Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calif. Commissioner Testifies Before Assembly Insurance Committee
Feb 7 2003 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi testified before the Assembly Insurance Committee recently, discussing the impact of water damage and mold on consumers and the insurance industry. Below is the text of his...
Ore. Adopts Regs Addressing Credit Scores
Feb 5 2003 // The Oregon Insurance Division has adopted regulations governing insurance companies’ use of credit-based insurance scores in writing personal automobile and homeowners policies. The regulations take effect June...
Texas Legislature Takes Initial Steps Toward Reform
Feb 5 2003 // The Texas Legislature took the first of many steps in resolving the state’s insurance crisis with the naming of members to the House Insurance Committee and with the Senate’s initiation of hearings on insurance...
PIFC Explains Reasons for Recent Homeowners Insurance Premium Increases
Feb 5 2003 // Diane Colborn, vice president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California (PIFC), told the Assembly Insurance Committee earlier today that the most significant factor in recent homeowners insurance premium increases...
Calif. Adopts Regs on Worker Occupational Safety
Feb 4 2003 // Last year’s workers’ compensation benefit increase bill (AB 749) eliminated the state’s loss control certification unit as of Dec. 31, 2002, replacing it with a new “Worker Occupational Safety and...
Colo. House Passes Tort Reform Measures
Feb 3 2003 // The Colorado House of Representatives voted this week to protect consumers from unjustified lawsuits, which are driving up the cost of homes, medical care and insurance. In addition, the House Business Affairs Committee...
Alliance Urges Calif. Legislative Panel Not to ‘Reinvent Wheel’ on Privacy
Feb 3 2003 // Further burdening insurers with onerous state-specific privacy requirements will only hurt the California insurance market with no corresponding benefit to consumers, a representative of the Alliance of American Insurers...
Major Insurance Bills Filed in Texas
Jan 31 2003 // Texas lawmakers introduced two bills in Texas legislature that aim to control rising insurance rates in the state. Texas State Senator Troy Fraser of Horseshoe Bay announced the filing of Senate Bill 310, requiring...
Sonnenschein Adds to Regulatory Group With Addition of Former Ill. Director
Jan 30 2003 // Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal announced the addition of five prominent lawyers to its Insurance Group, enhancing its national insurance regulatory, transactional and reinsurance practices and its insurance...
Texas Judge Orders Boat Insurer to Pay $1 Million
Jan 30 2003 // A judge in Austin, Texas ordered a London- and Canada-based organization to stop marketing boat and other watercraft insurance in Texas without a license and to pay a $1 million fine imposed last year by Commissioner Jose...
AAI Urges Calif. Legislative Panel Not to ‘Reinvent Wheel’ on Privacy
Jan 30 2003 // Further burdening insurers with onerous state-specific privacy requirements will only hurt the California insurance market with no corresponding benefit to consumers, a representative of the Alliance of American Insurers...
Risk Retention Groups Owning Up to Success
Jan 27 2003 // Due to the restricted coverages available in the market today, risk retention groups (RRGs) have experienced a significant amount of rapid growth over the past year. At a time when the industry is facing what is perhaps...
Choice & Competition Form Litmus Test for Reasonable Regulatory Reform
Jan 27 2003 // Now that the Texas legislative session is underway and the pre-election rhetoric surrounding insurance reform in Texas has moderated, the stage is set for the legislature to make the tough decisions necessary to resolve...
NEW BILLS GO LIVE IN CALIF
Jan 27 2003 // California Gov. Gray Davis and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature came to agreement on 1,168 bills during the last session, making it the most bills Davis has signed in a single year since taking office in 1999. A...
IIABA’s 27th ANNUAL NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE CONF. SET FOR WASHINGTON, D.C.
Jan 27 2003 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s (IIABA’s) 27th Annual National Legislative Conference will be held April 2-4 at The Capital Hilton in downtown Washington, D.C. The event will bring...
NAIC Adopts Credit Scoring Regulatory Options Paper
Jan 24 2003 // The Credit Scoring Working Group of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has adopted a list of options for states to consider when reviewing insurance credit scoring proposals as well as a consumer...
Caliber Files Lawsuit Over State Regulators
Jan 24 2003 // In a lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court recently, Irvine-based Caliber Collision Centers asked the court to compel the Bureau of Automotive Repair to stop engaging in a regulatory practice that is...
NYSID Announces Licensing of Town Sports Captive Insurer
Jan 24 2003 // The New York State insurance Department announced that a license has been issued to TSI Insurance Incorporated as a captive insurance company in the state. The new captive, previously incorporated by the Department, will...
Alliance Opposes Texas Mold Remediation Bill
Jan 23 2003 // The Alliance of American Insurers announced its opposition to HB 329, a bill introduced into the Texas House of Representatives that would create the Mold Assessors and Remediators Act. The act would establish regulations...
Mont. Bill Would Undermine Judges’ Authority in Issuing Protective Orders
Jan 23 2003 // A Montana House bill that would restrain judges from issuing protective orders on private information evokes privacy concerns, compromises parties’ abilities to reach freely negotiated settlements, and increases the...
