Latest Politics Headlines
All the headlines from our Politics Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Virginia Senate Gets Tough on Teen Drivers, Passing Cell Phone Ban, Seat Belt and Curfew Bills
Jan 30 2005 // A bill that bans Virginia motorists younger than 18 from talking on cellular phones while driving and subjects them to tickets if they don’t wear seat belts won easy Senate passage last week. By a 32-7 vote, a bill...
Okla. Republican Leadership Turns Spotlight on Workers’ Comp Crisis
Jan 28 2005 // Seeking to stem the tide of lost jobs and lost hope in Oklahoma, Republican leaders announced their workers’ compensation reform plan at the State Capitol on Jan. 25. “I have watched many Oklahomans lose hope...
Md. Democrats Hit Redmer for HMO Rate Hike OK; Redmer Points to Legislators’ Approval of Tax
Jan 27 2005 // Maryland Democratic legislative leaders have castigated Insurance Commissioner Alfred Redmer for his blanket approval of a 2 percent increase in HMO premiums, saying he is playing politics with the issue to advance the...
MO. GOP LOOKS TO CHANGE COMP RULES
Jan 24 2005 // Fresh from a November victory in the race for the governor’s office, Missouri Republicans are getting started with efforts to rein in workers’ compensation costs. Senate Republicans heard testimony on a...
Okla. Senate Leader Names Workers’ Comp One of Most Important Issues for Session
Jan 14 2005 // Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tempore Cal Hobson, D-Lexington, offered the following statement regarding reform of the state’s workers’ compensation system, which is expected in the legislative session that...
Appeals Court Denies New Trial for Ex-La. Senate President Convicted of Stealing from Insurer
Dec 17 2004 // A federal appeals court rejected a request for a new trial from ex-Louisiana Senate President Michael O’Keefe, convicted in 1996 of stealing millions of dollars from a failed medical malpractice insurance...
Senate Banking, Insurance Committee Hears Fla. Insurance Perspectives
Dec 2 2004 // The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee heard state insurance regulators and insurance industry perspectives on eliminating hurricane deductibles and reforming the state’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund during...
Ohio Agents Nab Senate Insurance Chairman as Executive Vice President
Nov 19 2004 // Ohio Senate Insurance Committee Chair Scott R. Nein, a Republican, has joined the Ohio Association of Insurance Agents as executive vice president, the group announced recently. The group, affiliated with the national...
PIA Says Hunter’s Remarks During Senate Testimony “Outrageous and Not Constructive”
Nov 19 2004 // The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents has issued a strongly worded statement admonishing, J. Robert Hunter, the insurance director of the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), for statements made during...
At Senate Hearings into Broker Pay, NAIC Claims States Get Job Done without Headlines
Nov 16 2004 // New York Superintendent of Insurance Greg Serio, speaking on behalf of the nation’s state insurance commissioners, will tell a Senate subcommittee today that state regulators play a critical role in guaranteeing a...
Independent Insurance Agents Defend Themselves at Senate Hearing over Broker Compensation
Nov 16 2004 // The nation’s largest independent insurance agency group will go before a Senate subcommittee in Washington today to attempt to put some distance between large insurance brokers facing allegations of illegal...
Conn. AG Urges Tougher State Action, Offers Own Insurance Reforms in Testimony Before Senate Panel
Nov 16 2004 // Despite charging that too many state insurance regulators have become “industry captives,” Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is rejecting calls for federal intervention in the regulation of...
Senate Hearing Set for Nov. 16 on Commercial Brokerage Controversy
Nov 12 2004 // Marking the first formal congressional inquiry since allegations of abuse in the commercial insurance brokerage industry emerged last month, U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.) will chair a Senate subcommittee oversight...
Tight Ohio Supreme Court Stays in Republican Hands
Nov 10 2004 // Republicans solidified their year-old voting majority on the Ohio Supreme Court last wek, but the races were closer than the vast campaign fund-raising advantage over Democratic rivals would indicate. Insurers and other...
2 Republicans Retain Mich. Supreme Court Seats
Nov 9 2004 // The conservative Michigan Supreme Court’s balance remains 5-2 in favor of Republican nominees, and insurers, after voters re-elected two incumbents. As expected, Democratic nominee Marilyn Kelly and Republican...
Republican Karmeier Wins Ill. Supreme Court Seat
Nov 3 2004 // Republican Lloyd Karmeier has won a Supreme Court seat representing Illinois’ fifth district, which includes 36 southern counties and famed “judicial hellhole” Madison County. With 90 percent of precincts...
Republican Candidates Win ‘Big Time’ in Insurance Industry Political Giving in Federal Races
Nov 2 2004 // The late U.S. House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill (D-Mass.) is famous for insisting, “All politics is local.” Apparently, O’Neill wasn’t counting the money. When it comes to...
Poll: Republicans Blame Malpractice Lawsuits for Rising Health Costs; Democrats Blame Insurers
Nov 2 2004 // Republicans were three times as likely as Democrats to blame rising health costs on malpractice lawsuits, according to a poll conducted for The (Baltimore) Sun, and Democrats were twice as likely as Republicans to blame...
Md. Gov.’s Med-Mal Plan Gets Frosty Reception from Senate Leader Miller; Special Session in Doubt
Oct 28 2004 // Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller this week blasted Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s latest medical malpractice plan as “a work of fiction” and “a completely different bill” from the one he, the...
Pa. Gov. Unveils Letter to Congressional Delegation Regarding Flood Relief
Oct 21 2004 // Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell this week released the following letter to the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation in reference to flood relief for the Commonwealth: Dear Senator Santorum: “As a follow up to our...
