Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge Defends Spill Decision That Upset Louisiana AG
Jan 31 2011 // A federal judge said Jan. 28 that he wasn’t trying to deprive states of their rights when he appointed Alabama’s newly elected attorney general to coordinate all states’ interests in the litigation...
Oklahoma Lawmaker, Manufactured Housing Assoc. Tackling Tornado Safety
Jan 27 2011 // Oklahoma State Rep. Pat Ownbey and the Manufactured Housing Association of Oklahoma Board of Directors’ are seeking to develop sample emergency plans for mobile home communities to prevent deaths in the event of a...
Arkansas Panel Votes Down Bill Attacking Federal Health Insurance Overhaul
Jan 27 2011 // A legislative committee in Arkansas has blocked an attempt to reject a key portion of the federal health care overhaul, while another group of lawmakers passed the first appropriation bill in the third week of the...
Mississippi AG Wants Judge to Take Over BP Oil Spill Claims
Jan 27 2011 // Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is asking for the federal judge in charge of the litigation surrounding the BP oil spill to take over the Gulf Coast Claims Facility process. Hood filed a “Statement of Interest...
Davos Leaders Warn on Food Inflation, Speculation amid Mideast Unrest
Jan 27 2011 // World leaders warned on Thursday that soaring food prices risked stoking unrest and even war, but top executives meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos rejected calls for curbs on commodity speculation. Indonesian President...
P/C Insurers Like Some of Obama’s State of Union Promises
Jan 27 2011 // Property/casualty insurers found things to like in President Obama’s State of the Union speech that was largely focused on the economy and business. Medical malpractice reform, regulatory review, and trade...
Judge Permits Mississippi Whistleblower Case Against Insurer
Jan 27 2011 // U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. has declined to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit filed against State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. State Farm had sought dismissal of the 2006 lawsuit filed by Cori and Kerri Rigsby, who...
Democrats Vow to Pursue Oil Spill Liability Bill
Jan 26 2011 // U.S. Democrats Wednesday pressed for new legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of last year’s massive BP oil spill, as Republicans warned that the disaster should not be used to hamper offshore oil and natural gas...
Alabama Court Rules University Hospital Shares State Immunity
Jan 26 2011 // The Alabama Supreme Court has thrown out a $3.2 million judgment against a Montgomery hospital, ruling for the first time that a hospital affiliated with a state university shares the state’s immunity from...
Judge Rules Barge Did Not Cause Katrina Flooding in New Orleans
Jan 25 2011 // A federal judge has ruled that a barge that landed on top of several homes in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans did not cause the floodwall to break during Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. of New...
Tennessee Firms Opting Out of Workers’ Compensation Must Register
Jan 25 2011 // A new Tennessee law is requiring all construction firm owners to register with the state if they choose to opt out of the state’s workers’ compensation system. The new law is designed to protect general...
California To Enforce Health Insurer Spending Limits
Jan 25 2011 // California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones’ request for an emergency regulation to give him the authority to enforce the 80 percent Medical Loss Ratio...
Guernsey Statement: ‘No Plans’ to Seek Equivalence under Solvency II
Jan 25 2011 // The Commerce and Employment Department of the States of Guernsey (the Guernsey Government) and the financial regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) have released a joint statement, which affirms that...
Judge Imprisons 2 for Life in Texas Church Arsons
Jan 24 2011 // A judge has sentenced two men to life in prison after they pleaded guilty in a series of fires at churches in Smith County in East Texas last year. Judge Christi Kennedy ordered the prison terms for 20-year-old Jason...
Panel on BP Oil Spill Calls for Tougher Oversight
Jan 24 2011 // A White House commission probing BP’s massive oil spill has called for an overhaul of a regulatory system that was “entirely unprepared” for disaster and outlined stringent, new oversight, a plan sure to...
Ohio Uninsured Motorist Litigation Tied to Money for Charities
Jan 24 2011 // An Ohio insurance company in late 2010 successfully challenged a class action lawsuit involving uninsured motorist/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage in a case that played prominently in a campaign to change the way...
Missouri Business Leaders Urge Tort, Workers’ Comp, Employment Law Reforms
Jan 24 2011 // Business leaders in Missouri are asking state lawmakers for reforms that they say will help protect and create jobs. Among the priorities, which proponents are calling “Fix the Six,” are bottom-line issues for...
Captivated By Potential
Jan 24 2011 // Northeast State Have Uneven Success Attracting Captives States across the Northeast continue to look at captive insurance companies as a potential source of new business — and tax revenue — but the continued growth of...
New York Insurers Applaud Plan to Merge State’s Regulatory Arms
Jan 24 2011 // A key trade group for insurers in New York State applauded a proposal by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to merge the state’s insurance regulatory arm into a single agency overseeing insurance, banking and consumer protection. The...
Much State Regulatory Ado About Little
Jan 24 2011 // Home State Taxation Under the NRRA As of July 21, 2011, the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA), also known as Subtitle B of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, reshapes the landscape...
