Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mississippi Commissioner Offers Alabama Advice on Coastal Insurance
Aug 14 2009 // The keys to holding down insurance premiums on the Alabama coast are strong enforcement of building codes, proper land use and mitigating homes against future disasters, Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney told...
Judge OKs $60M Lawsuit against Anna Nicole Smith Book Author
Aug 14 2009 // A New York judge says a jury can decide whether an author who wrote a best-selling book about Anna Nicole Smith’s death defamed her lawyer and companion. Federal Judge Denny Chin found plenty of reasons on Wednesday...
Federal Judge Dismisses Agents’ Lawsuit Against Brooke Corp.
Aug 14 2009 // A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing bankrupt Brooke Corp. and its financing arm of racketeering and fraud, saying the claims are not specific enough. Scores of insurance agents sued Overland Park, Kan.-based...
Florida Insurance Agents Say State’s Home Mitigation Effort Is Failing
Aug 13 2009 // Florida’s efforts to encourage homeowners to harden their homes to better withstand big storms by giving them insurance premium discounts is not getting the job done, according to a report from insurance agents in...
White House Seeks New Reins on Derivatives
Aug 13 2009 // The Obama administration this week sent Congress legislation seeking to impose broad new oversight on derivatives, the complex financial instruments blamed for hastening the global economic crisis. The plan is designed to...
Insurers in Crosshairs of U.S. Health Care Reformers
Aug 11 2009 // The debate over reforming the U.S. health care system has zeroed in on one main target: insurance companies. Democrats and the Obama administration plan to spend August battling to win popular support to expand health care...
Oklahoma Lawmakers Launch Study to Privatize Work Comp Insurer
Aug 7 2009 // A legislative task force has begun a study on how best to privatize CompSource Oklahoma, the agency that provides workers’ compensation insurance in the state. Members of a nine-member task force convened Aug 6. The...
Colorado Committee Evaluates State’s Workers’ Comp Insurer Pinnacol
Aug 5 2009 // A special committee of Colorado lawmakers is evaluating Pinnacol Assurance, to examine what role the state should have in managing the quasi-governmental workers’ compensation insurer’s business. Ken Ross,...
Regulatory Reform, Rewards for Quality Insurers Ahead, Says Chubb Exec
Aug 5 2009 // Skepticism over the financial condition of insurance companies is healthy and financially strong insurers stand to gain over weaker competitors in today’s market, an executive for a major property/casualty insurer...
North Carolina Senate Panel Approves Beach Plan Rescue
Aug 5 2009 // The North Carolina Senate Commerce Committee today passed legislation (HB 1305) to rescue the state’s underfunded coastal insurer, the Beach Plan. The bill, which already passed the House, will now bypass the finance...
California Releases New Draft of Pay-As-You-Drive Regulations
Aug 4 2009 // The California Department of Insurance has released a new draft of the Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) regulations, after receiving dozens of comments from consumer groups, the insurance industry and other invested parties, it...
Insurers See ‘Full Plate’ of Insurance Issues for Delaware Next Year
Aug 3 2009 // A trade group for insurance companies says Delaware lawmakers will have a “full plate” of legislative insurance issues when they reconvene next year. Among the big issues, according to the Property Casualty...
Cal/OSHA Moves to Strengthen Heat Illness Prevention Regulations
Aug 3 2009 // California’s Department of Industrial Relations’ (DIR) Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has filed a proposal with the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to amend the...
State Farm Florida Withdrawal Plan May Go To Judge
Aug 3 2009 // After months of trying, Florida state officials and State Farm Florida have not been able to agree on the insurer’s plan for withdrawing from the state, so steps have been taken to have an administrative law judge...
States Give a ‘Thumbs Up’ to Fingerprinting Insurance Producers
Aug 3 2009 // Regulators Say Fingerprinting Keeps Criminals Out of the Business Don’t be alarmed, but there are convicted criminals roaming around the country acting as insurance producers. They could be robbers, forgers, possibly...
Colorado Workers’ Comp Insurer Wants to Go Private
Jul 31 2009 // The head of Colorado’s state-chartered workers’ compensation insurance fund says the company wants to go private. Ken Ross, president and chief executive of Pinnacol Assurance, told The Denver Post editorial...
Judge: Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Must Hand Over Documents
Jul 31 2009 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has lost a legal fight with the state’s legislative auditor and said that he’ll give auditors “hundreds of thousands” of documents they demanded from his...
New Hampshire Judge Rejects State’s Claim on Malpractice Fund
Jul 31 2009 // A New Hampshire judge has rejected the state’s claim on a $110 million surplus in a fund that underwrites malpractice insurance. The state counted on $65 million of the money to help balance the budget in the fiscal...
Lawmakers to Propose Ban on Texting while Driving
Jul 30 2009 // States would be required to ban driving while texting or face the loss of highway funds under legislation being pushed by a group of Democratic senators. Aimed at reducing driver distraction and highway deaths and...
Texas Enacts Windstorm Insurance Reforms; Will They Be Enough?
Jul 30 2009 // During the recently completed 81st Legislative Session, the Texas legislature adopted the most significant reforms to the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) since 1997 with the passage of House Bill 4409 (HB...
