Latest Legislation Headlines

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

Seattle Mayor Warns of Uber Crackdown

Feb 27 2014 // Uber Technologies Inc. and other taxi services that let people summon drivers by smartphone might be shut down in Seattle if they don’t carry more insurance, Mayor Ed Murray said.“They have to start accepting a...

Supreme Court Allows Stanford Fraud Suits by Investors; Willis Among Defendants

Feb 27 2014 // Victims of R. Allen Stanford’s $7 billion Ponzi scheme can sue outside companies, including insurance broker Willis and law firms, alleged to have played a role in the fraud, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, dealing a...

South Dakota Bill Calls for Amusement Ride Regulation

Feb 26 2014 // The president of the Thunder Road attractions is behind a bill to further regulate amusement rides in South Dakota.Organization president and Republican Sen. Al Novstrup of Aberdeen co-sponsored the measure. The South...

Alabama Governor Backs Restrictions on Tanning by Teens

Feb 26 2014 // Alabama’s physician governor plans to sign legislation to put Alabama among a growing number of states enacting restrictions on teenagers using tanning salons.The Legislature gave final approval to a bill last...

Mass. AG Voices Support for Federal Legislation to Address Patent Trolls

Feb 25 2014 // Alleging that patent trolls stifle innovation and harm the economy, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley joined 41 other states Monday in submitting a letter to two Senate committees voicing support for federal...

OSHA Denies Plans to Increase Oversight of Small Farms

Feb 25 2014 // Facing pressure from Congress, the Obama administration has made clear it has no intention of increasing workplace regulations for the country’s smallest farms.In a letter to members of Congress dated Feb. 10, a...

Court Rules Against Notre Dame over Insurance Coverage for Birth Control

Feb 24 2014 // A federal appeals court in Chicago has ruled against the University of Notre Dame, located in South Bend, Ind., in a case over parts of the federal health care law that forces it to provide health insurance for students...

House Republicans Release Flood Insurance Relief Bill

Feb 24 2014 // House GOP leaders last week put the final touches on legislation that would significantly water down a recently enacted overhaul of the much criticized federal flood insurance program, easing many premium increases and...

Technical and Medical Device Convergence Exposes New World of Risks

Feb 24 2014 // When the acclaimed television drama series Homeland climaxed with a devious plot by terrorists to kill the U.S. vice president by hacking into his electronic pacemaker, critics mocked the ludicrousness of the idea deeming...

Technology’s Opening a Whole New World of Agent E&O Exposures

Feb 24 2014 // Those in the insurance industry have another errors and omission (E&O) risk to consider these days, and they have technology to thank for it. Anyone in the insurance industry that possesses, stores, transmits or...

State Laws Complicate Data Breach Notification Policy

Feb 24 2014 // Data thefts at U.S. retailers have rekindled enthusiasm in Congress for a single federal law on how customers should be notified about such breaches, but those efforts face the same roadblock as in the past: dozens of...

Vermont’s New Law Seeks to Attract Runoff Businesses

Feb 24 2014 // A new law in Vermont would soon authorize the state to license and regulate specialized Vermont-based companies whose only purpose would be to buy and manage closed blocks of non-admitted commercial insurance policies and...

N.Y. Regulator Moving Ahead on Bitcoin Regulation

Feb 24 2014 // New York’s financial regulator recently revealed new details on his agency’s plans to govern virtual currency firms in the state in order to protect consumers and combat money laundering. Benjamin Lawsky,...

U.S. Patent Office Moves to Curb Patent Litigation

Feb 21 2014 // The White House announced steps on Thursday designed to reduce frivolous patent lawsuits by trying to make it easier to identify who owns patents and by updating review processes to ensure that fewer weak patents are...

Vermont’s Legacy Insurance Management Act Signed Into Law

Feb 20 2014 // Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin on Wednesday signed the Vermont Legacy Insurance Management Act (LIMA). The new law would allow the formation of specialized, Vermont-based companies to acquire and manage closed blocks of...

Stricter Texting While Driving Measure Advances in Iowa

Feb 20 2014 // Iowa lawmakers granted initial approval of a bill that would further crack down on texting while driving by allowing officers to pull over motorists suspected of that sole offense.A three-member Senate transportation...

Conn. Lawmakers Propose Workers’ Comp Expansion for PTSD Coverage

Feb 20 2014 // Some Connecticut lawmakers have resurrected a proposal from last year to expand the state’s workers’ compensation law to cover employees who’ve suffered an emotional or mental impairment after witnessing...

Judge Refuses AIG Bid to Delay Bank of America $8.5B Settlement

Feb 19 2014 // Bank of America Corp.’s $8.5 billion settlement with mortgage-bond investors won’t be delayed after American International Group Inc. and other objectors asked for a hearing to address loan modifications...

Texas Cities Find Loophole in Health Insurance Exchange Training Rule

Feb 19 2014 // The Houston Health Department likely won’t have to pay for additional training for most of the “navigators” who are helping city residents enroll in the new federal health insurance marketplace. All it...

FSOC’s Insurance Expert Woodall Approved As International Regulatory Observer

Feb 18 2014 // Roy Woodall, the insurance sector voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, will finally be getting involved in the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) but as an observer, not a...