Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Utah’s Texting While Driving Stops Rise Again in 2015
Dec 31 2015 // More people were pulled over for texting, emailing or checking Facebook on their cellphones behind the wheel on Utah’s highways in a six-month snapshot of 2015, marking a second year of growth in stops since the law...
China Anti-Terrorism Law Raises Implementation Concerns: European Chamber
Dec 31 2015 // The vague wording of China’s new counter-terrorism law raises concerns about how telecommunications carriers and network service providers will be expected to implement the regulations in practice, the European...
Judge OKs 2 Shareholder Class Actions Against Facebook Over IPO
Dec 30 2015 // A federal judge has certified two shareholder class actions accusing Facebook Inc. of hiding concerns about its growth forecasts prior to the social media company’s May 2012 initial public offering. U.S. District...
Florida Lawmakers to Industry: We Want YOU to Join State Flood Insurance Market
Dec 30 2015 // “We think the time is right for you all to explore the [Florida] flood insurance market.” That was the message Florida Senator Jeff Brandes gave insurance industry attendees at the first ever Florida Flood...
Judge Orders PG&E to Face Most Charges in Deadly California Pipeline Blast
Dec 30 2015 // Pacific Gas & Electric Co. must face the most serious charges related to a 2010 explosion that killed eight people in a San Francisco suburb as the utility heads to a jury trial next year over claims it ignored the...
Judge Orders Online Poker Company to Pay Kentucky $870M
Dec 30 2015 // A Kentucky state judge ordered an online poker company to pay Kentucky $870 million and sternly rebuked the company for making “a calculation that breaking the law was good for business.” Casino-style gambling...
Wall Street May Create UK-Like Registry of Misbehaving Bankers, Traders
Dec 29 2015 // Bankers’ misdeeds would be cataloged, by name, on a private registry for hiring managers under a proposal that’s gaining traction as Wall Street firms struggle to restore reputations damaged by the financial...
Cab Drivers Fight Back as Uber Looks to Expand to Upstate New York
Dec 28 2015 // New York State lawmakers returning to Albany for the usual debates over taxes and spending will also take on an issue even more basic to many New Yorkers — the options for getting home from the train station, the...
Judge Slows Outcome of California Uber Drivers’ Suit
Dec 28 2015 // Uber Technologies Inc. won a ruling that may put off the outcome of a bid by California drivers to be treated as employees in a lawsuit that has grown dramatically in both size and potential liability. U.S. District Judge...
South Carolina Lawmaker Plans to Seek Additional Aid for Farmers
Dec 28 2015 // The state House’s budget leader says he wants to reassure South Carolina farmers devastated by October’s flooding disaster that the Legislature will help them out. Lawmakers must help farmers survive direct...
Oklahoma Judge Won’t Toss Suit over Earthquake Damage
Dec 22 2015 // An Oklahoma judge has rejected a request from two energy companies to throw out a lawsuit by a woman who claims she was injured in an earthquake caused by the injection of wastewater. Lincoln County District Judge Cynthia...
Flood, Fraud & the Florida Market: McCarty Talks Hot Insurance Topics in 2015
Dec 21 2015 // It was another busy year for the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR). From conducting the annual property/casualty data call and subsequent stress test of Florida property insurers, to working on the depopulation...
U.S. Spending Bill to End Oil Export Ban
Dec 21 2015 // Congress passed a $1.1 trillion spending measure that averts a U.S. government shutdown and ends a 40- year-old ban on crude oil exports, a plan that ensures fiscal peace in Congress through most of 2016. The Senate passed...
Top 5 Markets of 2015
Dec 21 2015 // There was no shortage of new products launched by the insurance industry in 2015. Cyber, a risk that has consistently seen a lot of activity over at least the last several years, continued to be on the top of the...
Regulators Focused on Product Innovation, Emerging Trends
Dec 21 2015 // State-based insurance regulation has a 145-year history of effectively and successfully protecting consumers and fostering competitive insurance markets. As the 2016 president of the National Association of Insurance...
Best, Worst States for Insurance Regulation
Dec 21 2015 // Vermont, Utah, Iowa, Virginia and Kentucky get an “A” and North Carolina an “F” in one think tank’s annual grading of states on how they regulate the property/casualty insurance industry. The...
Disruptive Change
Dec 21 2015 // U.S. property/casualty insurers should expect disruptive changes in a number of areas in 2016, including technology, pricing, customer demand and “heightened regulatory creep,” consultant Ernst & Young...
Uber Winning Support for Classifying Drivers as Contractors
Dec 21 2015 // State legislators in Ohio and Florida are moving ahead with regulations governing Uber and other ride services that would designate all drivers as independent contractors, bolstering a critical but much-disputed aspect of...
Judge in California Grants Class Action in Farmers Female Attorneys Suit
Dec 21 2015 // A U.S. District judge in California earlier this month granted class action status to a suit brought by female attorneys against Farmers Insurance for discriminatory practices. The initial suit was filed on behalf of Lynne...
Judge Bars Uber from Imposing New Contract on Drivers in Pay Suit
Dec 18 2015 // Uber Technologies Inc. was barred from imposing a new contract on drivers who are suing the company to be treated like employees after a federal judge said the reworded agreement is confusing. U.S. District Judge Edward...
