Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
North Carolina Senate Panel Approves Beach Plan Rescue
Aug 5 2009 // The North Carolina Senate Commerce Committee today passed legislation (HB 1305) to rescue the state’s underfunded coastal insurer, the Beach Plan. The bill, which already passed the House, will now bypass the finance...
California Releases New Draft of Pay-As-You-Drive Regulations
Aug 4 2009 // The California Department of Insurance has released a new draft of the Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) regulations, after receiving dozens of comments from consumer groups, the insurance industry and other invested parties, it...
Insurers See ‘Full Plate’ of Insurance Issues for Delaware Next Year
Aug 3 2009 // A trade group for insurance companies says Delaware lawmakers will have a “full plate” of legislative insurance issues when they reconvene next year. Among the big issues, according to the Property Casualty...
Cal/OSHA Moves to Strengthen Heat Illness Prevention Regulations
Aug 3 2009 // California’s Department of Industrial Relations’ (DIR) Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has filed a proposal with the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to amend the...
State Farm Florida Withdrawal Plan May Go To Judge
Aug 3 2009 // After months of trying, Florida state officials and State Farm Florida have not been able to agree on the insurer’s plan for withdrawing from the state, so steps have been taken to have an administrative law judge...
States Give a ‘Thumbs Up’ to Fingerprinting Insurance Producers
Aug 3 2009 // Regulators Say Fingerprinting Keeps Criminals Out of the Business Don’t be alarmed, but there are convicted criminals roaming around the country acting as insurance producers. They could be robbers, forgers, possibly...
Colorado Workers’ Comp Insurer Wants to Go Private
Jul 31 2009 // The head of Colorado’s state-chartered workers’ compensation insurance fund says the company wants to go private. Ken Ross, president and chief executive of Pinnacol Assurance, told The Denver Post editorial...
Judge: Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Must Hand Over Documents
Jul 31 2009 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon has lost a legal fight with the state’s legislative auditor and said that he’ll give auditors “hundreds of thousands” of documents they demanded from his...
New Hampshire Judge Rejects State’s Claim on Malpractice Fund
Jul 31 2009 // A New Hampshire judge has rejected the state’s claim on a $110 million surplus in a fund that underwrites malpractice insurance. The state counted on $65 million of the money to help balance the budget in the fiscal...
Lawmakers to Propose Ban on Texting while Driving
Jul 30 2009 // States would be required to ban driving while texting or face the loss of highway funds under legislation being pushed by a group of Democratic senators. Aimed at reducing driver distraction and highway deaths and...
Texas Enacts Windstorm Insurance Reforms; Will They Be Enough?
Jul 30 2009 // During the recently completed 81st Legislative Session, the Texas legislature adopted the most significant reforms to the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) since 1997 with the passage of House Bill 4409 (HB...
Some Question Michigan Judge’s Refusal to Recuse in Insurance Case
Jul 29 2009 // A Michigan Supreme Court justice’s decision not to recuse herself from a case that pertains to her husband’s profession contradicts the spirit of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on when judges should step...
New York Regulator Signs Cooperation Agreement with China
Jul 28 2009 // The New York State Insurance Department has signed a cooperation agreement with regulators in China calling for closer cooperation between the two agencies in overseeing insurance issues. Acting Superintendent Kermitt...
Consumer Group Urges Congress to Curb Insurers’ Risky Behavior
Jul 28 2009 // A large U.S. consumer group urged Congress Tuesday to clamp down on insurers’ risky practices after last year’s near collapse of AIG due to its foray into exotic derivative instruments. The Consumer Federation...
West Virginia Lawmaker Asks Huntington to Scrap Insurance Rule
Jul 28 2009 // A state lawmaker is urging Huntington to scrap an ordinance that has prompted a court challenge to West Virginia’s experiment with home rule. Delegate Jim Morgan, a Cabell County Democrat, wants the city to withdraw...
Congress Urged to Raise Liability Standard for Credit Rating Firms
Jul 27 2009 // Congress must consider radical reforms to improve the accountability and reliability of credit rating agencies like Moody’s Corp. and McGraw-Hill Cos. Inc.’s Standard & Poor’s, a top U.S. lawmaker...
Federal Judge: Oklahoma Can’t Seek Damages in Poultry Lawsuit
Jul 24 2009 // Oklahoma can’t pursue monetary damages in its environmental lawsuit against a dozen Arkansas poultry companies because it didn’t name the Cherokee Nation as a plaintiff, a federal judge ruled in a major blow to...
New Missouri Law Encourages Captive Insurance Operations
Jul 24 2009 // Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed a bill that makes improvements to the state’s captive insurance laws by simplifying the process of moving offshore captive operations to Missouri. House Bill 577, an omnibus...
White House Still Sees Health Reform By Year’s End Despite Delays
Jul 24 2009 // Shrugging off delays in a divided Congress, President Barack Obama’s administration on Friday said a sweeping healthcare overhaul would still be approved by year’s end to control costs and expand...
New York Judge Awards $250K to Wrongly Imprisoned Woman
Jul 24 2009 // A woman falsely implicated by New York police in a gruesome 1989 multiple murder is entitled to more than $250,000 in compensation for the nearly 2 1/2 years she spent behind bars, a New York Court of Claims judge has...
