Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Missouri Finally Creating Prescription Drug-Monitoring Plan
Jul 20 2017 // Missouri became the final state to create a prescription drug-monitoring program on July 17 when Republican Gov. Eric Greitens signed an executive order aimed at combatting a scourge that killed more than 900 residents...
House Committee Advances Bill to Let Autonomous Vehicles Bypass States
Jul 19 2017 // A U.S. House panel on Wednesday approved a sweeping proposal by voice vote to allow automakers to deploy up to 100,000 self-driving vehicles without meeting existing auto safety standards and bar states from imposing...
Texas Lawmaker Seeks to Limit Austin’s Construction Site Worker Protections
Jul 19 2017 // Note: This article originally appeared in the Texas Tribune. Cesar Ovalde has been working in the construction industry for the better part of 15 years. Most of the time, he’s working on large commercial projects,...
Massachusetts Marijuana Deal Calls for Up to 20 Percent Tax on Pot Sales
Jul 19 2017 // State House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement Monday on a revamped version of Massachusetts’ voter-approved marijuana law that would allow retail pot sales to be taxed at a maximum 20 percent rate. The deal...
Blind Americans Want to Participate in Future of Driverless Vehicles
Jul 19 2017 // Anil Lewis was behind the wheel of his Ford Mustang convertible on a sunny Atlanta day in 1988, when he nearly hit a pedestrian who appeared in a crosswalk ahead of him, seemingly out of nowhere. It was then Lewis realized...
Florida Insurers Place All Options on Table to Address AOB Abuse
Jul 19 2017 // Florida’s home insurers hope the public doesn’t blame them as they implement rate increases, initiate coverage changes and nonrenew policies. They say they have no choice after the Florida Legislature for the...
California Division of Workers’ Comp Issues Revised Drug Formulary Regulations
Jul 18 2017 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has issued modified proposed regulations to adopt the medical treatment utilization schedule drug formulary. The proposed rulemaking implements Assembly Bill 1124,...
GOP Senate Leader Backs Repealing Obamacare Without Replacement
Jul 18 2017 // Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell abandoned efforts to pass a broad Republican-only replacement of Obamacare, saying late Monday he will instead seek a vote on a simple repeal — delayed by two years to give...
Taxi Drivers in North Carolina’s Capital City Face Rough Year Thanks to Ridesharing
Jul 18 2017 // Johnson Umeh has plenty of experience as a taxi driver, and he says the job has never been as tough as it is now. Like many drivers, his business is being sapped by Uber and Lyft – the popular ride-hailing apps that...
Judge: Insurer Off the Hook for Payment in Ohio Arson Case
Jul 17 2017 // A judge has ruled that an insurance company doesn’t have to pay an Ohio man accused of burning down his house. The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reports the ruling came on July 14 in southwest Ohio’s Butler...
China’s Central Bank to Assume Bigger Role in Oversight of Financial System
Jul 17 2017 // China’s central bank will take on a bigger role in macro-prudential management and in averting systemic risk in the financial system, President Xi Jinping said at a once-in-five-years government work conference that...
Trump Administration to Sign Insurance Regulation Pact with European Union
Jul 17 2017 // The U.S. Treasury Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said they will sign the bilateral agreement between the United States and the European Union regarding regulation of insurance and...
NCOIL, NAIC on Collision Course over Delegation Authority
Jul 15 2017 // A conflict is brewing between the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), even though neither side wants to admit it. The two private trade...
Insurance Underwriters See Risks, Opportunities in Speeding Up Infrastructure Projects
Jul 14 2017 // “We’re going to cut a lot of red tape,” President Trump said at a CEO town hall meeting as he unrolled a long, colorful flow chart showing the process required for a state government to obtain the federal...
China Regulators End Insurer Deal Spree, Favoring Risk Managers, over Risk Makers
Jul 14 2017 // The revolution in China’s insurance industry that helped unleash about $80 billion of acquisitions started with a whimper and ended with a bang. With little fanfare, China’s top insurance official, Xiang Junbo,...
Missouri Governor Signs Tort Reform Legislation
Jul 13 2017 // Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has signed legislation that the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America says will help improve the legal climate in that state. According to PCI, SS/SCS/HCS/HB339 and 714 is...
Update: GOP Senate Leaders Unveil Revised Health Insurance Bill
Jul 13 2017 // Senate Republican leaders released a revised health care plan Thursday that would provide an added $70 billion to stabilize insurance exchanges over a decade in an effort to win over GOP holdouts. The change comes on top...
Lobbyists at California Comp Conference Call Tension between D.C. and Sacramento ‘Palpable’
Jul 12 2017 // The tension between Washington D.C. and Sacramento seems to have created extra work for some lobbyists. “It’s absolutely palpable,” Paul Yoder, managing director for the California Coalition on...
California Lawmakers Release Plan to Extend Cap And Trade
Jul 12 2017 // Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders have released a plan to extend through 2030 California’s cap-and-trade program, a key piece of the state’s quest to fight climate change by drastically reducing...
Federal Judge Halts West Virginia $151M Water Crisis Settlement
Jul 12 2017 // A federal judge has declined to grant preliminary approval to a $151 million settlement stemming from a 2014 chemical spill that sparked a water crisis in West Virginia. Local news outlets report Judge John T. Copenhaver...
