Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Wyoming Introduces Workers’ Comp Legislation
Feb 22 2009 // Legislation has been introduced in the Wyoming House that could hold oil and gas operators liable for their own negligence resulting in injuries and fatalities on their job sites in the state. House Bill 273, introduced by...
They’re Baaaaack!
Feb 22 2009 // The lawmakers are back, at least in most of the Western states, such as Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. California legislators are back as well, but it...
The Relative Calm
Feb 22 2009 // At New York Forum, Industry Insiders Credit Risk Management for Minimizing Recession’s Impact To many, the insurance world seems to operate on its own theory of physics. And to the hundreds of high-powered industry...
Immigrants’ Advocate Protests South Carolina Workers’ Comp Limits
Feb 20 2009 // South Carolina legislators are pushing a bill to cut workers’ compensation benefits for illegal immigrants in an effort to strengthen what’s already one of the nation’s toughest laws aimed at keeping...
Okla. Bill Requiring Senate to OK Work Comp Judges Moves Ahead
Feb 20 2009 // A resolution calling for a vote of the people to determine if gubernatorial Workers’ Compensation Court appointments in Oklahoma should require Senate confirmation passed a House Committee, the state House of...
Lawmakers Propose Reining in West Virginia Insurance Agency
Feb 19 2009 // West Virginia gives its insurance commission a lot of leeway when it comes to regulating workers’ compensation coverage. But pending legislation could change that. The House majority whip and judiciary chairwoman are...
Judges: Jury Should Hear Florida Carbon Monoxide Suit
Feb 19 2009 // A federal judge was wrong to dismiss a lawsuit that blamed an auto muffler maker for the carbon monoxide poisoning of a 19-year-old Florida woman and her boyfriend, rather than let a jury decide, an appeals panel ruled...
Execs Credit Risk Management for Minimizing Recession’s Impact
Feb 19 2009 // To many, the insurance world seems to operate on its own theory of physics. And to the hundreds of high-powered industry execs who gathered on the third floor of the Waldorf-Astoria in New York earlier this year, there is...
Arkansas Lawmakers Back Seat Belt, Teen Driver, Credit Report Laws
Feb 18 2009 // New restrictions on teen drivers and legislation allowing police to pull over motorists for not wearing their seat belts advanced in the Arkansas Legislature. Meanwhile, senators gave final approval to a bill that requires...
Arkansas Court: New Hospital Liability Law Is Retroactive
Feb 17 2009 // Charitable hospitals with self-insurance plans can be sued for incidents that occurred before their pooled liability funds were established, the Arkansas Supreme Court has ruled. The decision comes as a blow to...
Georgia Senate Panel Advances Food Safety Measure
Feb 13 2009 // A sweeping new food safety measure proposed in the wake of the salmonella outbreak easily passed its first key legislative hurdle this week as Georgia lawmakers sought to reassure antsy residents. The Senate Agriculture...
Texas Lawmakers Outline Hurricane Mitigation Recommendations
Feb 13 2009 // The state of Texas should require certain businesses like gas stations and nursing homes to have backup power generators to avoid the massive disruptions caused by Hurricane Ike, according to recommendations released by a...
Judge: Defense Insurance Act Bars Suits Against Subcontractor Blackwater
Feb 12 2009 // The survivors of four Blackwater Worldwide contractors killed in a grisly ambush in Iraq five years ago have suffered yet another setback in their legal battle with the company. A federal administrative law judge in North...
Judge Orders Tougher Mine Safety Rules to Improve Rescue Teams
Feb 12 2009 // A judge has ordered the federal agency that regulates coal mining to strengthen rules designed to make the nation’s 38,000 underground coal miners safer by creating better-trained rescue teams. U.S. Circuit Court of...
Vermont Weighs Expansion of Workers’ Comp
Feb 11 2009 // Vermont lawmakers will consider a bill that would extend workers’ compensation to cover mental and emotional problems suffered on the job. But the proposal is getting a cool reception from the insurance...
Surplus Lines Reform Legislation Reintroduced in Congress
Feb 11 2009 // Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Financial Services have announced plans they will introduce legislation that will create national standards for how states regulate the surplus lines...
Rhode Island Judge Asked to OK Club Fire Settlement Plan
Feb 10 2009 // Lawyers for the survivors and relatives of the 100 people killed in a nightclub fire almost six years ago asked a judge Friday to approve a formula to distribute proceeds from a $176 million settlement. The lawyers said in...
Judge Awards $1.4M to Lawyers in Taser Lawsuit
Feb 9 2009 // A federal judge has ordered Taser International to pay $1.4 million to lawyers for the family of a Salinas, Calif., man who died after police officers repeatedly shocked him with stun guns. U.S. District Court Judge James...
Change and Protect
Feb 8 2009 // Change is coming to Washington and to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, but hopefully it’s change that will protect the status quo when it comes to insurance regulation. Last spring, the editors at...
U.S. Lawmakers Vow More Food Safety Funds As Peanut Recalls Set Record
Feb 6 2009 // Lawmakers vowed this week to press for stronger food safety laws and more money for inspections as the list of recalled peanut products surpassed 1,000 in an ongoing national salmonella outbreak. “There is an...
