Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mississippi Judge Weighs Government Immunity in Shooting Case
Jan 30 2012 // A Hinds County judge will decide if Mississippi governmental agencies are liable for the wounding of a bystander during a 2008 shooting. The Clarion-Ledger reported that Circuit Judge Winston Kidd presided over a four-day...
Oklahoma Lawmakers File State Insurance Opt-Out Bill
Jan 30 2012 // Two Oklahoma lawmakers have filed legislation to increase the number of state employees who could opt out of state insurance coverage. The measure expands a 2011 law that allowed state employees and lawmakers to refuse...
California to Vote on New ‘Clean Car’ Regulations
Jan 27 2012 // California, whose greenhouse gas emissions standards lead the U.S., is poised to vote on pushing them further. The new rules, if approved, would require automakers to build cars and trucks by 2025 that emit about...
Florida Lawmakers Reject Bad-Faith Reform Bill
Jan 27 2012 // Business groups in Florida saw their efforts to reform the state’s bad-faith law end suddenly for the year after a legislative committee voted by a one vote margin to kill a bill that would have placed additional...
Judges Weigh HIV-Positive Man’s Job Bias Claim Against Atlanta Police
Jan 27 2012 // A panel of federal judges appeared skeptical Wednesday of the Atlanta police department’s decision to reject a job application from an HIV-infected man. The 40-year-old man sued the city in 2010, claiming he was...
Lawmaker: Oklahoma Bill Would Help Homeowners with Insurance Claims
Jan 26 2012 // A bill filed in Oklahoma aims to help homeowners with insurance claim payments issued through mortgage companies. Legislation filed by Oklahoma state Rep. Charles Ortega would give mortgage companies no more than 10 days...
Florida Gov. Scott Leads a PIP Rally for Reform
Jan 25 2012 // Standing in the rotunda of Florida’s capitol in Tallahassee on Wednesday, Florida officials and business leaders called on state lawmakers to reform the state’s no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) auto...
The Politics of Florida PIP: Industry Looks on While Pols Seek Answers
Jan 25 2012 // Most agree that Florida’s automobile no-fault personal injury protection (PIP) system needs to be reformed. But in the halls of the state Capitol the struggle over just how to reform the law has exposed how...
Group to Push Idaho Liquor Vote, Grocers Back Off
Jan 25 2012 // A grocery lobbying organization won’t advance a liquor privatization ballot measure in 2012, but a second group announced it will seek to get an initiative before voters next November. The Idaho Federation of Reagan...
Analysis of New EU Data Protection Laws Command the Tide but Not the Cost
Jan 24 2012 // New data-protection proposals from the European Union to help people regain control of personal information from sites like Facebook could prove as effective as commanding the tide, while hurting small firms and Web giants...
Judge Denies BP Request to Penalize Halliburton
Jan 23 2012 // A federal judge in New Orleans shot down BP’s request to penalize Halliburton for allegedly destroying damaging evidence about the quality of its cement slurry that went into drilling the oil well that blew out last...
Florida Supreme Court Rules Guaranty Fund Not Responsible for Legal Fees
Jan 23 2012 // Florida’s high court has ruled that the state fund charged with paying claims from insolvent insurers is not responsible for paying a claimant’s legal fees on a pre-insolvent claim unless they are specifically...
Europe to Issue Tough Rules Protecting Internet Users’ Data
Jan 23 2012 // The European Union will propose tough new rules in the coming days on how corporations handle Internet users’ personal data, a long-awaited move that could have far-reaching implications for Web giants such as Google...
People
Jan 23 2012 // John F. Finston has accepted an appointment to be deputy commissioner for Corporate & Regulatory Affairs at the California Department of Insurance. Finston was the head of SNR Denton’s insurance regulation...
Texas Lawmakers Object
Jan 23 2012 // Some lawmakers in Texas want Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman to withdraw the state’s request for a waiver to the medical loss ratio (MLR) provision in the federal health insurance reform law. State Rep. Lon...
Judge Allows Suit Alleging GE Misled Investors
Jan 23 2012 // A federal judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit accusing General Electric Co and its chief executive of misleading investors about the conglomerate’s financial health and exposure to risky debt during the 2008...
5 Strategies for P/C Insurers for 2012
Jan 23 2012 // The economic uncertainty that plagues buyers of insurance does not bode well for the property/casualty insurance industry, experts are warning. Ernst & Young, the global tax and business advisory firm, said it expects...
N.J. Court Rules for Allstate in Agency Lawsuits
Jan 23 2012 // Allstate said the Superior Court of New Jersey has entered judgment in favor of Allstate New Jersey Insurance Company, a unit of Allstate Insurance Company, and dismissed claims in the franchise lawsuits filed against...
New Global Risks Create Need for Expanded Directors & Officers Liability Program
Jan 23 2012 // The risk of lawsuits against senior executives has long been a major concern for businesses in the United States. But in the last few years it has become a much more serious global exposure as well. The international legal...
Boston Judge Orders 14 Drug Cos. to Settle Breast Cancer Case
Jan 21 2012 // A federal judge in Boston has ordered 14 drug companies to negotiate settlements for 53 women who claim their breast cancer was caused by an anti-miscarriage drug their mothers took decades ago. Lawyers for the women said...
