Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New U.S. Rules on Cuba Ease Travel, Trade, Insurance Restrictions
Jan 15 2015 // The United States rolled out a sweeping set of measures on Thursday to ease the half-century-old embargo against Cuba, opening up the country to expanded travel, trade and financial activities. Defying hardline critics in...
P/C Insurers See Surge in Cyber Insurance, M&A Activity in 2015
Jan 15 2015 // Property/casualty insurance executives overwhelmingly predict growth in both cyber insurance and merger and acquisitions (M&A) activity in 2015, according to a new Insurance Information Institute annual...
Cybersecurity Bill Faces Tough Sledding on Capitol Hill
Jan 15 2015 // President Barack Obama’s bid to get Congress to pass stalled cybersecurity legislation is seen as having an uphill fight amid differences between Republicans and the administration over privacy safeguards and other...
Virginia Judge Orders New Trial on Damages in Coal Contract Dispute
Jan 14 2015 // A Virginia judge has ordered a new trial on damages in a coal contract dispute between Massey Energy and the owner of three defunct coal companies. In May 2014, a jury in Buchanan County, Virginia, awarded $4 million to...
President Urges Congress to Pass Bipartisan Cybersecurity Legislation
Jan 14 2015 // President Barack Obama sought to rally Congress to pass stalled U.S. cybersecurity legislation, an effort that may face obstacles as tensions with key Republicans quickly began to surface. Obama announced Tuesday revised...
It’s Time to Act on Trucking Safety Ideas, Says NTSB
Jan 14 2015 // Highway regulators have failed to act on more than 100 recommendations to improve truck safety at a time when fatalities have risen for four straight years, according to the U.S. National Transportation Safety...
California Wholesalers Stress Opportunity Theme at Convention
Jan 13 2015 // Opportunity was a theme that came up often at the annual California Wholesaler Industry Days convention from Sunday through today in La Jolla, Calif. at Hilton Torrey Pines. The three-day conference organized by the...
Conservationists’ Lawsuit Challenges North Carolina Fracking Rules Panel
Jan 12 2015 // A lawsuit filed January 5 by conservationists asks that rules on fracking in North Carolina be thrown out, arguing the panel that developed the rules was formed in violation of the state Constitution. Lawyers representing...
Poll: Majority of Georgia Voters Support Medical Marijuana Legalization
Jan 12 2015 // A clear majority of Georgia voters support legalizing medical marijuana, but they appear more closely split on whether to permit its recreational use, according to a poll by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The poll...
Report Calls for More Study of N.H. Workers’ Comp Costs
Jan 12 2015 // A governor’s commission aimed at addressing New Hampshire’s high workers’ compensation costs recommended no significant changes to state laws in a new report and instead suggested gathering more data and...
Florida Touts Workers’ Comp Market Competition But Warns on Court Rulings
Jan 12 2015 // Florida’s workers’ compensation market remains competitive and well-capitalized, with loss ratios that are among the lowest among larger states, according to a report from the state’s insurance...
Injured Snowboarder Can Sue, Oregon High Court Rules
Jan 12 2015 // The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled a ski resort’s broad liability waiver cannot prevent a paralyzed snowboarder from suing. The justices ruled that the liability waiver was “unconscionable” and contrary...
Kansas Judge Tosses Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems Discrimination Lawsuit
Jan 9 2015 // The remaining age-discrimination claims against Boeing Co. and Spirit AeroSystems were tossed out by a federal judge in Kansas on Jan. 7, a major blow to a lawsuit that’s spanned nine years. When Boeing sold its...
Florida PIP Report Shows Reduction in Rates and Fraud
Jan 9 2015 // Florida’s attempt to lower the cost of personal injury protection (PIP) automobile coverage is making progress as insurers’ rates have declined due in part to lower losses and fewer fraudulent claims. The...
House Passes Hike in Obamacare Requirement to 40-Hours
Jan 9 2015 // The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to ease Obamacare’s health insurance requirements for employers by approving the first of an expected series of bills aimed at weakening the overall...
Ballinger on Growth, Professionalism in Texas Surplus Lines Market
Jan 8 2015 // Phil Ballinger retired at the end of December 2014 as executive director of the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLSOT), a post he’s held for more than two decades. During his tenure at SLSOT, the organization...
How States Rate on Insurance Regulation, ‘A’ to ‘F’
Jan 8 2015 // Vermont gets a grade of “A+” and California and North Carolina get grades of “F” in the annual report card on state insurance regulation issued by the free market think tank, The R Street...
Missouri Fines Insurer Nearly $162K for Misstatements to Policyholders
Jan 7 2015 // The Missouri Department of Insurance announced that a regulatory settlement agreement has been reached with Humana Insurance Co. under which the company will pay a $161,800 fine to the Missouri State School Fund. Missouri...
House Passes TRIA Renewal; Senate Leader Vows Quick Action Also
Jan 7 2015 // The U.S. House of Representatives voted to reauthorize a government backstop for insurers’ losses from acts of terrorism after lawmakers let the measure expire last month. The legislation, which will extend the...
Republicans Target Obamacare Part-Time Worker Provision
Jan 7 2015 // Republicans, newly in charge of the U.S. House and Senate, begin their campaign to dismantle Obamacare with a vote this week to ease the law’s requirement that large employers give health insurance to full-time...
