Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Editor’s Note: Pushing paper
Feb 5 2006 // There appears to be a lot of action on state legislative hills these days. Politicians have been meeting in most Western states to consider a wide variety of insurance proposals to regulate the industry. And hundreds of...
S.C. Senator Seeks Oversight Study of Insurance Department
Feb 3 2006 // A Hartsville, S.C. senator called for hearings Thursday to study whether the state Insurance Department is operating efficiently. Democratic Sen. Gerald Malloy wants the hearings held before action is taken to overhaul the...
New Mexico Considering Commercial Lines File and Use System
Feb 2 2006 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) and the insurance industry are working with the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission to finalize and implement proposed rate regulations that would convert...
La. Lawmakers to Debate Levees, Housing in Special Session
Feb 2 2006 // Levee board consolidation, absentee voting changes and housing reconstruction are among the topics lawmakers can consider as they return to the Capitol Feb. 6 for a second legislative session aimed at Louisiana’s...
Tort Reform Promises to be Key Issue in Okla. in 2006
Feb 2 2006 // Dr. Elaine Davis, an obstetrician and gynecologist in the rural northwest Oklahoma community of Enid for nearly 40 years, loved practicing medicine. But at age 68, she thought it was time to ease back on her patient load...
Kansas First State to Drop Age Restrictions on Life/Annuities Sales
Feb 2 2006 // Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger has announced that Kansas is providing enhanced consumer protections by calling for an expansion of industry standards for the suitability of the sale of fixed and variable annuity...
Missouri Governor Merges Insurance into Financial Regulatory Department
Feb 2 2006 // Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, through an executive order, has created a new department to regulate finances, merging the duties previously performed by the Economic Development Department with those of the state Insurance...
Judge Gives Class Action Status to La. Oil-Spill Case
Feb 1 2006 // A federal judge has certified as a class action a lawsuit against Murphy Oil Corp. over an oil spill in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon’s decision applies to an area in St. Bernard...
NAMIC to NAIC: ‘Alternate SOX Proposal Still Too Much’
Feb 1 2006 // An alternate proposal to impose Sarbanes Oxley Act provisions on mutual insurers, “errs in applying to mutual insurers costly and burdensome internal accounting control measures not demonstrated to preclude or...
Five S.C. Legislators Receive ‘Seat Belt Champion Award’
Jan 31 2006 // Five legislators have each accepted a “Seat Belt Champion Award” from the Nashville-based Meharry-State Farm Alliance, that applauds their success at inserting a primary enforcement amendment into the...
Opponents Claim USG Deal Exposes Fortune 500 ‘Windfall’ from Asbestos Bill
Jan 31 2006 // A group of smaller and medium sized businesses and their insurance companies is using the recent settlement by USG over its asbestos claims to argue that a federal asbestos trust fund would provide a windfall for large...
Wheeler Joins New Jersey’s National Atlantic as Vice President
Jan 30 2006 // National Atlantic Holdings Corp., a provider of specialized property/casualty insurance products and related insurance services based in Freehold, N.J., has appointed as Vice President Douglas Wheeler, former assistant...
USG Settles Asbestos Claims for $4 Billion; Could Now Exit Bankruptcy
Jan 30 2006 // USG Corporation announced today that it has reached an agreement to resolve all present and future asbestos-related personal injury claims, enabling the company and its subsidiaries to take a significant step toward...
Miss. Passes Seat Belt Law; Ga. Considers Seat Belt Law for Trucks
Jan 30 2006 // The Mississippi Legislature, meeting in Jackson, has strengthened its seat belt law by passing House Bill 409 which allows law enforcement to stop a driver for not wearing a seat belt and Georgia is considering removing...
N.Y. Insurance Association Applauds Plan to Modernize Regulation
Jan 30 2006 // Legislation introduced by New York State Senator James Seward (R-C-I/Milford) to modernize insurance regulation of property/casualty insurance rates will stimulate competition to the benefit of consumers, according to the...
Okla. Lawmaker to Seek Insurance Commissioner’s Office
Jan 29 2006 // Oklahoma State Rep. Bill Case, R-Midwest City, announced he will run for insurance commissioner. Case, 52, said he had the experience as a businessman and insurance agent that is needed at the agency. Democrat Kim Holland...
Democrats Propose Mandatory Flood Insurance, Development Limits
Jan 27 2006 // Citing the risks exposed by Hurricane Katrina, a group of California Assembly Democrats unveiled legislation that could block some development in flood-prone areas and require homeowners living on flood plains to have...
Mandates, Regulations Key Topics During W.Va. Big ‘I’ Feb. 12-13 Legislative Topics
Jan 26 2006 // An update describing local, state and national industry and government issues, focusing on the latest legislative topics affecting the insurance industry and independent insurance agents in West Virginia will be held...
Zurich’s CEO Discusses Industry Issues in Davos Interview
Jan 26 2006 // Zurich Financial Services has released an interview with the Group’s CEO, James Schiro, to coincide with the ongoing conference of international business leaders, being held in the Swiss resort of Davos. Schiro, an...
R.I. Senate Passes Beacon Mutual Bill
Jan 26 2006 // The Rhode Island Senate on a vote of 34-3 passed legislation to reduce the number of public appointees to the board of Beacon Mutual and free the state’s dominant workers’ compensation insurer to cover...
