Faces Lawsuit

Jul 1 2013 // Out of a tiny, green shack on a parking lot in an industrial area south of San Francisco International Airport, three teenagers are trying to change the airport car rental business. To do it, all they need are your cars,...

Oklahoma Lawmakers Seek to Increase Looting Penalties

Jul 1 2013 // Reports of dozens of arrests of suspected looters in tornado-ravaged areas of central Oklahoma prompted several legislators to call for increasing the penalty for taking items from victims of natural disasters. Moore...

Report Recommends Changes at South Dakota Division of Insurance

Jun 30 2013 // A department secretary’s report on the South Dakota Division of Insurance is recommending increased oversight from supervisors and the secretary, better staff communication and a new informal settlement process,...