Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Rejected Emails Cause Headaches for Texas Insurance Regulators
Jul 26 2012 // The Texas Department of Insurance recently was inundated by hundreds of emails regarding homeowner insurance rates, and the department now has the task of finding out why the majority of them were rejected by...
House Backs Obama Quashing of Safety Rules for Child Farmworkers
Jul 26 2012 // The House of representatives this week barred the labor secretary from imposing new safety rules for children working on farms, putting a legal stamp on a Labor Department decision to put off action on the rules. The Labor...
Judge Seeks More Details on Dewey Law Firm’s Bonuses
Jul 26 2012 // A judge on Wednesday demanded more detail on a plan by Dewey & LeBoeuf to pay out as much as $450,000 in performance-based bonuses to employees helping to wind down the bankrupt law firm’s operations. Judge...
Former Citigroup Chief Weill Surprises with Call for Break-Up of Big Banks
Jul 26 2012 // Sanford “Sandy” Weill, the tycoon who built financial conglomerate Citigroup Inc. into a massive U.S. commercial and investment bank, said it is time to split up the biggest banks so they can go back to growing...
Oil Firms, Regulators Miss Major Accident Indicators: Gulf Spill Report
Jul 25 2012 // Transocean and BP, trade associations, and U.S. regulators largely judged the safety of offshore facilities by focusing on routine personal injury and fatality data such as dropped objects and trips and falls when they...
North Carolina Property Insurance Reform Law Comes Up Short
Jul 24 2012 // North Carolina’s property market problems are well known but thus far answers remain elusive even after lawmakers approved a bill that does little more than what one industry expert said, “just stuck more...
FEMA Backing Away From Vermont Funding Assurance
Jul 23 2012 // A top state official stunned lawmakers last Friday with the announcement that the Federal Emergency Management Agency apparently was backing away from funding assurances to help replace the Vermont State Hospital and...
Feds To Take Over Hawaii Job-Safety Regulation
Jul 23 2012 // The federal government will temporarily take control of parts of Hawaii’s authority to regulate workplace safety. In response to federal concern to staff reductions in the Hawaii Occupational Safety and Health...
N.Y. Judge: Aon’s Poaching Suit Against Alliant Ins. Can Proceed
Jul 23 2012 // A New York court ruled recently that Aon Risk Services Northeast can proceed with its lawsuit against California-based Alliant Insurance Services involving employment covenants. Aon alleged that several of its former...
Nevada to Exit NIMA
Jul 23 2012 // Nevada is leaving the surplus lines tax clearinghouse to which it belongs, Nevada’s insurance commissioner confirmed this month. Nevada is the latest in a string of states to exit the Non-Admitted Insurance...
Florida Streamlines Licensing for Agents, Adjusters
Jul 23 2012 // A new Florida law seeks to reduce the regulatory burden on agents and adjusters by consolidating some licenses and revamping the education classes they must take to conduct business in the state. Among the changes:...
N.J. Court Rules on Workers’ Comp Occupational Stress Claim
Jul 23 2012 // A New Jersey court struck down recently a claim by a former bank employee who sought workers’ comp disability benefits for what the claimant described as a psychological illness caused by occupational stress. The...
What to Know About the NEW & IMPROVED Flood Program
Jul 23 2012 // Now with Fewer Subsidies, Minimum Deductibles, Multifamily Coverage and More If it were a dam or a levee, it would have been replaced ages ago. Yet the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has stayed afloat despite a...
Court Rules for Travelers in Penn. Kickback Case
Jul 23 2012 // A federal appeals court said recently Travelers Property Casualty Co. doesn’t have to pay $1.75 million in damages as part of a settlement involving privately owned juvenile detention facilities in...
Michigan House GOP Won’t OK Health Exchange Anytime Soon
Jul 20 2012 // Republican lawmakers want more questions answered before they’ll consider giving GOP Gov. Rick Snyder approval to start work on a website for purchasing health insurance required under the federal health care law,...
House Lawmakers Reach Deal on Russia Trade Pact, Rights Bill
Jul 20 2012 // The top Republican and Democrat on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee said on Thursday they had reached a deal to move forward on Russian trade legislation, including human rights provisions opposed by...
Bipartisan Senate Bill Addresses Cyber Threats
Jul 20 2012 // Compromise legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday would bolster cyber threat assessment and permit the government to share information with American business under certain conditions, a step aimed at better...
Congress Looking to Rein In ‘Patent Trolls’
Jul 19 2012 // A relatively obscure government agency at the center of a high stakes battle between the companies that make smartphones – Apple, Samsung Electronics, HTC and others – could well be headed for big changes. The...
Russia Backs WTO Entry; U.S. Friction Persists
Jul 19 2012 // Russia’s upper house of parliament voted on Wednesday to ratify entry into the World Trade Organization, and now only the signature of President Vladimir Putin is needed to complete the country’s 18-year bid to...
Senate Panel Approves Russia Trade, Human Rights Bill
Jul 19 2012 // The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill to ensure U.S. exporters share in the benefits of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization but also to punish Russian officials for...
