Latest Washington Headlines

All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Washington On the Hunt for Unregistered Contractors, Electricians

Mar 3 2006 // Six new employees of Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) are canvassing the state for contractors and electricians who are ignoring registration and licensing laws and gaining an unfair...

Booker T. Washington Insurance in Voluntarily Receivership

Mar 3 2006 // Booker T. Washington Insurance Company voluntarily submitted to being placed into receivership late Wednesday in Jefferson County Circuit Court, according to Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter A. Bell. “I am...

Rep. Jindal to Address Big ‘I’ Young Agents and InsurPac

Mar 2 2006 // Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) will speak at a luncheon held by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) during its National Legislative Conference & Convention in April. Rep....

Wash. Senators Pass Gregoire’s Malpractice Compromise

Feb 24 2006 // Washington State senators have approved changes to the medical malpractice system, endorsing a compromise hammered out by doctors and lawyers in weeks of secret negotiations with Gov. Chris Gregoire. The bill was approved...

Wash. Approves Anti-Fraud Unit

Feb 22 2006 // Washington state officials have amended and approved legislation that would create an insurance anti-fraud unit in the insurance commissioner’s office, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of...

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...

News Currents

Feb 19 2006 // Washington Senate passes emergency readiness bill 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...

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...

Wash. Senate Passes Permanent Changes in Unemployment Insurance

Feb 15 2006 // Wash. Senate Democrats have approved a bill that would permanently change unemployment laws to pay out additional benefits to seasonal workers. The measure, which passed on a 25-22 vote, reverses the state’s move...

Pressure Mounts for Wash. House Leaders Considering “Wal-Mart bill”

Feb 15 2006 // Pressure is mounting for majority House Democrats in Washington state to vote on a bill that would force minimum health care spending by large employers, while some lawmakers suggested the issue could be left to the voters...

Pair Arrested in Wash. Arson Case

Feb 15 2006 // Special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Edmonds, Washington police officers have arrested two men for the Dec. 17, 2004, arson of the Gregory Building in Edmonds, and more...

Washington Employer Sentenced for Failing to Pay Workers’ Comp Premiums

Feb 14 2006 // Failing to have a workers’ compensation account and pay premiums has landed an Oak Harbor, Wash., employer in jail. Mark Dahl, sole owner of Catalina Marine Services Inc., pleaded guilty to a Class C Felony in...

Washington L&I Offers Workers’ Comp Cards to Employers

Feb 13 2006 // To help ensure that employers are promptly notified of a workplace-injury claim, Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) has created wallet cards that employers can fill out and give to their...

Washington Senate Passes Emergency Readiness Bill

Feb 13 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...

Willis Group to Enter Washington

Feb 10 2006 // New York-based Willis Group Holdings Ltd. has announced plans to open a brokerage office in Washington to service the Inland Northwest. The office will be managed by Curtis Taylor. The company said it hopes to fill a...

Broker Investigation Finds No Problems in Washington

Feb 8 2006 // An investigation of Washington insurance brokers and brokerages spawned by a national scandal in the insurance industry has not uncovered criminal or unethical behavior in the state, according to a report released by...

California State-East Bay Employees May Have Had Data Breached

Feb 3 2006 // More than 2,000 current and former employees of California State University, East Bay, may have had their Social Security numbers and other personal information breached during a suspected break-in of a computer server on...

Wash. Reports 79 Workers Died on the Job in 2005

Jan 30 2006 // Seventy-nine workers died on the job in Washington in 2005, the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) said. That’s down from 93 the year before. The most common cause of death was motor vehicle accidents,...

Wash. anti-fraud auto insurance bill wins committee approval

Jan 23 2006 // In Olympia, Wash., a legislative committee amended and passed legislation that is designed to assist consumers injured in intentional “road rage” collisions — and protect insurers against auto insurance...

Wash. Commissioner Kreidler wants fraud unitto investigate staged accidents

Jan 22 2006 // Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler wants to create a new fraud unit to investigate staged traffic accidents. Those can involve a network of lawyers, doctors, chiropractors and physical...