Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Supreme Court Justices Question Audit Board Under Sarbanes-Oxley
Dec 8 2009 // Several U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed to question Monday whether the president had enough authority over an agency that polices auditors of public companies. During arguments to consider if the Public Company...
One Thing Is Certain for Insurance Industry in Near Term: Uncertainty
Dec 8 2009 // The insurance industry may not see a return to relative stability and certainty for a few years as it reacts to the effects of regulatory reform, increased government intervention and potential tax law changes in the...
Florida Insurance Economist Spudeck Honored
Dec 7 2009 // The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) today presented Dr. Raymond Spudeck, senior research economist with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, with the organization’s most prestigious...
Agents’ New Lobbying Agenda
Dec 6 2009 // The 2,074-page health care bill includes a range of items that some say could be time bombs in waiting for some agencies – or new opportunities. Until this year, health care was a minor blip on the radar of insurance...
New York Regulator Proposes Changes to No-Fault Insurance Coverage
Dec 6 2009 // The New York State Insurance Department is proposing new regulations for no-fault auto insurance coverage in the Empire State, in a move aimed at reducing fraud. “We have to be vigilant in protecting the pocketbooks...
Changes to Federal Insurance Office Act Supported by State Regulators
Dec 6 2009 // State insurance regulators have expressed support for recent changes to proposed legislation creating a Federal Insurance Office (FIO). In a letter to the House Financial Services Committee, the National Association of...
Requirements Drive Need for Surety Bonds
Dec 6 2009 // At least four new surety bonds have hit the market in Texas and Arkansas in the last six months, part of a wave of new bonding requirements nationwide. “This past year has seemed to be especially active statutorily...
Louisiana Lawmakers, Regulators Responding to Chinese Drywall Issues
Dec 6 2009 // The controversy over drywall from China is heating up in Washington and in the Southeastern states most affected by the use of the product following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, including Louisiana. In a letter to...
New Requirements Drive Need for Surety Bonds
Dec 6 2009 // At least four new surety bonds have hit the market in Texas and Arkansas in the last six months, part of a wave of new bonding requirements nationwide. “This past year has seemed to be especially active statutorily...
Federal Judge Holds Corps Responsible in Katrina Flooding Case
Dec 6 2009 // A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to properly maintain and operate the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO) was a substantial cause for the flooding of part of the...
Declarations
Dec 6 2009 // Firefighting at Night “Nighttime air attack is a standard. … Such action was not taken because the USFS policy prohibits night flying. Would night flying have made a difference? No one can say for sure, but...
Missouri Lawmakers Propose to Ban All Texting-While-Driving
Dec 4 2009 // After Missouri’s youngest drivers were told to quit sending cell phone text messages, lawmakers are going after everybody else. Several lawmakers have filed bills for the 2010 legislative session that starts Jan. 6...
House Extends Estate Tax But Senate Likely to Change
Dec 4 2009 // The U.S. House of Representatives passed a permanent extension of the federal estate tax on Thursday, but the measure, which taxes estates at rate of 45 percent after exempting the first $3.5 million, is likely to be...
‘Fog in Channel’ – The Disconnect between England and France
Dec 4 2009 // The rest of that phrase, from a long ago Times headline, reads “- Continent Cut Off.” It succinctly summarizes the past, present and probably future state of relations between two of Europe’s oldest...
France Tries to Calm Britain’s Angst over Regulation Threats
Dec 3 2009 // France tried to reassure Britain on Thursday that its push for tougher financial regulation in the European Union would not undermine the City of London, saying new rules would not hurt anyone system in...
House Advances Sweeping Overhaul of Financial Services Regulation
Dec 3 2009 // Lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to give government regulators the power to break up financial firms that threaten economic stability, and to expose the Federal Reserve to unprecedented...
UK’s Darling Backs Stronger European Regulation
Dec 2 2009 // The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, backed tougher Europe-wide financial regulation in a Times article on Wednesday, but stressed that the UK’s financial services industry must not be...
American Bar Ass’n. Antitrust Section Approves EU’s Block Exemption Reg
Dec 2 2009 // The Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association has given its view of the European Union’s Block Exemption Regulation (BER). In a notice on its web site (www.abanet.org) the Section said it “appreciates...
Michigan Debate Over Proposed Auto Insurance Changes Heats Up
Dec 2 2009 // Democratic lawmakers in Michigan are promoting proposals they say would make auto insurance more affordable and strengthen consumer protections in the state. Opponents including the insurance industry say the proposals...
House Committee Passes Federal Insurance Office Act
Dec 2 2009 // The U.S. House Financial Services Committee has passed a measure to create a scaled-back federal office that would be a national insurance information agency with some authority in the area of international insurance...
