Latest Legislation Headlines

All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Ohio Supreme Court Ruling Favors Bus Wreck Survivors

Dec 29 2010 // The Ohio Supreme Court says a university’s insurance coverage extended to a charter bus that crashed, killing five student baseball players and two others. The 5-2 ruling issued Dec. 28 is a victory for families and...

Southeast’s Top Stories: Disasters That Happened and 1 That Didn’t

Dec 23 2010 // The top insurance stories in the Southeast in 2010 included several disasters that caused considerable death and destruction in the region and one that didn’t do as much harm as feared. The April 20 blowout of...

Catastrophes Top 2010 List of Major Global Insurance Events

Dec 23 2010 // Natural and man-made catastrophes topped the list of the most significant events in 2010, with three major earthquakes, a near record number of hurricanes, some serious typhoons and windstorms, a volcanic eruption and a...

AIG to Pay States $146 Million In Workers Compensation Settlement

Dec 23 2010 // American International Group Inc. (AIG) has agreed to pay $146.5 million in fines and additional taxes to state insurance regulators for alleged under-reporting of premiums to states more than a decade ago. The company...

New York Suit Against Ernst & Young Fills Regulatory Gap

Dec 23 2010 // In choosing Ernst & Young as his target in the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers collapse, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filled what looks destined to be a permanent gap in regulators’ responses to the...

Democratic Congress Productive But Unpopular

Dec 23 2010 // Perhaps never before has a U.S. Congress done more and been liked less than the one controlled by President Barack Obama’s Democrats that ended Wednesday. It wrapped up its two-year legislative cycle with a crush of...

2010’s Top Insurance Stories in the West

Dec 23 2010 // In 2009, independent insurance agents and brokers faced a “perfect storm” with the economic downturn, premiums at a fraction of what they used to be, and unemployment and home foreclosure rates up, said Kevin...

Oklahoma Legislator to Continue Push for Workers’ Comp Reform

Dec 22 2010 // An Oklahoma state representative says he’s prepared to introduce legislation to further improve the state’s workers’ compensation system. Rep. Mark McCullough says the recent recommendations of the Task...

President Obama Expected to Sign Food Safety Overhaul Bill

Dec 22 2010 // The ailing U.S. food safety system moved closer Tuesday toward its biggest overhaul in more than 70 years after the House passed legislation that would increase inspections and give regulators the power to recall tainted...

State Inaction Risks Loss of Surplus Lines Premium Tax Revenue

Dec 21 2010 // The States appear poised, through inaction, to leave untold millions of dollars in premium tax revenue “on the table” when the Nonadmitted Insurance and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA) becomes the law of the land...

Insurance Vital to Alabama Coast Long-Term Plan, Says Commission

Dec 21 2010 // Coastal Alabama should seize the BP Gulf oil disaster as an opportunity for “resiliency planning” that will not only help the region recover from the oil damage but also put it in a position to better recover...

Fact or Fiction? Insurance Tidbits of Known and Little-Known Information

Dec 20 2010 // Have you ever wondered what big events helped shape regulation of the current U.S. insurance industry? Or if drivers of certain cars have more risk? What about the most attractive insurance job in the industry? These are...

Congress Sends Tax Deal to Obama for Signing

Dec 17 2010 // Congress gave final approval late Thursday to the deal President Barack Obama and Republicans made to extend expiring tax cuts — a high-stakes gamble to create jobs at a cost of deepening the U.S. debt. Over...

Georgia Supreme Court Upholds Insurers in 2 Uninsured Motorist Cases

Dec 16 2010 // The Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled in favor of insurance companies in two cases involving how much people injured in car wrecks should get under uninsured motorists coverage. At issue was whether the two injured...

Georgia Regulator Ignored Licensing Requirements, Judge Rules

Dec 16 2010 // A Fulton County judge has ruled that Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine disregarded application requirements when awarding small-loan licenses. Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington ruled that Oxendine was not...

Senate Passes Tax Cut Plan, 81-19

Dec 15 2010 // A deal that President Barack Obama struck with Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts for nearly every working American and spur job growth sailed through the U.S. Senate Wednesday. The Senate passed the legislation in a...

State: Utility Not to Blame in New Hampshire Power Shutoff Death

Dec 14 2010 // State regulators said an electric utility acted appropriately when it shut off power to a woman who didn’t pay her power bill and died after an oxygen machine she needed stopped working. The state Public Utilities...

Person Leaving Keys in Car May Be Liable, Tennessee Court Rules

Dec 13 2010 // A Tennessee court has ruled that a person who leaves keys in a car can be held responsible if the car is stolen and then involved in a crash. The Tennessee Court of Appeals– in a case involving a stolen car, a police...

Obamacare Individual Mandate Found Unconstitutional by Federal Judge in Virginia

Dec 13 2010 // A U.S. judge in Virginia Monday declared a key part of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law unconstitutional in the first major setback on an issue that will likely end up at the Supreme Court. U.S....

Judge Orders $15M to Indiana Crash Victim’s Family

Dec 10 2010 // A federal judge has awarded $15 million to the family of one of four people killed in a 2005 crash on the Indiana Toll Road caused by a truck driver. District Judge Theresa Springmann found Net Trucking of Burbank, Ill.,...