Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge: Exxon Mobil Must Pay $14.25M Penalty in Pollution Case
Mar 5 2021 // A federal judge has ordered Exxon Mobil to pay a $14.25 million civil penalty in an 11-year-old lawsuit alleging it violated the Clean Air Act for eight years at its flagship Baytown, Texas, refinery. In setting the...
‘Desperate’ Times: Stakeholders Urge Florida Lawmakers to Enact Insurance Reform
Mar 4 2021 // It’s the start of another Florida Legislative Session with a familiar theme — insurers pushing for reforms they say are needed to help the state’s distressed insurance market. Only this year the need is more...
Kansas Lawmakers Look to Extend COVID-19 Liability Shield for Businesses
Mar 4 2021 // Kansas lawmakers moved on March 2 to extend protections for businesses from lawsuits over COVID-19. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would give businesses an extra year of protection, until March 31,...
Florida Lawmakers Unveil $100M Plan to Tackle Climate Change, Sea Rise
Mar 1 2021 // Low-lying Florida, surrounded by the sea, is one of the most vulnerable U.S. states to ocean level rise driven by climate change. State Republican legislative leaders on Friday announced a $100 million-a-year plan to...
Crash Victims’ Families Seek Boeing CEO Testimony; Lawmakers Seek FAA Records
Mar 1 2021 // Relatives of victims of a Boeing Co. 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia that occurred five months after an Indonesian Lion Air disaster are stepping up pressure on the American planemaker and the federal government, according to a...
Judge Strikes Down Parts of Michigan Towing Law
Feb 26 2021 // A judge has struck down portions of a Michigan towing law as unconstitutional after low-income Detroit residents shared extraordinary stories of high fees and frustration about the whereabouts of their vehicles. The case...
Virginia Lawmakers Advance Consumer Data Protection Act
Feb 26 2021 // The Virginia General Assembly is advancing legislation that allows Virginia consumers more protection with their online data, though opponents say the measure does not include the ability for people to file private...
Judge Dismisses Georgia Lawsuit by Transgender Fire Chief Over Technicality
Feb 26 2021 // A federal judge has dismissed a discrimination lawsuit by a transgender fire chief who led a rural Georgia city’s fire department for more than a decade, then got fired 18 months after first coming to work as a...
Texas Lawmakers Told Insurers Want ‘Seat at Table’ As Power Blackout Probe Begins
Feb 25 2021 // Texas state legislators on Thursday begin digging into the causes of deadly power blackouts that left millions shivering in the dark as frigid temperatures caught its grid operator and utilities ill-prepared for...
Judge Advances Multidistrict COVID Business Interruption Case Against Society Insurance
Feb 24 2021 // A federal judge denied Society Insurance’s motions to dismiss three “bellwether” lawsuits filed by hospitality businesses that were denied coverage for revenue lost because of COVID-19 public health...
California Lawmakers Introduce Proposal to Ban Fracking by 2027
Feb 23 2021 // New legislation would ban all fracking in California by 2027, taking aim at the powerful oil and gas industry in the state already planning to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Progressive California has long...
Judge Tosses Wife’s Suit Blaming Employer for Her Husband’s Covid
Feb 22 2021 // A federal judge tossed out a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that sought to hold an employer responsible for a worker’s spouse getting sick with Covid-19. U.S. District Judge Maxine M. Chesney in San Francisco on Monday...
Indiana Governor Signs COVID-19 Liability Shield Legislation
Feb 22 2021 // Indiana businesses and others now have broad protections from lawsuits by people blaming them for contracting COVID-19 under a new state law. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb on Feb. 18 signed the bill that he and GOP...
UK Court Rules Uber Drivers Should Be Classed as Workers, in Blow to Business Model
Feb 19 2021 // LONDON – A group of Uber drivers are entitled to worker rights such as the minimum wage, Britain’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday in a blow to the ride-hailing service that has ramifications for millions of others...
Oklahoma Legislation Would Require Tornado Safety Information in Hotels
Feb 18 2021 // Under legislation passed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives, new or renovated hotels and motels would be required to tornado safety information in every room and common areas. Rep. Denise Crosswhite Hader,...
Judge Denies Citibank Bid to Recoup Some of Mistaken $893M Payments to Revlon Lenders
Feb 17 2021 // A federal judge on Tuesday said Citigroup Inc. is not entitled to recoup half a billion dollars of its own money that it mistakenly wired lenders of Revlon Inc., in what he called “a banking error of perhaps...
Indiana COVID-19 Lawsuit Shield Legislation Sent to Governor
Feb 17 2021 // A bill giving Indiana businesses and others broad protections from lawsuits by people blaming them for contracting COVID-19 has been given final approval by state lawmakers. The Republican-dominated state Senate voted 39-7...
UK Judge Rules Newspaper Violated Duchess Meghan’s Privacy in Publishing Letter
Feb 16 2021 // LONDON — A newspaper invaded the Duchess of Sussex’s privacy by publishing personal letter to her estranged father, a British judge ruled Thursday, in a major victory for the royal in her campaign against what she...
With Crashes Down, Massachusetts Lawmakers Want Lower Car Insurance Rates
Feb 16 2021 // Lawmakers and the attorney general’s office want a state agency to force car insurance providers to lower rates for Massachusetts customers. The pandemic has kept many drivers off the road, meaning thousands of fewer...
Irish Regulator Presses Insurers to Pay COVID-19 Claims Following Court Ruling
Feb 12 2021 // Ireland’s central bank governor told insurers to urgently honor and pay valid claims related to COVID-19 disruption, following a successful test case in court last week, or risk facing legal action by the...
