Latest Legislation Headlines

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

Back to Square One

Jul 6 2009 // In May, when Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a bill (SB 714) to fix a glitch in the state’s condominium insurance laws because he did not like a minor fire sprinkler provision in it, a frustrated Jeff Grady, president of...

Citizens, Work Comp Bills OK’d in Louisiana

Jul 6 2009 // The Louisiana Legislature adjourned June 25, approving two bills of importance to the insurance industry late in the session, but bypassing several tort reform measures that some insurance and business trade groups had...

Declarations

Jul 6 2009 // Above and Beyond Autos“Insurance fraud in the islands is not solely committed against automobile insurance, and the state’s effort should not be restricted to a single line of insurance.” —Coalition...

State Insurance Regulation Needed

Jul 6 2009 // Our current system of state-based insurance regulation is under attack by large insurance organizations and members of Congress. For more than 150 years, state regulation has successfully guided insurance companies through...

Cyber Security: Global Risk and Rising Complexity

Jul 6 2009 // Multinationals are fighting a battle on two fronts when it comes to cyber security as they seek to fend off new, emerging security threats and also comply with evolving global regulations.These emerging security threats...

Auto Repair Legislation Stalls in Rhode Island

Jul 2 2009 // The Rhode Island Senate has declined to take up auto body legislation opposed by the insurance industry.The bill would have required consumers to have an independent appraisal for car repair work that exceeded $2,000. The...

Louisiana Commissioner: Session Successful for Insurance Bills

Jul 2 2009 // Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon says the recently adjourned 2009 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature was a success when it came to insurance legislation.The Department of Insurance (DOI) saw 20 out...

MySpace, Web Servers Not Liable for Assaults, California Court Rules

Jul 2 2009 // Internet servers like MySpace cannot be held liable when minors are sexually assaulted by people they first meet on a website, a California appeals court ruled in an opinion filed late Tuesday.The ruling by the Second...

Missouri Court Temporarily Blocks Workers’ Comp Judge Firings

Jul 1 2009 // A Missouri court has temporarily blocked the firing of three administrative law judges who decide workers’ compensation cases.The judges were to be laid off by the July 1 start of the new fiscal year. But Cole County...

Florida Gets Strict About Buckling Up

Jul 1 2009 // Florida drivers shouldn’t expect state troopers to let them off with just a warning if they are caught driving with their seat belt unbuckled now that a a new law has gone into effect.The Florida Highway Patrol plans...

Insurer Group Asks Louisiana Governor to Veto Workers’ Comp Bill

Jul 1 2009 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) has asked Gov. Bobby Jindal to veto House Bill 658, workers’ compensation legislation that PCI believes would increase the likelihood of fraudulent claims,...

North Carolina House Committee Advances Beach Plan Reforms

Jul 1 2009 // The North Carolina House Insurance Committee has unanimously approved legislation that attempts to spread the pain should a major storm cause losses that exceed existing private and public insurance funds.The legislation...

North Carolina Coastal Insurance Fix Would Alter Deductibles, Limits

Jun 29 2009 // North Carolina legislators started grappling last week with how to beef up the state-created but underfunded insurance program for coastal property, and immediately confronted the possibility that all of the state’s...

AIG Lobbied Congress to Ease Accounting Rules, FASB Chief Says

Jun 29 2009 // The top U.S. accounting rulemaker denounced the “politicization” of accounting standards on Friday, three months after he was pressured by Congress to make changes that would help banks’ results.Financial...

Surplus Lines, Reinsurance Streamlining Bills Introduced in Senate

Jun 26 2009 // Legislation aimed at streamlining and reducing barriers in state regulation of surplus lines insurance and reinsurance has been introduced in the U.S. Senate.The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA) of 2009, or S...

Texas Special Legislative Session to Convene July 1

Jun 26 2009 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry has called a special session of the Texas Legislature that will begin July 1. One of the primary issues lawmakers will consider is continuing the operations of five state agencies, including the Texas...

Louisiana Passes Workers’ Comp Medical Treatment Bill

Jun 26 2009 // The Louisiana Legislature passed SB 303, workers’ compensation medical treatment legislation, just before it adjourned on June 25.According to the American Insurance Association (AIA), SB 303 requires that medical...

Congress Told New Consumer Agency Not Needed for P/C Insurance

Jun 25 2009 // There is no need for a federal consumer protection agency for property/casualty insurance products, state insurance regulators and insurers told Congress.In testimony before the House Committee of Financial Services on a...

California Commissioner Seeks Comments on PAYD Auto Insurance

Jun 25 2009 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has issued proposed regulations for Pay-Drive (Usage Based Auto Insurance), and is accepting public comments on the proposal until 5 p.m., Thursday, July 9, 2009.According to...

Obama Flexible But Says Public Health Option Would Control Costs

Jun 24 2009 // President Barack Obama said Tuesday his healthcare overhaul needed a public insurance option to enforce market “discipline,” but stopped short of saying he would veto legislation without one.Obama, who has made...