Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge OKs Long Island Class Action Suit
Jan 24 2010 // A New York judge has given a green light to a class action suit filed by a group of Long Island homeowners worried about toxic leaks from Brookhaven National Laboratory. The leaks were first reported in the mid-1990s and...
Workers’ Comp Reform High on Oklahoma GOP Legislative Agenda
Jan 24 2010 // Reforming Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system will be among the top legislative goals for Republican lawmakers in 2010. GOP leaders in the state Senate and House of Representatives say overhaul of the...
Economic Downturn Puts Pressure on Return-to-Work Programs
Jan 24 2010 // The recent recession and record unemployment rates have increased pressure on the workers’ compensation insurance system to help return injured employees back to work while effectively managing costs. That was one of...
5 Issues Agents Should Watch in 2010
Jan 24 2010 // With insurance agents across the nation breathing a sigh of relief that 2009 is behind them, their focus has turned to the future: What will 2010 bring for the industry? These emergent issues are important not only for...
Rhode Island Lawmaker Wants to Ban Phone Use while Driving
Jan 22 2010 // A Rhode Island lawmaker is renewing his push to ban drivers from using hand-held cell phones while behind the wheel. Pawtucket Democrat Peter Kilmartin introduced a bill Tuesday that bans drivers and bicyclists from using...
West Virginia Eyes Lien on Fire Insurance to Fight Abandoned Buildings
Jan 21 2010 // West Virginia may be on the path to helping municipalities pay for debris removal of abandoned buildings with insurance payments in a way that insurers can live with. The issue of how to pay for the cleanup has irked...
Arkansas Senator: Business Tax Hike May Be Needed for Unemployment
Jan 21 2010 // A lawmaker said he may propose increasing taxes on businesses to help Arkansas pay off about $220 million it owes the federal government for unemployment insurance benefits. Sen. Larry Teague of Nashville said he’s...
U.S. Senate Vote Dims Hopes for Stronger World Climate Pact
Jan 21 2010 // Hopes for stronger world action in 2010 to curb climate change have dimmed after the U.S. Democrats lost a key Senate seat to a Republican opposed to capping emissions, experts said Wednesday. The election of Republican...
Federal Reserve Defends Dealings Over AIG Payments to Banks
Jan 20 2010 // Federal Reserve officials Tuesday launched a vigorous defense of their dealings with American International Group, calling for a congressional audit and denying any inappropriate action with respect to payments the...
Zenith National Insurance Adds Judge Foust to Claims Legal Team
Jan 20 2010 // Zenith National Insurance Corp. plans to release fourth quarter and year end 2009 financial results on Jan. 28, 2010 at the end of its business day. Also, the Woodland Hills, Calif.-based company announced that Judge...
Agents’ Disciplinary-Action Bill Signed into Law in New Jersey
Jan 19 2010 // Insurance agents will be required to notify the state if they have been disciplined by any non-governmental regulatory agency under a new law signed yesterday. The new law requires insurance producers licensed in New...
Missouri Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Malpractice Limits
Jan 19 2010 // Missouri’s top judges questioned Jan. 14 whether a 2005 law limiting medical malpractice lawsuits is being wrongly applied to people retroactively and is discriminating against the spouses of those injured. Attorneys...
California Lawmakers Fail to Report Gifts
Jan 19 2010 // Did the health insurance industry, among others, have unfair influence on California lawmakers, after it gave family members gifts? That’s the question voters and the state Fair Political Practices Commission might...
Calif. State Fund Previews 2010 Workers’ Comp Changes
Jan 19 2010 // Each year brings new laws and regulations for employers, and 2010 is no exception. To help employers stay informed about regulations and issues impacting workers’ compensation insurance, the California State...
Economic Downturn Puts Pressure on Return-to-Work Programs
Jan 15 2010 // The recent recession and record unemployment rates have increased pressure on the workers’ compensation insurance system to help return injured employees back to work while effectively managing costs. That was one of...
Wall Street Barons Concede Failures, Offer No Apologies
Jan 14 2010 // Wall Street’s chiefs acknowledged taking on “too much risk” and having “choked” on their own cooking, but stopped short of an apology as they sparred with a commission looking into the...
Connecticut Teen’s Death Revives Bus Seat Belt Debate
Jan 13 2010 // For more than a decade, Connecticut lawmakers have considered and dismissed the idea of requiring seat belts on school buses that carry nearly 500,000 children each day. But a deadly weekend crash in Hartford has given the...
Restructuring Workers’ Comp Among Goals for Oklahoma Senate GOP
Jan 13 2010 // Reforming Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system will be among state Senate Republicans’ top legislative goals for 2010. Republicans, who enjoy a majority in the Oklahoma Senate, are led by Senate...
Florida Agents, Consumer Group Sound Alarm Over ‘Perilous’ Property Market
Jan 13 2010 // Insurance agents, a former insurance commissioner and a consumer advocate have sounded an alarm about the property insurance marketplace in Florida, a market that has seen four insurers get into financial trouble in the...
Sammis Named Interim Maryland Commissioner
Jan 11 2010 // Elizabeth “Beth” Sammis has been appointed Interim Maryland Insurance Commissioner, overseeing the regulation of Maryland’s $26 billion insurance industry. Sammis has served as deputy commissioner for the...
