Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Montana Enacts Insurance Compact Legislation
May 20 2013 // Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has made Montana the 43rd state to join the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission. Bullock’s state joined the IIPRC upon his signing of Senate Bill 28. The IIPRC is a...
California Surplus Lines: LLC Bill Thriving
May 20 2013 // Among a horde of bills wending its way through California’s Legislature, there’s an innocuous looking bill with simple language to change a few words in existing law that could have a great deal of meaning to...
Florida Lawmakers Approve Medical Malpractice Reform
May 20 2013 // In a victory for medical malpractice insurers and physicians, Florida lawmakers have approved a series of tort reforms that among other things will require expert witnesses testifying against physicians in a malpractice...
Tennessee Approves Workers’ Compensation Changes
May 20 2013 // Tennessee’s workers’ compensation system is going to undergo its most significant changes in decades including the creation of a new administrative court system to handle workers’ compensation...
Opioid Epidemic Plagues Workers’ Comp
May 17 2013 // Prev Next Drug Overdose Death Rates Drug overdose death rates in the U.S. more than tripled since 1990. In 2008, more than 36,000 people died from drug overdoses, and most of the deaths were caused by prescription drugs....
Missouri Senate Backs Bill to Bolster Second Injury Fund
May 17 2013 // More than a thousand disabled workers could finally begin receiving payments for their job-related injuries if the Missouri House gives final approval to legislation intended to replenish an insolvent state fund. SB 1,...
Obama Administration Releases Proposed Fracking Regulations
May 17 2013 // The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled a new proposal for regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, rolling back some measures from its original, abandoned draft as it sought to ease concerns the rules would...
House Lawmakers Shelve Louisiana Citizens Rate Review Bill
May 17 2013 // Lawmakers in the House have rejected a proposal seeking legislative review of large rate hikes for customers of Louisiana’s property insurer of last resort. The House Insurance Committee scrapped the idea in a 9-4...
Cap Forces Judge to Slash Landmark $240M EEOC Verdict to $1.6M
May 16 2013 // A judge has slashed a landmark $240 million verdict to $1.6 million for 32 mentally disabled workers in Iowa who suffered years of abuse by their caretakers. U.S. Senior Judge Charles Wolle entered judgment against...
Japan Nuclear Agency Halts Test Reactor Over Safety
May 16 2013 // Japan’s nuclear watchdog announced Wednesday that the nation’s trouble-plagued next-generation test reactor will not be allowed to restart due to safety violations, dealing a setback to the country’s...
U.S. Judge in Oregon Dismisses Movie Pirating Lawsuit
May 16 2013 // A federal judge has dismissed a movie company’s Internet piracy complaint against 34 Oregonians, saying the company was unfairly using the court’s subpoena power in a “reverse class-action suit” to...
Wyoming Lawmakers Weigh Alcohol Testing For Drunk Drivers
May 16 2013 // Wyoming lawmakers are looking into legislation that would keep repeat offenders of alcohol-related crimes out of jail and subject them instead to stringent testing. The Joint Judiciary Interim Committee heard details about...
House Farm Bill Expands Crop Insurance, Cuts Food Stamps
May 16 2013 // A Republican-controlled panel in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the biggest cuts in food stamps for the poor in a generation and a potentially expensive expansion of federally subsidized crop...
Will Supreme Court Enter Climate Change Debate?
May 16 2013 // With a barrage of legal briefs, a coalition of business groups and Republican-leaning states are taking their fight against Obama administration climate change regulations to the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Chamber of...
Missouri Lawmakers Approve Disaster Fund
May 16 2013 // Missouri lawmakers have approved a bill creating a $15 million fund to repair infrastructure in areas where the president has issued a disaster declaration. The measure is meant chiefly to help Joplin rebuild street curbs...
State Senate OKs California Ski Safety Legislation
May 15 2013 // The state Senate passed a bill that would require California ski resorts to prepare an annual safety plan and post those reports on their websites. Lawmakers passed SB564 on a 24-8 partisan vote. The bill by Democratic...
Utah Bans Teen Drivers From Using Cellphones
May 15 2013 // Before she pulls out of the driveway, Stefhany Robles switches her phone on silent or turns it off. The 16-year-old junior at Salt Lake City’s West High School says the distraction isn’t worth shooting off a...
EPIC Names Beale Employee Benefits Consultant in California
May 13 2013 // Edgewood Partners Insurance Center named Kris Beale an employee benefits division senior compliance consultant in its San Francisco, Calif. office. Beale will assist EPIC clients with federal, state, and local health care...
Nebraska Motorcycle Helmet Bill Will Get Another Ride
May 13 2013 // An effort to repeal Nebraska’s motorcycle-helmet law will get another ride in the Legislature, this time with a new crop of state lawmakers. Opponents who have tried for two decades to repeal the helmet law are...
Drowsy Driving Remains Elusive National Highway Dilemma
May 13 2013 // It probably happens to most drivers. Heading home after an overtime shift and the eyelids flutter. Up all night with a sick baby and you rest your eyes for just a moment on the way to dropping off the kids at school....