Latest Legislation Headlines

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

PCI Hires Gordon as Senior VP of Policy Development and Research

Jun 19 2008 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America hired Robert Gordon as the organization’s senior vice president of policy development and research. Gordon most recently served as the parliamentarian, senior...

$120 Million Judgement Against a Refinery Reinstated by Illinois Court

Jun 18 2008 // An Illinois appellate court has reinstated a $120 million judgment against owners of the former Clark Oil refinery, reversing a Cook County judge’s decision to dissolve the class-action suit after a verdict was...

Trade Group Names Senior Vice President, Policy Development

Jun 18 2008 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) announced today that Robert Gordon will serve as the organization’s senior vice president of policy development and research.David A. Sampson, president and...

California Senate Considers Agent-Broker Bill, Consumer Group Challenges Legislation

Jun 17 2008 // Three pieces of legislation will be heard in the Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance committee on Wednesday, June 17, 2008.Assemblyman Jared Huffman’s AB 2800 would allow insurance companies to require drivers to...

Iowa Legislative Panel to Study Impact of Flooding on Livestock Industry

Jun 17 2008 // Iowa lawmakers agreed on June 12 to create a special committee to examine the economic impact of this spring’s flooding on Iowa’s livestock industry.The Legislative Council, a bipartisan group that runs the...

Kentucky Gov. Appoints Workers Claims Administrative Law Judges

Jun 17 2008 // Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear appointed two new administrative law judges in the Department of Workers Claims.Beshear appointed private practice attorney Joseph W. Justice, of Pikeville. The appointment replaces John W....

Feds to Require Airtight Refuge Chambers in All Coal Mines

Jun 16 2008 // The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is taking a stab at requiring airtight emergency refuges in the nation’s 624 underground coal mines.Mine operators can either store building materials underground,...

Conn. Supreme Court Rules ‘High-Low’ Pacts Must Be Revealed

Jun 16 2008 // Lawyers for a Connecticut psychiatrist who was sued for malpractice should have revealed to her doctor co-defendant a secret settlement that hinged on the outcome of the trial, the state’s Supreme Court ruled.The...

Florida Extends State Insurer’s Rate Freeze for Another Year

Jun 16 2008 // When the dust settled at the end of the 2008 legislative session, Florida lawmakers had presented their governor with a full plate of insurance issues, the most significant of which is a bill including a rate-freeze...

Federal Judge: Mississippi AG Hood Conspired with Scruggs

Jun 16 2008 // Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood wrongly conspired with prominent trial attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs to skirt a court order in a case involving Hurricane Katrina insurance claims, a federal judge...

State Regulators: Credit Scoring Use Needs More Study

Jun 16 2008 // State regulators recently told Congress that more study of the use of credit scoring by insurance companies is needed to determine if the practice is unfairly discriminatory.“As state regulators, it is our sincere...

Insurance Companies Face Global Warming Claims

Jun 16 2008 // The industry is about to enter an era of global warming insurance claims. Scientists have been warning about the impact global warming could have if greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced. Because of a sense of urgency...

State Regulators Call for More Study of Credit Scoring Use in Insurance

Jun 16 2008 // State regulators told Congress that more study of credit scoring use by insurance companies is needed to determine if the practice is unfairly discriminatory.“As state regulators, it is our sincere desire that the...

California Regulator Says Insurance Needs Local Regulation, More Modernization

Jun 16 2008 // Insurance is best regulated at the local level. That’s the opinion of California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who shared his views during his welcome address to the National Association of Insurance...

Anti-Bias Laws Cover Retaliation Claims, U.S. Supreme Court Rules

Jun 16 2008 // Employees who complain of racial bias in the workplace and then face retaliation can sue under a post-Civil War-era law barring discrimination, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in late May.In a second similar decision, the...

Foreign Insurers Look at Potential Acquisitions in a Weakened U.S. and E.U.

Jun 16 2008 // Asian insurers may go on a buying spree. A number of companies, particularly China’s major players, are likely to seize the credit crunch as an opportunity to snap up assets in Europe and the United States, said a...

Former Judge’s Insurance Fraud Trial Moved to Pittsburgh

Jun 13 2008 // Former Superior Court Judge Michael Joyce’s insurance fraud trial is going to be held in federal court in Pittsburgh, not Erie.Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Cohill has granted a defense request to move the trial...

State Insurance Regulators Lend Conditional Support to Federal Office

Jun 13 2008 // State insurance commissioners told Congress that they could live with a proposed federal office of insurance information, particularly to target international issues, provided it does not preempt state consumer and...

S&P: Volatility, Regulation Testing Global Multiline Insurers

Jun 12 2008 // Managers of global multiline insurance companies have their work cut out for them in 2008, according to analysts.The year 2008 will be one of challenge for global multiline insurers as they simultaneously try to remain...

Regulator’s Speech Highlights Market Turmoil; Advantages of UK Regime

Jun 11 2008 // In a recent address Callum McCarthy, the Chairman of the UK’s Financial Services Authority, took stock of the current regulatory regime for financial services in the UK.“The turbulence in financial markets...