Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Economic Downturn Puts Pressure on Return-to-Work Programs
Jan 15 2010 // The recent recession and record unemployment rates have increased pressure on the workers’ compensation insurance system to help return injured employees back to work while effectively managing costs. That was one of...
Wall Street Barons Concede Failures, Offer No Apologies
Jan 14 2010 // Wall Street’s chiefs acknowledged taking on “too much risk” and having “choked” on their own cooking, but stopped short of an apology as they sparred with a commission looking into the...
Connecticut Teen’s Death Revives Bus Seat Belt Debate
Jan 13 2010 // For more than a decade, Connecticut lawmakers have considered and dismissed the idea of requiring seat belts on school buses that carry nearly 500,000 children each day. But a deadly weekend crash in Hartford has given the...
Restructuring Workers’ Comp Among Goals for Oklahoma Senate GOP
Jan 13 2010 // Reforming Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system will be among state Senate Republicans’ top legislative goals for 2010. Republicans, who enjoy a majority in the Oklahoma Senate, are led by Senate...
Florida Agents, Consumer Group Sound Alarm Over ‘Perilous’ Property Market
Jan 13 2010 // Insurance agents, a former insurance commissioner and a consumer advocate have sounded an alarm about the property insurance marketplace in Florida, a market that has seen four insurers get into financial trouble in the...
Sammis Named Interim Maryland Commissioner
Jan 11 2010 // Elizabeth “Beth” Sammis has been appointed Interim Maryland Insurance Commissioner, overseeing the regulation of Maryland’s $26 billion insurance industry. Sammis has served as deputy commissioner for the...
New York Plans First Steps to Creating Lloyd’s Competitor
Jan 10 2010 // New York regulators are aggressively pursuing plans for a reincarnation of the New York Insurance Exchange and expect to finish assembling a “working group” of industry insiders within the next two months who...
Few Lawmakers Support Tougher Nebraska Liquor Liability Law
Jan 10 2010 // Few Nebraska lawmakers participating in an Associated Press survey say they support legislation making liquor license holders liable for serving intoxicated customers who leave their establishments and hurt themselves or...
Health Insurers Seek Tax, Profit Changes in Health Reform Bill
Jan 8 2010 // Health insurance lobbyists are pushing lawmakers to eliminate caps on profits and other administrative spending and delay a hefty, industry-wide tax under the massive healthcare reform legislation being finalized in...
Alabama Lawmakers Favor Ban on Driver Texting: Poll
Jan 8 2010 // State Rep. Ken Guin says Alabama needs to ban people from text messaging while driving a motor vehicle, and a recent experience with a driver swerving “all over the road” is a reason why. “I started to...
Lawmakers Press Treasury Secretary Geithner for AIG Testimony
Jan 8 2010 // Two prominent U.S. lawmakers Friday called for U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to testify to help determine if the New York Federal Reserve Bank improperly influenced insurer AIG to withhold information on its...
Montana Court Upholds Notice Rule in Lawsuits Against Bars
Jan 7 2010 // A sharply divided Montana Supreme Court has upheld a state law that requires someone planning to sue a bar over liability in a drunken driving crash to notify the bar within 180 days of the crash. The Supreme Court issued...
Democrats Optimistic on Health Care Bill Prospect
Jan 6 2010 // House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday she was sure Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate would produce a final health care reform plan that would hold insurers accountable and make medical coverage...
Sen. Dodd Announces Plans to Retire
Jan 6 2010 // Veteran Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd said Wednesday he will not seek re-election in November in recognition that he faced an uphill battle and underscoring upheaval facing President Barack Obama’s...
CNA Chief Motamed: What’s Ahead for CNA, Economy, Industry
Jan 6 2010 // After 30 years at Chubb Corp, Thomas Motamed joined Chicago-based commercial lines insurer CNA Financial in January 2009 as chairman and CEO. In this edited interview with Insurance Journal’s Andrew Simpson, Motamed...
New York Plans First Steps to Creating Lloyd’s Competitor
Jan 6 2010 // New York regulators are aggressively pursuing plans for a reincarnation of the New York Insurance Exchange and expect to assemble a “working group” of industry insiders within the next two weeks who will guide...
Two Proposals to Amend New New Hampshire Sprinkler Regulations
Jan 5 2010 // The New Hampshire Legislature is expected to consider two bills that would prevent the state from enforcing amendments to building codes that expand requirements for sprinkler systems. Last month the Building Code Review...
California Appeals Court Upholds Right to Challenge Insurance Rates
Jan 5 2010 // Insurance companies must pay the legal costs of consumer challenges to insurance rate increases, even if they withdraw or settle challenges to rate applications before a formal hearing on their application is called, a...
Car Insurance Premiums to Rise for Many Louisiana Drivers
Dec 31 2009 // A law that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2010, increasing the required minimum liability auto insurance coverage is expected to increase insurance rates for more than 1 million Louisiana motorists. Though the change was...
January 1 Is Deadline for ‘Fire Safe’ Cigarettes in Texas
Dec 30 2009 // As of Jan. 1, 2010, all cigarettes sold in Texas must be certified fire standard compliant (FSC), the Texas Department of Insurance and the State Fire Marshal’s Office announced. All FSC cigarettes will be marked...
