Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
AIG Lobbied Congress to Ease Accounting Rules, FASB Chief Says
Jun 29 2009 // The top U.S. accounting rulemaker denounced the “politicization” of accounting standards on Friday, three months after he was pressured by Congress to make changes that would help banks’...
Surplus Lines, Reinsurance Streamlining Bills Introduced in Senate
Jun 26 2009 // Legislation aimed at streamlining and reducing barriers in state regulation of surplus lines insurance and reinsurance has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA) of 2009, or S...
Texas Special Legislative Session to Convene July 1
Jun 26 2009 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry has called a special session of the Texas Legislature that will begin July 1. One of the primary issues lawmakers will consider is continuing the operations of five state agencies, including the Texas...
Louisiana Passes Workers’ Comp Medical Treatment Bill
Jun 26 2009 // The Louisiana Legislature passed SB 303, workers’ compensation medical treatment legislation, just before it adjourned on June 25. According to the American Insurance Association (AIA), SB 303 requires that medical...
Congress Told New Consumer Agency Not Needed for P/C Insurance
Jun 25 2009 // There is no need for a federal consumer protection agency for property/casualty insurance products, state insurance regulators and insurers told Congress. In testimony before the House Committee of Financial Services on a...
California Commissioner Seeks Comments on PAYD Auto Insurance
Jun 25 2009 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has issued proposed regulations for Pay-Drive (Usage Based Auto Insurance), and is accepting public comments on the proposal until 5 p.m., Thursday, July 9, 2009. According...
Obama Flexible But Says Public Health Option Would Control Costs
Jun 24 2009 // President Barack Obama said Tuesday his healthcare overhaul needed a public insurance option to enforce market “discipline,” but stopped short of saying he would veto legislation without one. Obama, who has...
All North Carolina Homeowners Could Pay If Insurers, Beach Plan Fall Short
Jun 24 2009 // Every insured homeowner in North Carolina could shoulder the cost of rebuilding if a massive hurricane hits under a deal taking shape in the Legislature. The legislation (HB1305), expected to be detailed in a House...
Louisiana Legislative Actions Both Please and Disappoint Insurer Group
Jun 24 2009 // The American Insurance Association (AIA) has expressed disappointment that the Louisiana Senate chose not to consider asbestos lawsuit reform legislation during the 2009 session. The insurance company trade group, however,...
Florida Gov. Crist Vetoes ‘State Farm’ Insurance Rate Deregulation Bill
Jun 24 2009 // Siding with domestic insurers, consumer groups and the state insurance regulator, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist today vetoed a bill designed to keep State Farm from leaving and attract other large insurers to the state by...
Convicted Pennsylvania Judge Joyce to Keep $82K Pension
Jun 23 2009 // A retired Pennsylvania Superior Court judge will not forfeit his $82,000 annual pension for the insurance fraud that landed him in federal prison for 46 months. That’s because the Pennsylvania State Employees’...
Financial Crisis Poses Greatest Threat to Insurance Industry, Study Says
Jun 23 2009 // The impact of the financial crisis is the most significant risk facing the insurance industry, according to a new report by Ernst & Young. In its second annual business risk report – insurance 2009, model risk...
Judge Says Feds Can Seize $30 Million from Kentucky Diet Scam Lawyers
Jun 22 2009 // Federal prosecutors may seize $30 million and three bank accounts from a pair of Kentucky lawyers convicted of bilking clients in a diet-drug settlement, a judge says. U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves on Thursday granted...
Documents Show Connecticut Officials Were Warned about Chimp
Jun 22 2009 // Connecticut officials were repeatedly warned about the dangers posed by a chimpanzee that later mauled and blinded a woman and were urged — more than three years before the attack — to take action, but failed...
Florida, German Insurance Regulators Sign Cooperation Pact
Jun 22 2009 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced that the Office of Insurance Regulation and the German Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) have agreed to work together on sharing and...
New Rhode Island Law Saves Residents Money When Storms Loom
Jun 19 2009 // A new law could save homeowners money when a hurricane off the Atlantic coast churns up weather strong enough to damage homes in Rhode Island but never reaches the state. Legislation signed last week by Gov. Don Carcieri...
Florida Amends Rules for Reporting Professional Liability Claims
Jun 18 2009 // Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has signed into law a bill that amends the rules for reporting of professional liability claims by insurers and health care providers. The bill (SB 2252) also defines when a claim exists and sets...
Did Florida’s 2003 Reforms Reduce Workers’ Comp Attorney Involvement?
Jun 18 2009 // After Florida limited the fees paid to attorneys in workers’ compensation in 2003, attorney involvement in cases fell only slightly, according to new research. A significant proportion of Florida workers injured at...
House Divided Over Future of Insurance Regulation
Jun 18 2009 // House lawmakers are divided about how to supervise the insurance industry as Congress reviews the Obama administration’s blueprint for a broad overhaul of the nation’s financial rule book. Rep. Paul Kanjorski,...
Florida Judge Rules Out Punitive Damages in Accounting Malpractice
Jun 17 2009 // A Miami judge ruled on Tuesday that BDO International B.V. should not have to pay $352 million in punitive damages awarded against its U.S. member, BDO Seidman, in an ongoing landmark audit malpractice trial. Closing...
