Latest Legislation Headlines

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

Supreme Court Rules in Halliburton Case

Jun 6 2011 // Halliburton Co. suffered a legal setback Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to make it harder for shareholders to proceed with some class-action securities-fraud lawsuits against publicly traded companies.The...

Agents Warn of Insurance Complications for NYC Contractors

Jun 6 2011 // Insurance agents are warning contractors in New York City that they may not be able to obtain increased coverage requirements called for by city regulations set to go into effect next week.Many of those new coverages are...

Tennessee Approves Cap on Lawsuit Damages

Jun 6 2011 // Tennessee lawmakers have given final approval to a plan to cap non-economic and economic lawsuit damages.The bill (HB 2008) places a cap of $750,000 on non-economic damages such as pain and emotional suffering and a...

Montana State Fund Cuts Rates 20%

Jun 6 2011 // As predicted by Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance Monica Lindeen, the board of Montana State Fund, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, has cut its rates by 20 percent. The move is...

Consolidation Concerns

Jun 6 2011 // The big state agency that oversees insurance producers in New York will soon become a whole lot bigger – and that’s left a lot of agents in the Empire State wondering just how it will affect them.Later this...

No Satisfaction

Jun 6 2011 // Back in 1969 when the Rolling Stones sang, “You can’t always get what you want,” I doubt they were thinking about Florida insurance politics in 2011. I will go out on a limb here and say I am absolutely...

Florida Judge: Insurance Covers Chinese Drywall Claims

Jun 6 2011 // A Florida judge has ruled that a couple’s damage from tainted Chinese drywall is covered by their homeowner insurance policy. Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Robert Foster said he found no exclusion in the Teachers...

What’s In Florida’s Property Insurance Cost Control Bill?

Jun 6 2011 // Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed into law legislation that promises to lower costs for the state’s property insurers, including what they pay on sinkhole claims. Scott said the bill (SB 408) “strengthens...

How Florida’s Agents Fared in Tallahassee

Jun 6 2011 // For those in the industry, Florida’s recent legislative session was a long march as they tried to navigate through a process that initially promised much in the form of a new governor and strong pro-business...

What Killed PIP and Citizens Reform?

Jun 6 2011 // It is axiomatic in Florida that when it comes to the legislature and insurance issues, the power brokers play to the last 72 hours. No matter how many committee meetings, no matter how many press conferences, no matter how...

New York Agents Appealing Compensation Disclosure Ruling

Jun 6 2011 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY) says it is moving forward with a legal appeal of a court ruling that allowed the state to require agents to reveal their commissions to clients.The group...

Florida Braces as RMS Model Makes Landfall

Jun 6 2011 // Florida’s history with hurricanes has created a series of assumptions long treated as facts, none of which is more quoted than the “fact” that the exposure on the coastline is a greater risk than inland...

Living with Solvency II; A Top Regulator Gives His Views

Jun 3 2011 // Solvency II, the European Union’s imminent imposition of new and more sophisticated risk based regulation of its insurers, may not be the only elephant in the room It is, however the main focus of a great deal of...

North Carolina House Backs Liability Protections for Drug Makers

Jun 3 2011 // The North Carolina House has voted to give pharmaceutical companies sweeping product liability protections as part of a larger Republican effort to limit liability for North Carolina businesses.The proposed legislation...

Insurer Group Says More Workers’ Comp Reform Needed in Illinois

Jun 3 2011 // Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn plans to sign a major overhaul of Illinois workers’ compensation system that he said will mean “significant saving” for the state, but at least one insurance carrier trade group...

Judge: No Reduction in Fine, Restitution in Louisiana Man’s Death

Jun 3 2011 // A federal judge has declined to reduce the $1 million fine and $2 million in restitution he ordered paid by a Colorado company that admitted partial responsibility for the death of a Baton Rouge plant worker.Chief U.S....

Insurer Groups Say Windstorm Issue Must be Addressed in Texas

Jun 2 2011 // The Texas Legislature, which adjourned its regular session on May 30, passed a number of bills of interest to the property and casualty insurance industry, including tort reform legislation and a measure requiring that...

Pinnacol Audit Finds No Impropriety

Jun 2 2011 // An audit committee has found no evidence of impropriety in Pinnacol Assurance’s incentive, expense and pay policies, but nevertheless recommended the Colorado-based workers’ compensation insurer “maintain...

Supreme Court Rules Former AG Ashcroft Not Liable for Damages

Jun 2 2011 // The Supreme Court this week threw out damage claims against former Attorney General John Ashcroft over an American Muslim’s arrest, but four justices said the case raises serious questions about post-9/11 detentions...

Reversing Itself, Illinois House Passes Workers’ Comp Legislation

Jun 1 2011 // In a reversal, the Illinois House of Representatives has passed a measure that aims to reform the state’s workers’ compensation system just days after it rejected a previous version of the legislation.The...