Latest Legislation Headlines

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

OSHA Prepares to Issue Emergency Regulations to Protect Workers from COVID-19

Apr 13 2021 // Mask mandates are coming down across the country, even as COVID cases are rising in most states. But the Biden administration appears poised to reinstate masking and other social distancing rules for recalcitrant governors...

Kentucky Judge Rules Businesses Harmed by COVID Restrictions

Apr 12 2021 // A Kentucky judge on Friday temporarily blocked applying some of the state’s pandemic-related restrictions to several restaurants and breweries challenging the governor’s actions.Scott County Circuit Judge Brian...

Florida Lawmakers Send Legislation to Fight Sea Level Rise to Governor

Apr 12 2021 // Legislation hailed as some of the most robust yet to defend U.S. coasts against sea level rise is headed to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a proposal that would provide millions of dollars annually to communities threatened...

Chinese Insurtech Waterdrop Faces Regulatory Pushback on Planned IPO: Sources

Apr 12 2021 // SHANGHAI/HONG KONG – Chinese online insurance technology firm Waterdrop Inc. is receiving pushback from domestic regulators on its planned U.S. initial public offering as its business model is seen as risky, four people...

Rhode Island Lawmakers Introduce Police Reform Bill

Apr 8 2021 // Two Rhode Island lawmakers introduced legislation that would ban police from using chokeholds and require body-worn cameras for officers in every department statewide, among other things.The bill proposed by Sen. Jonathon...

California Court Rules That Sports Organizations Must Protect Athletes

Apr 8 2021 // Sports governing organizations such as those for swimming and gymnastics have a duty to protect young athletes from sexual and other abuse and can be legally liable if they don’t, the California Supreme Court has...

South Carolina Lawmaker Expects Medical Marijuana Bill to Pass

Apr 6 2021 // A bill that would allow medical marijuana use in South Carolina has again made it to the Senate floor, and the Republican lawmaker who has pushed unrelentingly for the proposal for the past seven years said he thinks it...

Commercial Vehicle Accident Lawsuits Target of Texas Legislation

Apr 5 2021 // A pair of companion bills have been introduced in the Texas House and Senate that proponents say are aimed at providing consistency and uniformity in civil actions involving commercial vehicle accidents. Opponents, on the...

Judge Rejects Uber Denial of Liability in Student’s Death on Freeway

Apr 5 2021 // Uber Technologies Inc. lost the first round in a lawsuit filed by the relatives of a university student who was run over and killed on a San Diego freeway after one of the company’s drivers allegedly ordered her out...

Lawmakers from California Want U.S. Departments to Be Year-Round Wildfire Agencies

Mar 31 2021 // California’s U.S. senators and nearly two-dozen representatives are asking the Agriculture and Interior departments to transition their agencies to a year-round wildland workforce because blazes are no longer limited...

Texas Legislation Would Overhaul State’s Electricity Market, Require Weatherization

Mar 30 2021 // The Texas Senate has unanimously approved a sweeping bill that would overhaul the state’s electricity industry and infrastructure, including mandating that power plants prepare for extreme weather and outlawing risky...

Illinois Governor Vetoes Personal Injury Prejudgment Interest Legislation

Mar 30 2021 // Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has vetoed a bill that would have provided for prejudgment interest in the recovery of damages in personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits.House Bill 3360 “provides for the recovery of...

Florida Lawmakers Send COVID-19 Liability Protection Bill to Governor

Mar 29 2021 // Florida businesses, governments and healthcare providers will be protected from coronavirus lawsuits if they made a good effort to follow guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 under a bill the House sent to...

Judge: Austin Can Require Masks Despite Lifting of Texas’ Statewide Mandate

Mar 29 2021 // A Texas judge is allowing the City of Austin to continue to require face coverings in local businesses weeks after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ended a statewide mask mandate and other COVID-19 safety measures.The ruling by...

Judge Considering Requiring PG&E in California to Turn off Power More Often

Mar 29 2021 // A federal judge overseeing Pacific Gas & Electric’s criminal probation said Tuesday that he is considering requiring the utility to be more aggressive about turning off its electricity lines near tall trees, a...

City of London Is Realizing that EU Will Limit Access for Financial Services: Lawmaker

Mar 26 2021 // LONDON – There is a growing realization that Britain should not wait for unlikely European Union access for financial services but get on with building a more competitive City of London, a senior lawmaker said on...

Fate of Florida Insurance Reforms Uncertain as Lawmakers Weigh Industry-Backed Bills

Mar 26 2021 // Two bills designed to deal with Florida’s crumbling property insurance market have embarked on divergent paths in the state legislature as lawmakers approach the final weeks of the 2021 session.Senate Bill 76 and...

Judge Lets Massachusetts Claims Over Uber, Lyft Driver Classification Proceed

Mar 26 2021 // A Massachusetts judge on Thursday denied a bid to dismiss a lawsuit by the state’s attorney general challenging Uber’s and Lyft’s classification of drivers as independent contractors instead of employees...

South Carolina Lawmakers Look to Combat Catalytic Converter Theft

Mar 24 2021 // The South Carolina House has approved a bill that would make buying or selling stolen catalytic converters a separate crime that could bring up to three years in prison.The bill that passed 94-0 on Thursday was prompted by...

Judge: No Dismissal of Ammo Seller from Suit over Texas School Shooting

Mar 24 2021 // A Tennessee-based online retailer accused of illegally selling ammunition to a student who fatally shot 10 people at a Texas high school in 2018 won’t be dismissed from a lawsuit filed by families of those killed and...