Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Litigation Financing Firm Exits Tennessee As New Law Goes Into Effect
Jul 3 2014 // A litigation funding firm said it is leaving Tennessee as the state now requires firms like his to register and regulates their business of loaning money to consumers bringing lawsuits. Illinois-based Oasis Legal Finance,...
Export-Import Bank Could Be Reformed Rather Than Closed
Jul 2 2014 // The U.S. Export-Import Bank, derided by conservative critics as an expensive boondoggle, may win a reprieve from what looked like almost certain death in Congress if enough Republicans can be persuaded to let it live on,...
Cybersecurity Analysts Stress Need for Data Sharing by Companies
Jul 2 2014 // In an 11-story office building in the Washington suburbs, hundreds of U.S. cybersecurity analysts work around the clock to foil hackers. Possible breaches of government networks show up as red flashes on screens that line...
Overselling the Costs, Benefits of Greenhouse Gas Regulations
Jul 1 2014 // The Environmental Protection Agency calls its carbon rules an economic winner that will deliver more than $10 in benefits for each dollar spent on compliance. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the economic costs of...
Mass. Senate OKs Bill Tying Required Flood Coverage Amount to Mortgage Balance
Jun 30 2014 // The Massachusetts state Senate on June 26 passed legislation filed by the state’s attorney general, Martha Coakley, and state House Speaker Robert DeLeo aimed at softening the impact of flood insurance rate...
Small Commercial Trucks in Kansas Exempt from Most Safety Rules
Jun 30 2014 // Starting July 1, Kansas is granting a yearlong exemption to small commercial trucks from most of the safety regulations it imposes upon larger haulers, despite the misgivings of some officials. The Topeka Capital Journal...
The Right Climate for Tree Huggers, Hippies and iPads
Jun 27 2014 // Editor’s Note: This is the first of an ongoing column covering the impact of climate change and emerging environmental regulations on the insurance and financial industries. It will appear every other week. The 1970s...
Uber, Lyft, Sidecar Toe-to-Toe With Insurers State-by-State
Jun 27 2014 // The share-and-share-alike attitude considered a virtue by some has the potential to create a rift between between ridesharing companies and insurance companies. “We try not to make it a battle,” said Robert...
Judge Tells Freedom Industries to Keep West Virginians Informed
Jun 27 2014 // Freedom Industries Inc., the chemical company that filed for bankruptcy after a leaky storage tank tainted the water supply in West Virginia, was ordered to do a better job of keeping the public informed. In a court filing...
Detroit Bankruptcy Judge Rejects Insurer Requests
Jun 27 2014 // Detroit overcame efforts by bond insurers that might have slowed its plan to exit bankruptcy before the end of the year, while the judge on the case said he was open to taking a bus tour to see what shape the city’s...
Uber Faces Operational Setback in New Mexico
Jun 27 2014 // New Mexico regulators have denied a temporary operating permit for ridesharing company Uber. The Albuquerque Journal reported that the Public Regulation Commission voted 3-2 on Wednesday to withhold the permit from Uber...
Del. Lawmakers Approve Bill Aimed at Lowering Workers’ Comp Medical Costs
Jun 27 2014 // Delaware lawmakers have given final approval to legislation aimed at lowering workers’ compensation insurance rates in Delaware. The bill approved unanimously by the Senate on Wednesday calls for a 33 percent...
Florida Raises Car Seat Requirement Age
Jun 27 2014 // Parents in Florida will have to use a car seat for children up to 5 years old under a new law approved by Gov. Rick Scott. Scott signed a bill (HB 225) that increases Florida’s car seat requirement from 4 years old...
The Political Battle Over Export-Import Bank
Jun 27 2014 // A day before U.S. House Republicans were to vote on a new majority leader, lawmakers aligned with the limited-government Tea Party movement delivered a message to the leading candidate, Kevin McCarthy of California. They...
Ridesharing Insurance Legislation Advances In California
Jun 26 2014 // A bill that would impose insurance requirements on ridesharing companies in California passed a state Senate committee 9-1 on Wednesday, although with somewhat lower costs to the industry than previously written into the...
Judge Allows Trial in Greenberg Defamation Claim Against Spitzer
Jun 26 2014 // A defamation lawsuit by former American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Maurice Greenberg against Eliot Spitzer may move toward trial, a state judge ruled after throwing out many of the claims against the...
Florida’s Miami-Dade County Continues to Have Problems With Ride-for-Hire
Jun 25 2014 // Florida’s Miami-Dade County continues to have problems with the ride-for-hire industry and is looking to other cities for examples of how to legislate the growing businesses. The Miami Herald reports the county has...
NYC Mayor de Blasio Signs Traffic Safety Legislation
Jun 25 2014 // New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed eleven bills into law Monday that are meant to improve traffic safety and reduce pedestrian fatalities in the nation’s largest city. The measures are among the first steps in...
Holding Government Legally Liable for Failing to Act
Jun 25 2014 // Like a driver obligated to use his brakes to prevent hitting a pedestrian in a road, governments have a duty to protect private property with the right laws and regulations, according to a Vanderbilt Law School...
New Jersey Senate Fails to Override Sandy ‘Bill of Rights’ Veto
Jun 24 2014 // The New Jersey Senate has failed in its effort to override Gov. Chris Christie’s conditional veto of the Superstorm Sandy “Bill of Rights” legislation. New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney pushed...
