Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ethics Agency Investigating Ex-SAIF Leader
Nov 22 2004 // The state ethics commission has launched an investigation into the lobbying activities of Katherine Keene, the former president of the SAIF Corp. At issue is whether Keene, who resigned in 2003, failed to register as a...
Industry Under Fire: Will Insurance Broker M&As Still Keep Pace’
Nov 22 2004 // Will pending investigations of insurance brokers halt the robust pace of the industry’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity? In mid-October 2004, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed a civil...
Insurers Pleased with Results of 2004 Federal and State Elections
Nov 22 2004 // While most folks are just happy the political advertisements are gone, Election Day 2004 did provide some results of interest to the insurance industry. President George W. Bush (R) was re-elected for a second term,...
R.I. OFFICIAL SEEKS BAN ON FEES:
Nov 22 2004 // In the wake of the ongoing insurance brokerage probe involving bid rigging and incentive payments, Rhode Island Secretary of State Matt Brown is proposing legislation to prohibit insurance industry “incentive...
N.J. WINS BACK STATE FARM:
Nov 22 2004 // A flurry of special dividends and a series of rate reductions from auto insurers, along with increased competition and new regulations adopted by the New Jersey insurance department, are helping to reshape the...
Competitive Storm Brewing — What Spitzer’s Lawsuit May Mean to Us All
Nov 22 2004 // Perhaps like you, I have been fascinated by the press coverage our industry has received lately–probably more individual stories in prominent newspapers than at any other point in the last 25 years, all thanks to the...
AIA VP Part of Team Working on Iraqi Code
Nov 22 2004 // David Snyder, vice president and assistant general counsel for the American Insurance Association (AIA) was part of a support team that went to Amman, Jordan, in June 2004 to assist the efforts of the group that included...
Competitive Storm Brewing — What Spitzer’s Lawsuit May Mean to Us All
Nov 22 2004 // Perhaps like you, I have been fascinated by the press coverage our industry has received lately–probably more individual stories in prominent newspapers than at any other point in the last 25 years, all thanks to the...
CALIF.’S DWC REGS GET BACKING FROM OAL:
Nov 22 2004 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has received approval from the Office of Administrative Law on the first set of regulations implementing SB 899, workers’ compensation reforms passed by...
CONSTRUCTION DEFECT LEGISLATION DEFEATED IN COLO.:
Nov 22 2004 // Voters in Colorado Nov. 2 overwhelmingly turned back an effort to amend the state’s constitution and gut a construction defects reform measure passed by the legislature last year. In a victory for consumers and the...
Action Needed to Address State-Based Insurance Regulation
Nov 22 2004 // With the latest insurance industry market conduct problem, consumers once again see not only the failure of state insurance regulation to protect them but the refusal of state insurance regulators to take responsibility...
Sen. Fitzgerald Says Broker Fee Scandal May End Antitrust Exemptions
Nov 17 2004 // A bulletin from the office of lame-duck Illinois Republican Sen. Peter G. Fitzgerald indicates that: “It might be time to use federal antitrust enforcement to ensure that the insurance brokerage industry remains...
Garamendi Recommends 2.2 Percent Reduction in Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Rates
Nov 17 2004 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi called for a 2.2 percent reduction pure premium rates for workers’ compensation insurance in a Nov. 17 conference call to the media. “My current advice to the...
Ala., Ga., La. Commissioners Discuss Untangling the Regulatory Environment
Nov 16 2004 // Walter Bell “In times of disaster the insurance industry is supposed to shine, and your industry did,” Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter A. Bell said during a Tuesday afternoon panel discussion at the...
At Senate Hearings into Broker Pay, NAIC Claims States Get Job Done without Headlines
Nov 16 2004 // New York Superintendent of Insurance Greg Serio, speaking on behalf of the nation’s state insurance commissioners, will tell a Senate subcommittee today that state regulators play a critical role in guaranteeing a...
Independent Insurance Agents Defend Themselves at Senate Hearing over Broker Compensation
Nov 16 2004 // The nation’s largest independent insurance agency group will go before a Senate subcommittee in Washington today to attempt to put some distance between large insurance brokers facing allegations of illegal...
Conn. AG Urges Tougher State Action, Offers Own Insurance Reforms in Testimony Before Senate Panel
Nov 16 2004 // Despite charging that too many state insurance regulators have become “industry captives,” Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is rejecting calls for federal intervention in the regulation of...
N.Y. AG Suggests Off-Shore Insurers, Rating Organizations, Insurer Investments Next Targets
Nov 16 2004 // New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer signaled today he believes investigations of the insurance industry have only “scratched the surface” thus far of questionable activities and that additional probes are...
State Regulators Reveal Model Disclosure Act
Nov 16 2004 // An insurance broker would be required to obtain written approval from a customer before receiving any compensation from an insurer for a piece of business under a model compensation disclosure act unveiled by the...
Oregon Legislature Next Arena in Malpractice Battle
Nov 15 2004 // After narrowly losing in the Nov. 2 election, Oregon doctors who pushed for a cap on jury awards in malpractice lawsuits are preparing to take their fight to another arena: the 2005 Legislature. The physicians won’t...
