Latest Politics Headlines
All the headlines from our Politics Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Okla. Senate Proposes Comprehensive Rural Fire Protection Plan
Mar 23 2006 // Oklahoma State Senator Jeff Rabon, chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services, announced that recent wildfires across the state have prompted the Senate to step forward with a...
N.H. House Passes Premum Tax Cut for Insurers; Measure Now Goes to Senate
Mar 23 2006 // The New Hampshire House of Representatives has passed legislation (HB 678) supported by insurers and agents to reduce the state premium tax from two percent to one percent for property-casualty and life...
Insurer Group Says Kan. Workers’ Comp Bill in Senate for Possible Veto Override
Mar 23 2006 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America expressed disappointment with Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ decision to veto comprehensive workers’ compensation reform legislation. “SB 461 made...
Mass. State Sen. Nuciforo, Insurance Panel Chairman, to Exit Senate
Mar 19 2006 // Massachusetts State Sen. Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr. has announced that he will not seek re-election in November and will instead run for registrar of the Middle Berkshire Registry of Deeds. Nuciforo, D-Pittsfield, told the...
Mass. House, Senate Reported Close to Final Health Reform Terms
Mar 16 2006 // House and Senate negotiators in Massachusetts are nearing a final deal on a health care reform package, Senate President Robert Travaglini said Tuesday. “The biggest obstacle that we’re left with is just fine...
N.Y. Senate Passes Bill Requiring Insurance on Public Boats
Mar 14 2006 // The New York State Senate has passed legislation (S.6828-B), sponsored by Senator Betty Little (R-C-I, Queensbury), that would require owners of public boats operating on navigable waters in New York State to obtain marine...
Measure to Encourage Safer Driving by Teens Clears Okla. Senate
Mar 13 2006 // Teenagers in Oklahoma with learner’s permits could soon face restrictions on cell phone use while driving. That’s the focus of legislation recently approved by the State Senate. Sen. Clark Jolley, who authored...
At Congressional Silicosis Hearing, Doctors Refuse to Testify on Diagnoses
Mar 12 2006 // Three physicians who looked at thousands of X-rays and saw an epidemic of silicosis that no one else noticed took the protections of the Fifth Amendment rather than tell Congress about their work or the money they made...
Wis. Senate Passes Med-Mal Reform Bill, Awaiting Governor’s Signature
Mar 10 2006 // The American Insurance Association and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies are praising the recent actions of the Wisconsin Legislature in their passage of major tort reform legislation. The Legislature...
Okla. House Committee Approves Republicans’ Lawsuit Reform Bill
Mar 9 2006 // The Oklahoma House of Representatives Judiciary Committee approved House Bill 3120, the Common Sense in the Courtroom Act, which was proposed by the House Republican leadership. The bill now goes to the full House for a...
Oklahoma Senate Votes Against Democrats’ Lawsuit Reform Bill
Mar 8 2006 // The Oklahoma Senate defeated by a vote of 21-25 Senate Bill 1874, which was authored and introduced by the Senate’s Democrat leadership as a lawsuit reform bill. All 21 Republican senators present, joined by four...
Ariz. Senate Backs Higher Hurdle for Some Malpractice Suits
Mar 8 2006 // Arizona’s Senate voted to make it more difficult to win medical malpractice lawsuits over emergency health care, a step which supporters said is needed to prevent physicians from refusing to work in emergency...
Wash. Senate passes changes in unemployment insurance
Mar 6 2006 // Washington Senate Democrats have approved a bill that would permanently change unemployment laws to pay additional benefits to seasonal workers. The measure, which passed on a 25-22 vote, reverses the state’s move...
N.M. GOP Says Planned State Audit Political Payback
Feb 24 2006 // New Mexico’s Department of Labor has ordered what it calls a routine audit of the state GOP, but Republicans suspect politics as the reason for putting them on notice. A state computer randomly selects 200 to 250...
Okla. Senate GOP Claims Democrats Aided Lawyers in Tort Reform Battle
Feb 23 2006 // Oklahoma Senate Republicans are playing hardball, claiming in a news release that trial lawyers won an early victory in the legislative lawsuit reform battle with the help of Democrat “allies” in the state...
Washington Senate passes emergency readiness bill
Feb 20 2006 // A measure to improve Washington’s emergency readiness passed the state Senate, after a lawmaker agreed to bend to insurance industry insistence that the $5.7 million needed come from the state and not a surcharge on...
Colo. senate wants insurers to pay medical bills
Feb 20 2006 // Auto insurers would have to pay ambulance and emergency room bills in car accidents, under a measure backed by a Colorado Senate panel. Officials for hospitals and ambulance services said someone needs to help them pay for...
AIA Takes Issue with Mont. Democratic Party Comments
Feb 16 2006 // The American Insurance Association (AIA) on Thursday called statements by the Montana Democratic Party about former Montana Governor and current AIA President Marc Racicot “outrageous, shameful attempts to make...
Senate Kills $140 Billion Asbestos Fund Over Budget Rule
Feb 15 2006 // On a procedural budget vote, the U.S. Senate yesterday killed a proposed $140 billion private asbestos victims fund that has been years in the making. The final vote was 58 to 41, with 60 votes needed to keep it alive. The...
Wash. Senate Approves Insurance Fraud Unit, Prosecutor
Feb 15 2006 // The Washington state Senate has passed a bill creating the state’s first insurance fraud bureau and adding a fraud prosecutor. SB 6234 passed by a 35-10 margin, and now heads to the House for debate.The bill had to...
