Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New York Regulator Signs Cooperation Agreement with China
Jul 28 2009 // The New York State Insurance Department has signed a cooperation agreement with regulators in China calling for closer cooperation between the two agencies in overseeing insurance issues. Acting Superintendent Kermitt...
Consumer Group Urges Congress to Curb Insurers’ Risky Behavior
Jul 28 2009 // A large U.S. consumer group urged Congress Tuesday to clamp down on insurers’ risky practices after last year’s near collapse of AIG due to its foray into exotic derivative instruments. The Consumer Federation...
West Virginia Lawmaker Asks Huntington to Scrap Insurance Rule
Jul 28 2009 // A state lawmaker is urging Huntington to scrap an ordinance that has prompted a court challenge to West Virginia’s experiment with home rule. Delegate Jim Morgan, a Cabell County Democrat, wants the city to withdraw...
Congress Urged to Raise Liability Standard for Credit Rating Firms
Jul 27 2009 // Congress must consider radical reforms to improve the accountability and reliability of credit rating agencies like Moody’s Corp. and McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc.’s Standard & Poor’s, a top U.S. lawmaker...
Federal Judge: Oklahoma Can’t Seek Damages in Poultry Lawsuit
Jul 24 2009 // Oklahoma can’t pursue monetary damages in its environmental lawsuit against a dozen Arkansas poultry companies because it didn’t name the Cherokee Nation as a plaintiff, a federal judge ruled in a major blow to...
New Missouri Law Encourages Captive Insurance Operations
Jul 24 2009 // Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed a bill that makes improvements to the state’s captive insurance laws by simplifying the process of moving offshore captive operations to Missouri. House Bill 577, an omnibus...
White House Still Sees Health Reform By Year’s End Despite Delays
Jul 24 2009 // Shrugging off delays in a divided Congress, President Barack Obama’s administration on Friday said a sweeping healthcare overhaul would still be approved by year’s end to control costs and expand...
New York Judge Awards $250K to Wrongly Imprisoned Woman
Jul 24 2009 // A woman falsely implicated by New York police in a gruesome 1989 multiple murder is entitled to more than $250,000 in compensation for the nearly 2 1/2 years she spent behind bars, a New York Court of Claims judge has...
State Regulation, Earthquake Coverage of Concern to Missouri’s Huff
Jul 24 2009 // In an address to some 130 members of the Missouri Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) Missouri Insurance Director John M. Huff made a strong argument that states, rather than the federal government, should continue to...
Florida Signs Insurance Regulation Pact with United Kingdom
Jul 22 2009 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) and the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority (FSA) have agreed to work together on issues that affect insurance consumers in the U.K. and the U.S. Florida Insurance...
Florida’s Denial of State Farm 47% Rate Hike Again Upheld
Jul 21 2009 // A court has upheld Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty’s denial of a 47.1 percent home insurance rate hike requested last July by State Farm Florida. According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation...
Judge: $145M Suit over Taser-Death Can Go to Trial
Jul 21 2009 // A federal judge in Baltimore has ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit can go to trial against Frederick County and the sheriff’s office in the death of a man who was shocked with a Taser in 2007. The family of...
Insurance Claims Firm Says West Virginia Owes It $1 Million Lost in Scam
Jul 21 2009 // A Memphis insurance claims firm wants the more than $1 million that it was supposed to receive from West Virginia, but that was instead diverted in an apparent Africa-based fraud scheme, state lawmakers learned...
Oklahoma Lawmaker Vows to Continue Cell Phone Safety Efforts
Jul 21 2009 // Although legislation filed by Oklahoma House of Representatives Democratic Leader Danny Morgan to address the dangers of cell phone use and texting while driving has stalled the past two legislative sessions, Rep. Morgan...
New York Eases Compensation Disclosure Mandate for Producers
Jul 20 2009 // Agents Still Say Cumbersome Changes Will Create Problems The New York State Insurance Department this month released a new draft of a rule governing when and how insurance producers must disclose their compensation and...
South Carolina Chief Refutes Legislative Audit Critical of Some Insurance Department Work
Jul 20 2009 // A report by the auditing arm of the South Carolina Legislature has concluded that the state insurance department overall does a good job regulating insurance companies and their rates but it could do a better job of...
Declarations
Jul 20 2009 // Too High a Cost “In terms of lives and of dollars, the cost of repealing Missouri’s helmet law simply would have been too high.” —Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, who vetoed legislation that would have relaxed...
Florida’s Citizens Rate Hikes Fall Short of Industry Hopes
Jul 20 2009 // After three years of no increases, Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is about to hike premiums up to 10 percent for many of its policyholders, although not for as many as some insurance insiders and...
California Commissioner Rejects Workers’ Comp Bureau Rate Increase
Jul 20 2009 // Citing testimony that self-insured employers have been able to reduce overall workers’ compensation costs, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has rejected the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating...
Rhode Island Court Rules Insurer Not Obligated to Defend Nightclub Owners
Jul 20 2009 // A Rhode Island court has ruled that a commercial general liability insurance policy held by the owners of the Station nightclub does not require the insurance company to defend them against criminal charges. The case arose...
