Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Arkansas Lawmaker: Ban Use of Cell Phones on Roads
Dec 5 2008 // Making a call or sending text messages with a hand-held cell phone while behind the wheel would be a crime in Arkansas under a legislator’s proposal. Rep. Ray Kidd, D-Jonesboro, filed a bill Dec. 3 prohibiting the...
Officials: Texas Should Have Storm Recovery Plans
Dec 5 2008 // The future of the state’s oldest medical school – hard hit by Hurricane Ike – and whether Texas should fund recovery programs to complement federal assistance were two of the highlights of a legislative...
Financial and Housing Crises, Soft Market to Challenge Insurers in 2009
Dec 4 2008 // The financial and housing crises, along with a prolonged soft market, are converging to create a highly challenging environment for the U.S. insurance industry in 2009, says an industry think tank. These factors will force...
Oklahoma Lawmaker to Renew Fight for Disaster Funding
Dec 4 2008 // Oklahoma State Rep. Joe Dorman plans to renew his fight to ensure the state funds disaster recovery efforts this year and in the future, the Oklahoma House of Representatives reported. Dorman said he will file legislation...
Insurers Urge Surcharges, Reforms to Fix North Carolina Beach Plan
Dec 3 2008 // Property/casualty insurers are urging North Carolina officials to impose surcharges on policies in the state’s residual market property insurer, the Beach Plan, and take other financing and mitigation steps to...
New York and French Regulators Sign Cooperation Agreement
Dec 3 2008 // The New York State Insurance Department has signed an agreement with its counterpart in France that calls for increased cooperation and consultation between the two regulatory bodies. The agreement is similar to agreements...
West Virginia Mulls Switch to ‘Nonpartisan’ Judge Elections
Dec 2 2008 // West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin may ask the Legislature next year to end West Virginia’s practice of electing its judiciary along partisan political lines, at least for the state’s circuit court judges. Manchin...
Regulator-Elect
Nov 30 2008 // It’s a select community: only 11 state insurance commissioners are elected rather than appointed. Wayne Goodwin is now one of the 11. He won the Nov. 4 election to be North Carolina’s regulator, succeeding Jim...
What the 2008 Election Means for Independent Agents
Nov 30 2008 // With incoming President-elect Barack Obama and major increases in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the Democrats will now control both chambers of Congress and the White House. The changing of the...
What the 2008 Election Means for Independent Agents
Nov 30 2008 // With incoming President-elect Barack Obama and major increases in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the Democrats will now control both chambers of Congress and the White House. The changing of the...
Florida Workers’ Compensation Insurers Seek 8.9% Rate Hike Due to Court Ruling
Nov 30 2008 // A Florida Supreme Court ruling has resulted in a request to raise workers compensation rates by 8.9 percent. The National Council on Compensation Insurance filed the request, citing last month’s ruling in which...
A Good Win in North Carolina for Experience
Nov 30 2008 // New Chief Plans a Blog, Statewide Agent Meetings and a Solution for Coastal Property Owners and Insurers On Nov. 4, Democrat Wayne Goodwin won election as North Carolina Insurance Commissioner with 52 percent of the vote,...
What the 2008 Election Means for Independent Agents
Nov 30 2008 // With incoming President-elect Barack Obama and major increases in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the Democrats will now control both chambers of Congress and the White House. The changing of the...
Environmental Liability: What’s Good Today, Could Be Bad Tomorrow
Nov 30 2008 // Environmental Insurance Delivers the Best Shield of Defense Against Emerging Pollutants The changing character of environmental regulation fits any definition of a moving target. Since the Environmental Protection Agency...
Lloyd’s Expects U.S. To Adopt Federal Regulation of Insurance
Nov 30 2008 // Pushed by the global economic crisis, the United States is expected to embrace federal regulation of the insurance industry as early as 2009, according to some financial and insurance executives. Federal regulation —...
Steady Habits Make for a Stable Market
Nov 30 2008 // Regulator Says Nutmeg State Will Take AIG and Catastrophe Problems in Stride Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas Sullivan considers himself something of an insider when it comes to the insurance industry –...
Ex-Pennsylvania Judge Found Guilty of Insurance Fraud
Nov 30 2008 // A retired Pennsylvania appellate judge was convicted of mail fraud and money laundering after prosecutors said he lied about neck and back injuries in a fender bender to collect $440,000 from two insurance...
OECD Says Changes Needed in US, EU Market Supervision
Nov 25 2008 // Overhauls of U.S. market supervision and European policy coordination are needed to plug regulatory gaps highlighted by the market crisis, the OECD said in its latest economic outlook. Initially billed as a first step to...
Thumbs Down on Late Malpractice Suit, West Virigina Court Rules
Nov 25 2008 // The West Virginia Supreme Court says a man who found a piece of scalpel in his thumb can’t press his claim because he waited too long to file his lawsuit. In a 4-1 ruling, the high court said Paul and Melissa Forshey...
Iowa Supreme Court Rules on Case of Woman with Cancer Diagnosis
Nov 24 2008 // The Iowa Supreme Court issued a ruling on Nov. 21 that sends the case of a woman who sued her doctors for failing to diagnose breast cancer back to a lower court for more proceedings. In her lawsuit filed in Scott County...
