Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge Tosses $20M Suit Against Police in Pennsylvania Pursuit Death
Mar 11 2011 // A federal judge has tossed a New Jersey man’s suit against a Pennsylvania police department over the 2008 death of his wife in a head-on crash with a suspect being pursued by officers. U.S. District Judge Lawrence...
Panel Recommends New Business-Only Court in West Virginia
Mar 11 2011 // The West Virginia Supreme Court is being encouraged to create a new system to consider all business-related lawsuits. The recommendation comes from a six-member committee the court appointed last year in response to...
California to Extend Low-Cost Auto Program to Same Sex Spouses
Mar 10 2011 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has filed regulations to add the category of “spouse” to the application form for the state’s Low Cost Auto Insurance Program. “The definition of...
Lawmaker Files Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Reform Bill
Mar 10 2011 // Texas State Rep. Larry Taylor, R-Friendswood, has introduced House Bill 2818, a comprehensive reform effort intended to address many of the problems confronting the Texas Windstorm Insurance Agency (TWIA). In announcing...
Georgia Court Rules Commercial Liability Policy Covers Faulty Work
Mar 10 2011 // A general contractor can recover from its subcontractor’s insurers for the cost of repairs for damage to surrounding property resulting from the subcontractor’s faulty workmanship, the Georgia Supreme Court has...
BP Oil Spill Claims Chief Feinberg to Face Florida Lawmakers
Mar 10 2011 // The man in charge of paying BP claims for the Gulf oil spill will soon face a Florida legislative committee to answer questions about how the compensation scheme is going. Kenneth Feinberg, the lawyer who is overseeing the...
Ex-AIG CEO Greenberg: Judge in New York AG Case Biased
Mar 10 2011 // Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, the former American International Group Inc. chief executive, said the judge overseeing a New York attorney general lawsuit against him should be removed from the case because he is...
Texas Lawmakers Want to End Driver Surcharges
Mar 9 2011 // Texas lawmakers are considering eliminating a program that requires those charged with offenses including driving while intoxicated and failure to have insurance to pay state surcharges. Nearly 60 percent of those with the...
Obama Administration Appeals Florida Judge’s Healthcare Ruling
Mar 8 2011 // The Obama administration Tuesday appealed a U.S. judge’s ruling in Florida that struck down its landmark healthcare overhaul law as unconstitutional because it required Americans to buy healthcare insurance or face a...
Florida Lawmakers Aim to Shrink State Insurer Citizens
Mar 8 2011 // Florida lawmakers are looking to cut the state’s largest property insurer down in size. The plan is to reduce the number of properties insured by Citizens Property Insurance Corp. by allowing it to raise its rates by...
How California Bill Implements Federal NRRA Surplus Lines Reform
Mar 8 2011 // The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA), Subtitle B, Part I, Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, reaches out and touches California on July 21, 2011. In anticipation of its effective date,...
Reducing Car Crashes One Reason to Thin Deer Herd in Indiana
Mar 8 2011 // One in 140 drivers in Indiana is likely to a hit a deer this year. That’s the statistic the State Farm insurance agency formulated last year when it studied the number of deer-vehicle collisions across the...
Republican Flood Insurance Bill Gets Positive Initial Reception
Mar 8 2011 // A Republican draft of legislation to reform the federal flood insurance program would renew the program for five years, phase out most rate subsidies, tie coverage limits to the rate of inflation, vary the deductible by...
Pennsylvania Ponders Election for Insurance Commissioner
Mar 8 2011 // A bill that would make the Pennsylvania insurance commissioner an elected position has been introduced in the state’s House of Representatives. Legislation sponsored by Rep Neal Goodman, a Democrat from Mahanoy City,...
Judge Won’t Order Additional Damages Against Exxon for Valdez Spill
Mar 8 2011 // A federal judge has refused to order Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay an additional $92 million sought by the U.S. government and state of Alaska to address lingering damage from the 1989 oil spill in Prince William Sound. U.S....
U.S. Judge Halts Ecuador Damages Enforcement Against Chevron
Mar 8 2011 // A U.S. judge Monday halted enforcement of an $18 billion award against Chevron Corp, siding with the oil company against Ecuadorean plaintiffs in a long-running dispute over Amazon rain forest pollution. The move comes...
Best’s Special Report Analyzes EU’s Solvency II Impact on Ratings
Mar 8 2011 // A report from A.M. Best Co. provides a timely analysis of the fast approaching implementation of the European Commission’s long-awaited Solvency II insurance regulations, which are now scheduled to come into force as...
People
Mar 7 2011 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America named Jeffrey Junkas regional manager, state government relations. Junkas brings to PCI 15 years of public affairs experience, including six in the property/casualty...
Missouri House Votes to Change Workplace Discrimination Laws
Mar 7 2011 // The Missouri House passed legislation that could make it more difficult for employees to win workplace discrimination lawsuits. The legislation, approved by a 95-59 vote, would require people to prove that discrimination...
Florida’s E&S Brokers: Doing Business in a World Gone Flat
Mar 7 2011 // Brokers Hoping Improving Economy, Changes in Tallahassee, Rate Deregulation Will Bring Some Relief The numbers alone tell the story. According to the Florida Surplus Lines Office, the total surplus lines premiums written...
