Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge Won’t Make Health System Fund Defense of Accused Ohio Doctor
Jan 10 2020 // A federal judge declined for now to compel a Michigan-based health system to advance legal costs for a doctor’s defense against murder charges in the deaths of 25 Ohio hospital patients. U.S. District Judge George...
Truckers Are Exempt from California’s ‘Gig Worker’ Law, Judge Finds
Jan 10 2020 // California’s new “gig worker” law does not apply to independent truck drivers because they are subject to federal statute, a Los Angeles judge ruled, handing a victory to one industry that is challenging...
Chamber of Commerce to Fight Corporate Breakups, Gig Worker Benefits
Jan 10 2020 // The leader of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the powerful business group will fight to reverse liberal policies being pushed in the states and by some Democratic candidates for president. “We will lead the...
U.K. Lawmakers Approve EU Exit at End of January with 11 Months of Trade Talks Ahead
Jan 9 2020 // Lawmakers approved legislation on Thursday which will allow Britain to leave the European Union on Jan. 31 with an exit deal, ending more than three years of tumult over the terms of the unprecedented divorce. They voted...
More Than a Dozen Florida Insurers Facing Ratings Downgrades
Jan 9 2020 // The rating agency responsible for assigning financial stability ratings (FSR) to more than 40 Florida domestic insurers has warned that several carriers will receive downgrades due to deteriorating conditions in the...
New York Governor Lays out Aggressive Climate Change Plan
Jan 9 2020 // New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing an aggressive climate change-fighting campaign for his state that includes a $3-billion bond act that would be put on the ballot this November. Cuomo, who says that money would go to...
Appeals Court Rules Workers Can’t Sue Alabama Over Blocked Minimum Wage Boost
Jan 8 2020 // Fast food workers can’t sue the Alabama attorney general over a 2016 state law that blocked a minimum wage increase in the state’s largest city, a federal appeals court ruled last month. The 11th U.S. Circuit...
Judge to Approve $215M Settlement for USC Gynecologist’s Patients
Jan 8 2020 // A federal judge is likely to approve a $215 million class-action settlement with thousands of former patients of a campus gynecologist at the University of Southern California who has been accused of sexual abuse and...
Lawyers Try Unusual Legal Path to Advance Sex Abuse Claims Against Boy Scouts
Jan 8 2020 // A team of lawyers filed a lawsuit this week in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking to establish the nation’s capital as a venue for men across the U.S. to sue the Boy Scouts of America for allegedly failing to...
Trump Administration Seeks to Limit ‘Overreach’ of Regulation of Artificial Intelligence
Jan 8 2020 // The White House on Tuesday proposed regulatory principles to govern the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) aimed at limiting authorities’ “overreach,” and said it wants European officials...
Rehabilitation of Florida Insurer Windhaven Deemed ‘Useless’; Judge Orders Liquidation
Jan 7 2020 // Plans to rehabilitate Florida auto insurer Windhaven Insurance Co. have been deemed “useless” and the company will instead be liquidated. In a Jan. 6 order, Leon County Court Judge Ronald W. Flury said the...
California Eyes Climate Bond to Prepare For Disasters
Jan 6 2020 // In a state burdened by billions of dollars in wildfire damage, California lawmakers are hoping for an advance loan before the next climate-fueled catastrophe hits. Lawmakers in the Democratic-dominated state Legislature...
Judge Triples Award for Hewlett Packard Against Quanta in Price-Fixing Scheme
Jan 6 2020 // HP Inc. was awarded $439 million in damages against Quanta Storage Inc. and its U.S. subsidiary after a federal judge tripled a jury’s 2019 award for damages caused by a widespread scheme to inflate the price of...
20 Democratic States Seek Supreme Court Ruling on Affordable Care Act
Jan 5 2020 // In a move that could put the Obama-era health law squarely in the middle of the 2020 election, Democratic-led states Friday asked the Supreme Court for a fast-track review of a recent court ruling that declared part of the...
Commentary: Are You Ready, Nevada? Nine New Laws for the New Year
Jan 3 2020 // Don’t let hindsight be 2020. While others are enjoying the holidays and a well-deserved break, Nevada businesses should “check their lists twice” to make sure they are compliant with a host of new laws...
America Is Still Waiting for Trump’s ‘Much Better’ Replacement for Obamacare
Jan 3 2020 // As a candidate for the White House, Donald Trump repeatedly promised that he would “immediately” replace President Barack Obama’s health care law with a plan of his own that would provide “insurance...
2020 Predictions from Cannabis Industry Experts: More Insurance Business
Jan 2 2020 // More legalization in more states. More product liability risks. More regulations. More M&A. More of many things is what insurance professionals involved in the cannabis industry can expect in 2020. Insurance Journal...
Refusing to Dismiss Lawsuit, Texas Judge Orders Alex Jones to Pay $100K in Sandy Hook Case
Jan 2 2020 // A Texas judge ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $100,000 in legal fees and refused to dismiss a lawsuit that targets the Infowars host for using his show to promote falsehoods that the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre...
Rhode Island Considers Permanent Flavored Vape Products Ban
Jan 2 2020 // Rhode Island’s health department is proposing to permanently ban the sale of flavored vaping products in the state. The department issued a public notice last week that it wants to make the temporary ban currently in...
Judge Denies Motion for New Trial in Boat Sinking Case
Jan 2 2020 // A man whose boat sank in 2016 resulting in his mother being lost at sea was denied a new trial Monday by a federal judge amid an ongoing dispute with insurance companies over the boat’s seaworthiness. Insurers said...
