Declarations

“We continue to witness an increase in the severity and high-impact frequency of natural catastrophe events. These effects bring multifaceted and complex challenges to the re/insurance industry, as the importance of blending today’s view of risk with the anticipated downstream implications of tomorrow grows more critical.”

— Said Chief Science Officer Steve Bowen in a statement, after Gallagher Re’s release of its annual Natural Catastrophe and Climate Report. The report showed that non-peak (secondary) perils and record-setting weather and climate events drove global insured losses from natural catastrophes to an estimated $123 billion in 2023, the fourth consecutive year to exceed $100 billion.

“Grubhub unlawfully overcharged and took advantage of restaurants during a public health emergency that devastated much of this industry.”

— Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said, announcing a $3.5 million settlement with the online food delivery service platform that resolves a 2021 lawsuit brought by Campbell alleging Grubhub illegally overcharged fees to Massachusetts restaurants in violation of a state fee cap put in place during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Under the terms of the settlement, Grubhub will pay a combined total of over $3.5 million to impacted restaurants, Campbell said. Grubhub will also pay $125,000 to the state.

“Insurance regulation is fundamentally a state-driven process, and I am committed to ensuring North Dakotans’ perspectives are heard and valued at the legislature and on the national stage. … Despite the increasing threat of federal oversight, it is crucial to continue the work of being a champion of our state-based regulatory framework and safeguard the interests of our citizens.”

— North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread said in a statement announcing he intends to run for re-election in 2024. Godfread, a Republican, is seeking his third term in office. He was elected commissioner in 2016, winning 64% of the vote. He ran unopposed in 2020.

“We have never seen something like this — dogs attacking cars and causing damage.”

— Commented Gaby Fakhoury, sales manager at G Motors, a Houston used car dealership where a pair of stray dogs were caught on video causing more than a quarter-million dollars’ worth of damage to vehicles on the dealership’s lot. The dogs were captured on surveillance video scratching the paint and tearing the bumpers off of vehicles. They caused an estimated $350,000 in damage.

“Tennessee will be the first state in the country to protect artists’ voices with this legislation. … And we hope it will be a blueprint for the country.”

— Said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, unveiling new legislation designed to protect songwriters, performers and other music industry professionals against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. The legislation comes as states across the country and federal lawmakers wrestle with the challenge of curbing the dangers of AI.

“We must now turn to the hard work of ending profiling by bringing all the stakeholders to the table to ascertain and change the policies and the practices that enable it.”

— Said Andrea Guerrero, co-chairperson of California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board and executive director of Alliance San Diego, commenting on a report compiled by the advisory board, showing that Black people accounted for nearly 13% of traffic stops in California in 2022, far above their 5% share of the state’s population. In a statement Guerrero said the “scale of data that California is collecting allows us to say definitively that profiling exists, it is a pervasive pattern across the state.” The report for the first time included data from all law enforcement agencies in the state.