Latest Washington Headlines
All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Tesoro Denies Plant Blast in Washington Due to Poor Maintenance
Apr 5 2011 // The U.S. Chemical Safety Board said Tesoro Corp. had not adequately maintained a heat exchanger at its Anacortes, Washington, refinery, that exploded on April 2, 2010, causing the death of seven workers. Microscopic cracks...
Washington Governor Signs Bill to Improve Workers’ Comp System
Apr 4 2011 // Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed a workers’ compensation bill that supporters say will save $218 million over the next four years. She signed Senate Bill 5801, which directs the Department of Labor and...
Washington Sees 44 Fewer Traffic Fatalities
Apr 1 2011 // The year 2010 marked the safest year on Washington’s roadways in history, with 44 fewer traffic-related deaths than the 492 in 2009, according to Washington’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. However, the...
Arkansas House Passes Budget with Insurance Department Funding
Apr 1 2011 // The Arkansas House, on its fourth try, passed a $4.6 billion state budget that includes operating funds for the state insurance department. The Senate had already passed a similar budget bill. The Legislature is scheduled...
Study: Washington Law Increased Homeowners Insurance Costs by $190 Million
Mar 31 2011 // A new study released by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) has found a Washington law increased homeowners insurance costs by $190 million. The IRC study examined the impact of the Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA),...
Obama Signs Wash. Storm Disaster Declaration
Mar 30 2011 // President Obama has signed a federal disaster declaration, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in seven Washington counties hit by severe winter weather Jan. 11-21. The storms brought...
2 Worker’s Comp Fixes at Odds in Washington State
Mar 21 2011 // Rep. Mike Sells didn’t mince words. The Everett, Wash., Democrat doesn’t plan to allow a hearing in his committee on a state Senate bill that would allow settlements for injured workers under the state’s...
Washington Governor Signs Bill to Improve Workers’ Comp System
Mar 15 2011 // Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has signed a workers’ compensation bill that supporters say will save $218 million over the next four years. She signed Senate Bill 5801, which directs the Department of Labor and...
Washington Senate Passes Workers Compensation Change Opposed by Labor
Mar 7 2011 // The Washington state Senate approved a measure Saturday that would drastically change the state’s workers compensation system by establishing an option for lump sum settlements. The 34-15 vote was a significant win...
Washington Refines Pay-As-You-Drive Legislation
Mar 7 2011 // A Washington Senate Committee has refined a proposal to allow drivers’ insurance rates to be based primarily on the number of miles driven per year. The PAYD bill, Senate Bill 5730, would allow insurers to offer...
Washington Fines Puyallup Firm $437,300 in Asbestos Cases
Feb 28 2011 // Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries has cited a Puyallup asbestos abatement company for several willful violations and fined the firm more than $400,000. The action deals with two abatement projects the...
Washington Refines Pay-As-You-Drive Legislation
Feb 18 2011 // Washington’s Senate Committee on Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance has refined a proposal to allow drivers’ insurance rates to be based primarily on the number of miles driven per year. The PAYD...
Washington Workplace Fatalities Climb 32%
Feb 18 2011 // Workplace deaths in Washington state climbed in 2010, with 86 men and women killed due to job-related trauma, according to a report on work-related fatalities by the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). The...
Washington Considers Pay-As-You-Drive Insurance
Feb 17 2011 // Washington is considering a proposal that would allow drivers’ insurance rates to be based primarily on the number of miles driven per year. Supporters of the pay-as-you-drive bill, Senate Bill 5730, said pricing...
Washington To Process Producer Licenses Online
Feb 17 2011 // The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner has adopted new online insurance licensing rules that affect licensed agents, brokers and insurance companies, and people who provide insurance continuing education and...
Capital Insurance Group Adds Account Executives in Washington
Feb 15 2011 // Monterey, Calif.-based Capital Insurance Group (CIG), a regional property and casualty insurer serving the Western United States, has added Kathy Rongey and Sheila Donovan to the Underwriting Division in Washington...
Business Moves
Feb 7 2011 // Brown & Brown, Balcos Insurance, Mike Howard Insurance Brown & Brown Inc. subsidiary Brown & Brown of Washington Inc. acquired substantially all of the assets of Balcos Insurance, Inc. and M C H Inc. of Seattle...
Brown & Brown Names 4 Regional Vice Presidents
Feb 7 2011 // Florida-based insurance agency Brown & Brown, Inc. has named regional vice presidents in Washington, Florida, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Eric E. Anderson, Anthony M. Grippa, Thomas Keith Huval and Richard A. Knudson,...
Regulatory Uncertainty Impeding Economic Recovery
Feb 7 2011 // The goal of today’s hearing is to take a step back and look at the economy from two points of view. First, the economy as it is perceived by economists and academics through the lens of their historical analysis and...
Wash. lawmakers Wade into Red-Light Camera Debate
Feb 4 2011 // Washington lawmakers are wading into a growing debate over the use of cameras to ticket speeders and people who run red lights. Initiative promoter Tim Eyman and local activists filed initiatives in Bellingham, Longview,...
