Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
The Lowdown: Cannabis 101 in 300 Minutes or Less
Nov 5 2019 // On October 17th, the Insurance Journal hosted a virtual, 6 hour, live summit on insuring the cannabis industry. With 2,300 pre-registrants, an additional 200 joined in as the day progressed. These viewers represented over...
Court Orders California Insurance Company Conserved in Another Round in Applied Battle
Nov 5 2019 // Note: This story has been updated with a response from an Applied spokesman describing the actions by the California Department of Insurance as “an unusual Draconian attempt.” A San Mateo County Superior Court...
Vaping Firm Juul Disregarded Early Signs It Was Hooking Young Users: Reuters
Nov 5 2019 // The San Francisco startup that invented the groundbreaking Juul e-cigarette had a central goal during its development: captivating users with the first hit. The company had concluded that consumers had largely rejected...
Missouri Court Rulings Conflict with Insurer Right to Intervene Protections
Nov 4 2019 // The Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals recently issued opinions that effectively strip any practical effect from a Missouri amendment made to provide certain protections to insurers. In Aguilar v. GEICO Cas....
Resolving Claim Disputes: Step 3 Research and Document the Interpretation – Part 3 of 3
Nov 4 2019 // In the past two columns, we examined eight legal and contractual principles nonlawyers can use to resolve most claim disputes without litigation. In this month’s column, we’ll wrap up this discussion with nine...
States Vary Widely in How They Control Workers’ Comp Medical Costs: WCRI
Nov 4 2019 // Workers’ compensation medical costs vary widely among the states both in terms of price and how often services are used. The differences appear to relate closely to which cost-drivers each state legislature tried to...
Report: Cannabis Dispensaries May Become ‘Most Profitable’ Specialty Stores
Oct 31 2019 // Selling insurance to cannabis dispensaries may the business in which to be in the very near future. A new report claims that cannabis retailing could become one of the “most profitable specialty store categories...
Number of Volunteer Firefighters Continues to Grow in Oklahoma
Oct 31 2019 // Nearly 500 new volunteer firefighters have joined Oklahoma rural fire departments in the four years after legislation passed that eliminated the age limit for new volunteers. Oklahoma House Majority Leader Mike Sanders...
States Eye Private Flood Insurance Model Law Industry Thinks Is Unnecessary
Oct 31 2019 // An organization of state lawmakers is moving ahead toward adoption of a “model law” designed to encourage the sale of private flood insurance, even though insurers don’t think any new state laws are...
Uber And Lyft Will Ask California Voters to Block Employee Law
Oct 31 2019 // Some of the country’s largest ridesharing companies proposed a California law on Tuesday that would let them continue to treat drivers as independent contractors while also guaranteeing them a minimum wage and money...
Texas Warns of Insurance Deductibles Scam Following Dallas Storms
Oct 30 2019 // Texans with property in locations that were hit by the severe weather that swept through Dallas and North Texas on Sunday, Oct. 20 are now targets of a scam involving insurance deductibles, insurance regulators say. The...
Subcontracted Workers Most at Risk from Accidents in S. Korea’s Shipyards
Oct 30 2019 // Park Chol-hee was working the holiday shift at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje shipyard on Labour Day, 2017, when a giant crane collided with another and crashed to ground, killing six people, including Park’s...
This Wildfire Metric Threatens to Upend PG&E’s Restructuring Plan
Oct 29 2019 // PG&E Corp. investors looking to learn their fate may not get the answer from the bankrupt power company. Instead, the key data point could pop up within days on the website of California’s forestry...
Brad Pitt, Others Can Be Sued over New Orleans Homes, Judge Says
Oct 28 2019 // A judge has denied actor Brad Pitt’s request to be taken off a lawsuit that says his Make it Right Foundation built shoddy homes in the New Orleans area that was hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina. The Times-Picayune/...
Blackstone’s Lombard Could Face Legal Issue with $1B-Plus of Unsigned Policies
Oct 28 2019 // For nearly a decade, Lombard International sat on a secret. It began to unravel in May 2016 when a wealthy German walked into a Luxembourg bank. The man wanted a loan. For collateral, he offered a future payout from a...
Boeing 737 Max’s Design, Pilot and Regulatory Errors Caused Lion Air Crash
Oct 28 2019 // Indonesian investigators found sweeping problems and missteps in connection with last year’s fatal Lion Air crash, including design flaws in Boeing Co.’s 737 Max jet, certification failures by the U.S....
Senators Introduce Safety Legislation to Address Boeing 737 Issues
Oct 28 2019 // Two Democrats on the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday introduced legislation to mandate numerous aviation safety recommendations in the wake of two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes that killed 346 people and led to...
London Financial Firms at Risk of Being Cut Off from EU After Brexit: Official
Oct 24 2019 // Intense dialog between British and European Union financial regulators must start now or London risks being cut off from the bloc after Brexit, a top banking lobbyist said on Wednesday. Banks, insurers and asset managers...
Texas Voters to Decide on Proposition to Create Fund for Flood Prevention, Recovery
Oct 23 2019 // State lawmakers want to create a dedicated $800 million fund for flood prevention and recovery that would be safe from future legislative budget fights. They’re asking Texas voters to weigh in via a constitutional...
EU Eyes Another Brexit Delay as U.K. Edges Toward Election to Break Impasse
Oct 23 2019 // EU leaders should delay Brexit after Prime Minister Boris Johnson paused legislation on his deal following a parliamentary defeat, EU Council President Donald Tusk said on Tuesday, as Britain spins towards a possible...
