Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Rep. Frank Unveils Bill to Give Shareholders Vote on Executive Pay
Mar 2 2007 // House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, joined by 21 other members of Congress, today introduced legislation to require public companies to include in their annual proxies a non-binding advisory...
Judge Weighs Miss. Katrina Class Action, State Farm Settlement
Mar 2 2007 // A federal judge weighing competing plans to resolve thousands of disputed claims against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. after Hurricane Katrina heard emotional testimony Wednesday in Gulfport from Mississippi...
Marsh Sees ‘Demand Surge’ in Romania’s Compulsory D&O Law
Mar 2 2007 // “Changes to Romanian corporate law, making it compulsory for companies to purchase directors’ & officers’ liability insurance (D&O), are creating a surge in demand for cover,” according to...
Delaware Lawmakers Unveil New Bill to Ban Credit Scoring
Mar 2 2007 // Delaware Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn and legislators on Friday unveiled legislation to ban all use of credit scores in setting auto and homeowner insurance rates. Denn was joined by the prime sponsors of the bill...
New Mass. Commissioner Accustomed to Being the Judge
Mar 1 2007 // The new insurance commissioner for Massachusetts, who started on the job this week, thinks her years of experience in a judge’s robe will serve her well in her new role, one in which she sees herself as an arbiter of...
Judge Senter Won’t Remove Self from State Farm Class Action Case
Mar 1 2007 // A federal judge in Gulfport, Miss. has refused to disqualify himself from hearing a bid to certify a class-action lawsuit against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. over the insurer’s handling of claims after Hurricane...
Ohio Attorney General Asks Judge to Order Marsh to Submit Documents
Mar 1 2007 // Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann has asked a judge to order New-York based Marsh and McLennan to turn over documents Dann says the state is owed as part of an antitrust investigation. Dann says the company has impeded the...
Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Insurer in Ark. Financier’s Death
Mar 1 2007 // A federal appeals court rejected an insurance company’s claim that it shouldn’t have to pay accidental-death benefits for the 2002 death of a Little Rock financier at the center of a Securities Department...
Calif. Commissioner Appoints Executive Team
Mar 1 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has named his 14-member executive team at the Department of Insurance. Earlier in February, Poizner was criticized for naming insurance industry representative, Bill...
R.I. Judge Orders Cleanup by Former Lead Paint Manufacturers
Feb 28 2007 // A Rhode Island judge has ordered three former lead paint manufacturers to clean up contamination in Rhode Island and said he would appoint a special master to advise him on exactly what the companies should be required to...
Court Throws Out “Light” Cigarette Law Suits in La., Ill.
Feb 28 2007 // Suits filed against two cigarette makers over the marketing of “light” cigarettes have been thrown out by a federal appeals court. Earlier this month, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of...
Mo. House Proposal Offers Broader Incentives for Long-term Care Insurance
Feb 28 2007 // The Missouri House gave initial approval earlier this week to a bill aimed at encouraging more Missourians to purchase long-term care insurance. The measure by Rep. Chuck Portwood, R-Ballwin, raises the income tax...
Industry: Federal Terrorism Insurance Still Vital to National Security
Feb 28 2007 // Insurance industry advocates urged Congress today to ensure the availability of terrorism risk insurance through a continued federal government role and to examine long-term solutions before the current backstop...
R.I. Lawmaker Targets Hospital Errors
Feb 27 2007 // Between 44,000 and 98,000 patients die each year in U.S. hospitals because of mistakes, infections and other adverse situations. That’s more deaths than those caused by breast cancer, AIDS or car accidents. Most of...
Property Taxes, Insurance Among Top Issues for Fla. Lawmakers
Feb 27 2007 // This could be the people’s year in Tallahassee, if you believe state lawmakers. “There is a feeling out there that we in government aren’t listening, that in the sound and fury of partisan politics, the...
N.Y. Gov. Spitzer Announces Workers’ Comp Reform Accord
Feb 27 2007 // New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders announced an agreement to reform the state’s workers’ compensation system that has the backing of business and labor. Under the agreement, benefits for...
ABI Responds to UK Treasury’s Travel Insurance Regulation Proposals
Feb 26 2007 // A report from the UK’s Treasury Department, which calls for more regulation and control over travel insurance sold through tour operators and travel agents, has brought a response from the Association of British...
Winds of change
Feb 26 2007 // The lack of markets and affordable windstorm coverage for both homeowners and businesses has reached crisis proportions in some states. Hopefully this legislation will spark serious policy debate in Congress on this...
Maryland mulls how to keep property insurers on coast
Feb 26 2007 // Alarmed that homeowners on Maryland’s coasts may one day be cut off from home insurance, state lawmakers are mulling new rules prohibiting insurers from pulling out of areas they deem risky. But insurers met with...
New Mass. Commissioner Burnes accustomed to being the judge
Feb 26 2007 // Superior Court Justice Burnes is well aware that politics comes into play in Bay State insurance regulation The new insurance commissioner for Massachusetts thinks her years of experience in a judge’s robe will serve...