Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Washington Refines Pay-As-You-Drive Legislation
Mar 7 2011 // A Washington Senate Committee has refined a proposal to allow drivers’ insurance rates to be based primarily on the number of miles driven per year. The PAYD bill, Senate Bill 5730, would allow insurers to offer...
Supreme Court on Seat Belts
Mar 7 2011 // The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal regulations setting vehicle safety standards do not bar lawsuits seeking damages from automakers for installing lap-only seat belts. The unanimous ruling held that a California...
NRRA Surplus Lines Requirements: The Devil is in the Details
Mar 7 2011 // Editor’s Note: This is the second installment of a two-part article on compliance with the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act. Part one appeared in the West region of Insurance Journal’s February 21, 2011...
Georgia Ex-Regulator Oxendine Granted Himself Licenses As He Exited Post
Mar 7 2011 // Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine issued himself several licenses to sell insurance and adjust claims in his last full day in office, according to a newspaper report. Oxendine used his authority as the...
Missouri Senate Endorses Change in Workplace Bias Law
Mar 4 2011 // Legislation revising parts of Missouri’s laws on workplace discrimination is moving through the state Senate. The chamber gave first-round approval to a bill changing the legal standard people must meet when they...
Judge Denies Class Action Status in South Dakota Med Mal Lawsuit
Mar 4 2011 // A federal judge has refused to expand a lawsuit beyond the seven people who are suing a South Dakota urology clinic and its owners. The plaintiffs sought to make it a class action suit representing more than 6,000...
House Votes to Repeal Healthcare Law’s 1099 Reporting Measure
Mar 4 2011 // The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to rescind an unpopular business tax reporting requirement in the year-old healthcare law, but the measure could be delayed by a dispute with Senate Democrats over how to...
Judge Stays Healthcare Ruling, Gives White House Appeal Deadline
Mar 4 2011 // A U.S. judge Thursday put on hold his ruling that President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul was unconstitutional, allowing the White House to continue implementing the landmark legislation for now. But U.S....
Holocaust Survivors Want U.S. to Push European Insurers on Payments
Mar 2 2011 // Aging survivors of the Nazi Holocaust plan to protest outside a political fundraiser in Miami Beach featuring President Barack Obama this week to publicize their struggle to collect what they say is $20 billion in Jewish...
California Proposes to Disable Itself From Taxing 100% of Surplus Lines Premium
Mar 1 2011 // A California legislator has proposed a surplus lines bill — one effect of which will reduce California’s surplus lines premium tax revenues. On Feb. 9, 2011, California Assembly Member Solario introduced Assembly...
EU Court Rules Insurers Cannot Link Risks to Gender
Mar 1 2011 // Insurance companies cannot take gender into account when setting premiums and paying out benefits from annuities and retirement savings or accident cover, the European Union’s top court ruled on Tuesday. The ruling...
New Mexico Fraud Bill Would Allow Judges to Aggregate Claims
Feb 28 2011 // The New Mexico Senate has passed a bill giving judges authority to aggregate the dollar amount of false insurance claims to determine the penalty before sentencing a fraudster. Judges can impose harsher sentences by...
New Mexico Rejects Bill to Ban Illegal Immigrant Drivers Licenses
Feb 28 2011 // New Mexico’s Senate has rejected Republican-backed proposals to stop the state from issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Two measures failed on party-line votes, with 14 Republicans voting to end...
Illinois Lawmaker Wants Audit of Workers’ Comp System
Feb 28 2011 // A top Illinois lawmaker is calling for an audit of the state’s questioned workers’ compensation program as it applies to state employees. The Belleville News-Democrat reports that Illinois House Speaker Michael...
Florida Approves Lower Collateral for Reinsurer Tokio Millennium
Feb 28 2011 // Florida has approved lower collateral payments for another Bermuda reinsurer, the eighth foreign reinsurer to be granted this approval by the state. Tokio Millennium Re Ltd., a subsidiary of Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire...
Judge Seeks Narrowing of Sept. 11 Wrongful Death Suit
Feb 28 2011 // A judge is urging lawyers in the June trial of the only wrongful death case remaining from the Sept. 11 attacks to see if they can trim the number of defendants, but one lawyer cited lingering questions over how weapons...
Oklahoma Teacher Disfigured in Fire Opposes Liability Damage Caps
Feb 27 2011 // After a lengthy battle with breast cancer, Connie Plumlee was undergoing her last reconstructive surgery when something went horribly wrong. A fire believed to have started from a cauterizing tool in the operating room...
Missouri House Votes to Change Workplace Discrimination Laws
Feb 27 2011 // The Missouri House has passed legislation that could make it harder for employees to win workplace discrimination lawsuits. The legislation, approved by 95-59 vote, would require people to prove that discrimination was the...
New York Gov.’s Budget Details Banking, Insurance Regulation Merger
Feb 24 2011 // New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed state budget contains slightly more money for the new agency he wants to create by combining existing banking and insurance regulatory departments than they now...
Another Federal Judge Dismisses Suit Against Healthcare Mandate
Feb 24 2011 // A federal judge this threw out a lawsuit claiming that President Barack Obama’s requirement that all Americans have health insurance violates the religious freedom of those who rely on God to protect them. U.S....
