Latest Legislation Headlines

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

IIABA Leader Fears Hodgepodge of Fee Disclosure Rules by Insurers

Jul 4 2005 // While insurance companies are calling upon state officials to coordinate their responses to the various brokerage compensation and other inquiries, independent insurance agents are worried about how the insurers themselves...

Final U.S. Report on R.I. Nightclub Fire Urges Sprinklers, National Fire Code

Jul 1 2005 // The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology today urged all state and local governments to adopt and aggressively enforce national model building and fire safety codes for...

NAMIC Praises La. Lawmakers for Adjustments to Residual Market Rating Formulas

Jun 30 2005 // Louisiana lawmakers should be commended for adjustments they have made in the rating formulas used to calculate rates for the state’s residual markets, according to an official of the National Association of Mutual...

Calif. Workers’ Comp Rate Regulation Bill Fails Passage

Jun 30 2005 // The California Assembly Insurance Committee said June 29 now is not the time for rate regulation and it was too early to judge the impact of the historic workers’ compensation reforms (SB 899) on rates, reported the...

Wis. Assembly Passes Bill to Pin Insurers With $500 Million Fox River Cleanup Tab

Jun 29 2005 // A coalition of carriers that insured Wisconsin’s paper manufacturers thought they had successfully defeated a legislative effort to force them to pick up the estimated $500 million tab to clean up the polluted Fox...

Ala. Task Force Recommends 60-Day Homeowners Policy Notice

Jun 29 2005 // The Alabama Hurricane Issues Task Force headed by Insurance Commissioner Walter A. Bell has recommended a new regulation that would force insurers to give 60 days notice to policyholders whose insurance will be changed or...

Alaska Gov. Murkowski Signs Reform Regulations Bill

Jun 29 2005 // Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski recently signed 18 bills into law, including legislation to reform insurance regulations. “I was pleased to sign these important pieces of legislation into law,” said Murkowski....

N.Y. Lawmakers Float Bill to Raise Minimum Age for Boating to 14

Jun 28 2005 // Children under 14 would have to stick to swimming or water-skiing under a bill gaining support in the New York Legislature that would restrict the use of personal watercraft.The measure, sponsored by Assemblywoman Patricia...

PIA Defends State Regulation, Opposes Federal Charter, Objects to Disclosure

Jun 28 2005 // The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents steadfastly supports state regulation of insurance, strongly opposes an optional federal charter and has cautioned carriers against adopting company-specific...

PIA of Fla. Issues ‘Legislative Report’; Plans Explanatory Sessions

Jun 28 2005 // The Professional Insurance Agents of Florida has announced the completion of its 2005 Legislative Report summarizing the provisions of recent legislation passed in the spring sessions of the Florida Legislature and that it...

Vt. Governor Signs Bills for Firefighters’ Workers’ Comp, Fire-Safe Cigarettes

Jun 27 2005 // Vermont Gov. James Douglas has signed into law two bills, one designed to prevent cigarette-related fire deaths and the other to financially protect firefighters who suffer heart attacks in the line of duty.One law calls...

Chrysler to Stop Leasing Autos in R.I. if Liability Law Lapses

Jun 27 2005 // Chrysler Financial, a business unit of DaimlerChrysler Services North America LLC, will cease leasing cars in Rhode Island beginning August 1, 2005, if the current vicarious liability legislation passed by the state...

Best Downgrades Some AXA Canada P/C Subsidiaries

Jun 27 2005 // A.M. Best Co. announced that it has downgraded the financial strength ratings of several of AXA Canada Inc.’s wholly owned property and casualty insurance subsidiaries.The rating action affects the following...

Proposal Would Delay R.I. Lead Paint Law Implementation Until Nov.

Jun 24 2005 // A compromise worked out by a Rhode Island state Senate committee would push implementation of the state’s new lead paint law back to Nov. 1.The Committee on Health and Human Services this week approved the plan to...

Conn. Gov. Rell Likely to Sign Med-Mal Bill Despite Insurers’ Concerns

Jun 23 2005 // Insurers are urging Connecticut Gov. Jodi M. Rell to veto a medical malpractice reform measure that is sitting on her desk but Rell’s office has indicated she will likely sign the measure within the next few...

Bad Week for Romney Auto Reforms Continues as Mass. Agents Oppose Competitive Rating

Jun 22 2005 // The day after a court struck a blow to his administration’s reforms of the state’s auto insurance residual market, the powerful independent agents’ lobby also pulled the rug out from under some of Gov....

Big “I” Disputes OFCC Group Inaccuracies on Optional Federal Regulation of Insurance

Jun 22 2005 // The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America issued the following statement from CEO Robert A. Rusbuldt in response to an inaccurate characterization from the OFCC regarding the association’s position...

Allstate Floridian to ‘Immediately’ Raise Homeowners Rates 28 Percent

Jun 22 2005 // Effective immediately, Allstate Floridian Insurance Co. has announced it will raise Florida homeowners rates 28 percent and the company plans to file a request to have the increase approved in July. State law allows...

CAS Attendees Hear of Positive Trends from California Workers’ Comp Reforms

Jun 21 2005 // Insurers, and especially self-insurers, are seeing positive trends as a result of the workers’ compensation reforms in California, experts on the subject told attendees at the recent Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS)...

ACIC Opposes Credit Bill: Urges Regulation Not Elimination

Jun 21 2005 // The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) is opposing legislation which would eliminate rather than regulate credit-based insurance scoring, according to ACIC President Sam Sorich.The bill, SB 603 by Sen...