Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
People
Nov 21 2011 // Valencia, Calif.-based Petersen International Underwriters has named John J. Russo as legal director. Russo will assist in monitoring compliance and current legislation in various states, maintaining surplus lines...
Florida Consumer Advocate Questions If PIP Is Worth Cost
Nov 21 2011 // Florida’s automobile no-fault law is in severe need of reform, but the cost of doing so may be more than the benefit, according to the state’s insurance consumer advocate. Speaking before Florida’s...
Insurance Executives Turn Pessimistic Over Business Outlook: Survey
Nov 21 2011 // Many U.S. insurance executives believe that business conditions have worsened compared to a year ago. Faced with continuing economic sluggishness and a changing regulatory environment, they remain guarded about their...
South Carolina Judge Awards Sex Abuse Victim $14 Million
Nov 18 2011 // A South Carolina Circuit Court judge has awarded a 27-year-old woman more than $14 million in civil damages in a suit brought against a former stepfather who sexually abused her as a child. The woman, Kelly Waldron Bowles,...
Lawmaker: Oklahoma Cannot Wait On Insurance Exchange
Nov 17 2011 // A legislative panel exploring the impact of the new federal health care law on Oklahoma will likely suggest that the state should do the minimum amount required to comply with the act, the committee’s chairman...
Google Tells Congress Online Anti-Piracy Bill Goes Too Far
Nov 16 2011 // Google Inc. warned U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday that proposed legislation to crack down on foreign websites selling pirated U.S. movies, music or other counterfeit goods goes too far and could depress investment. The...
Down to the Wire for Federal Flood Insurance… Again
Nov 16 2011 // The nation’s flood insurance program is scheduled to expire again on Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, unless Congress takes action. Last month, the House and Senate passed legislation that kept the federal government – and...
Florida’s Citizens Seeks Lawmakers’ Help to Raise Rates, Shrink Size
Nov 16 2011 // Florida’s largest property insurer wants sweeping changes — including the ability to charge higher rates — in the coming year. It may be a hard sell during a contentious election year, but the board that governs...
Banks Having to Defend Credit Card Insurance
Nov 16 2011 // When Mariya Kruseck broke her tailbone snowboarding and lost her part-time job five years ago, the then 19-year-old college student was relieved she had bought payment protection to go with her credit card. But she said...
Tennessee Alters Surplus Lines Licensing
Nov 15 2011 // The expiration date for surplus lines licenses in Tennessee will soon have to coincide with the expiration of an agent’s primary insurance producer license. All surplus lines license expiration dates will be moved...
Oregon Pays Big Bucks to Contractors
Nov 15 2011 // Oregon may be in the middle of a budget crisis, but that hasn’t stopped state officials from committing nearly $10 billion to outside contractors, an Oregonian investigation has found. While talking about furlough...
Texas Surplus Lines Professionals: Late-file Bill a Victory but Issues Remain
Nov 15 2011 // The passage of a bill addressing late filing of surplus lines policies in the 2011 Texas legislative session was a victory for surplus lines professionals in the state. Senate Bill 1806 was backed by the Texas Surplus...
North Dakota Senate Approves $600M Disaster Package
Nov 15 2011 // North Dakota’s Senate unanimously approved a $639 million disaster relief measure that includes money for low-interest home loans, road construction and repairs to public works. The measure’s centerpiece is a...
Factory Dust Explosions Killing Workers While Safety Rules Lag
Nov 15 2011 // Each year, people are killed and maimed by explosions of finely powdered wood, metal or chemicals at factories around the country. Safety experts have studied the threat posed by dust at industrial sites for nearly a...
Judge Allows Alabama, Louisiana to Seek Punitive Damages in Oil Spill
Nov 14 2011 // A federal judge Monday said Alabama and Louisiana may seek punitive damages from companies including BP Plc for damages arising from last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The decision by U.S....
North Dakota House Rejects Health Insurance Exchange
Nov 14 2011 // Angered by a federal health care law that most of them despise, North Dakota House Republicans defeated legislation to give state officials authority over a health insurance marketing agency that the law requires states to...
Best Issues Special Report on New Zealand’s Non-Life Insurance Market
Nov 14 2011 // A new report from A.M. Best examines New Zealand’s non-life insurance market, which it describes as being “in a state of transformation as it grapples with prolonged earthquake activity in addition to...
FERMA Pushes Brazil to Relax Reinsurance Regulatory Restrictions
Nov 14 2011 // The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA) announced that it has sent “specific recommendations to the Brazilian insurance regulator SUSEP to limit the impact of regulations 225 and 232 on market...
Bank of North Dakota May Offer Homeowners Low-Interest Disaster Loans
Nov 10 2011 // A key provision in the North Dakota Legislature’s disaster aid bill would provide low-interest, unsecured loans of up to $30,000 for homeowners hit especially hard by this year’s flooding, the Bank of North...
Former Louisiana Lawmaker Shepherd Released to Halfway House
Nov 10 2011 // A former Louisiana state senator who pleaded guilty to money laundering in a fraudulent security bond fraud case has been released from federal prison into a halfway house. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said Derrick...
