Latest Politics Headlines
All the headlines from our Politics Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Update: Kentucky Senate Passes Mine Safety Bill
Mar 20 2008 // The Kentucky Senate passed legislation that would require coal companies to post their global positioning system (GPS) coordinates at mine sites so that medical helicopters can be given precise directions in cases of...
Update: Mississippi Senate Sends Gov. Bill to Give $25M to Wind Pool
Mar 18 2008 // The Mississippi Senate sent Gov, Haley Barbour a bill last week to transfer $25 million into a fund that assists the state wind pool. The wind pool has about 36,000 policies. Most are held by homeowners in six south...
Minnesota Senate Keeps Cap on Payments to Worst-hurt Bridge Victims
Mar 18 2008 // The Minnesota Senate has voted against lifting a state liability cap as they consider a compensation fund for victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse. By a 53-9 vote, the Senate stuck with a $400,000 cap on...
Fla. Senate Makes Recommendations on Property Insurance Accountability
Mar 14 2008 // The Florida Senate Select Committee on Property Insurance Accountability wants to restrict reinsurance costs in rates and strengthen the excess profits law among other things. Co-chaired by Sen. Jeff Atwater, R- North Palm...
Identity Theft, Privacy Addressed in Bill Passed by Okla. Senate
Mar 13 2008 // Legislation aimed at preventing identity theft and protecting the privacy of Oklahoma’s citizens has passed the Oklahoma Senate. Senate Bill 1745, sponsored by Sen. Randy Bass, D-Lawton, won unanimous approval. The...
Kentucky Senate Passes Bill to Tighten Rules on Amusement Park Rides
Mar 13 2008 // Potential fines would increase tenfold and the age of amusement park ride operators would rise under a bill the Kentucky Senate has passed unanimously. The action follows an accident at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom last year...
Senate Confronts Product Safety
Mar 7 2008 // A bill to crack down on dangerous consumer products was approved by the U.S. Senate Thursday after a year of recalls of millions of lead-tainted toys and other hazardous products, many made in China. The bill would beef up...
Elevator Safety Rules Subject of Fight in W. Va. Senate Committee
Mar 6 2008 // Elevator safety and licensing rules recommended by a recent legislative audit and passed by the West Virginia House disguise a bid by the industry’s union to preserve and enhance its share of the market, the...
Colorado Senate Backs Raising Medical Malpractice Cap
Mar 5 2008 // The Colorado Senate has given final approval to a bill that would increase the amount juries can award in some medical malpractice suits. Senate Bill 164 applies to cases where someone has been disfigured or impaired. It...
Suspended N.D. Workers’ Comp Executive Running for State Senate
Mar 5 2008 // A suspended executive at North Dakota’s workers compensation agency is running for the state Senate. Democratic activists in central North Dakota’s District 14 endorsed James Long to oppose incumbent Republican...
S.C. House Toughens Drunk Driving Bill; Gov. Sanford Urges Senate Follow
Mar 5 2008 // The South Carolina Congress amended key penalties in a bill aimed at toughening the state’s drunk driving laws, which Gov. Mark Sanford called for in his state of the state address as part of his “First 30 Days...
Kan. Senate Passes Flex Rating Legislation
Mar 4 2008 // The Kansas Senate unanimously approved a flex rating bill, SB 560, supported the insurance industry. The bill now heads to the House. Based on the National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ (NCOIL) Flex-Rating...
Miss. Senate Approves $25 Million for Wind Pool to Help Gulf Coast
Mar 3 2008 // Freshman Sen. Michael Watson knows the sting of rising insurance costs on the hurricane-battered Mississippi Gulf Coast. Watson said after Hurricane Katrina struck more than two years ago, he lost his home’s wind...
W. Va. Senate Restores 1% Insurance Policy Tax to Help Towns
Feb 28 2008 // The West Virginia Senate has agreed to help cities and towns with their police and firefighter pension funds, partly by reversing a recent tax break on consumer insurance costs. The state would restore a 1 percent...
S.C. Senate Approves Tougher Penalties for Drunken Driving
Feb 22 2008 // The fines and prison time that repeat drunken drivers face would hinge on how much alcohol they have in their bodies under a measure that received key approval Wednesday in the South Carolina Senate. Senators also decided...
S.C. Gov. to State Senate: Stop Toying with Drunk Driving Law
Feb 15 2008 // In a written statement Tuesday, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford reacted to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s refusal to strip harmful amendments from the DUI bill: “We knew going in that some on this Senate...
Okla. GOP Lawmaker to Return Insurance-related Campaign Donation
Feb 14 2008 // An Oklahoma Republican House leader said he will return a $5,000 campaign contribution from a donor who sought legislation that would have helped insurance companies tied to the donor’s family. House Majority Leader...
Pa. Senate Passes Long-Awaited Mine Safety Measure
Feb 13 2008 // The first major rewrite of Pennsylvania’s 1961 mine safety law received unanimous approval from the state Senate this week, but the mine workers union wants the House to make additions to it. Under the current draft,...
Alabama Senate Votes to Raise Auto Insurance Requirements
Feb 11 2008 // The Alabama Senate is ready to raise the minimum amount of auto liability insurance that Alabamians must buy. The Senate voted 33-0 on Jan. 7 for a bill that would increase the limits for the first time since...
Wis. Senate Squeaks Through Bill to Ban Credit Scoring
Feb 10 2008 // With the 2008 legislative sessions now in full swing, many states are taking another look at the issue of insurers using credit scoring to underwrite or rate auto or homeowners insurance. Insurance trade groups are...
