Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Legislation to Limit Car Accident Claims Advances in Louisiana
May 14 2020 // Louisiana’s Republican lawmakers have advanced proposals to limit damage claims against businesses in car wreck lawsuits, pushing ahead with the pre-coronavirus priority as Democrats argued the debate was...
Trump Safety Regulator Blocks Washington State’s Crude Oil Train Rules
May 13 2020 // The U.S. pipeline regulator late on Monday blocked an effort by Washington state to tighten vapor pressure restrictions on the transport of crude oil by rail, saying the measures would not lower the risk of explosions. The...
Debate Over Business Liability in Pandemic Turns to OSHA Regulation, CDC Guidelines
May 13 2020 // Congressional Republicans have made liability protection for employers a nonnegotiable demand in any new coronavirus stimulus, but Senator Lindsey Graham, an ally of President Donald Trump, says that regulators have a role...
Insurers Zurich and Chubb Raise Cover for Canada Oil Sands Pipeline: Filings
May 13 2020 // Major insurers Zurich and Chubb increased their insurance cover for a Canadian oil sands pipeline over the last year, Canadian regulatory filings show. The Trans Mountain pipeline, which ships types of crude oil and...
Workers’ Comp May Need Backstop as Presumptions Push Claim Costs into Billions
May 12 2020 // An executive order by California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week is the most aggressive yet among the directives issued by 13 states that require workers’ compensation insurers to pay at least some COVID-19...
U.S. Businesses, Patients Sue China Seeking Damages From Coronavirus Outbreak
May 11 2020 // Before the coronavirus outbreak, Saundra Andringa-Meuer was a healthy 61-year-old mother of six who never smoked or drank alcohol. Then she became seriously ill with the disease after traveling from her Wisconsin home to...
Trump Administration Revises Sexual Assault Response Rules for Schools
May 8 2020 // Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday issued a new policy that will reshape the way schools and universities respond to complaints of sexual misconduct, bolstering the rights of the accused and narrowing the scope...
Billions Will Experience ‘Sahara’ Like Heat in Next 50 Years, Report States
May 8 2020 // Roughly a third of the global population could experience an average annual temperature of 84.2 degrees Fahrenheit (29C) in the next 50 years, with temperatures currently found in small part of the planet, mostly...
Viewpoint: Insurance Denials, Proposed Legislation Raise Concerns
May 6 2020 // The arrival and spread of COVID-19 has had significant and far-reaching social and economic impacts upon individuals and businesses throughout the United States. In an effort to curtail the spread of the virus, local and...
Texas Regulatory Commission Says it Won’t Cut Oil Production
May 6 2020 // After overseeing the state’s energy sector through one of Texas’ largest oil booms in recent years, the Texas Railroad Commission has suddenly found itself in the middle of two global crises that have delivered...
What to Expect in Workers’ Compensation Costs From COVID-19: NCCI
May 6 2020 // If only 10 percent of health care workers contract COVID-19 and all of their claims are deemed compensable, workers’ compensation loss costs for that sector could double or even triple in some states, according to an...
Some Michigan Drivers Could See Big Drop in Insurance Rates with New Law
May 5 2020 // Michigan’s new auto insurance no-fault law, passed in May 2019, does not take effect until July 2, but the state’s governor and insurance regulators say recently approved insurer rate filings already show that...
German Judge Casts Doubt on VW’s Defense in Landmark Diesel-Damages Case
May 5 2020 // A German federal court judge cast doubt on Volkswagen’s reasoning after the carmaker urged the court to dismiss a claim for damages brought by an owner of a diesel powered VW Sharan family van. Tuesday’s...
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Micro-Captive Insurer Tax Case
May 5 2020 // The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a ruling that critics say would give the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service a sweeping shield from challenges to their regulations. The justices said Monday they will...
Republicans Rally Around Call for Legal Immunity for Businesses When They Reopen
May 4 2020 // The top Republicans in the U.S. Congress displayed a united front on Friday in their drive for coronavirus-related liability protections for businesses, saying such measures will be crucial to talks about future relief...
Consumer Groups Oppose Immunity for Businesses From Coronavirus Lawsuits
Apr 30 2020 // U.S. consumer advocates are urging Congress to resist growing demands by companies for protections from coronavirus-related lawsuits as states start to ease pandemic restrictions and businesses begin to reopen. Led by...
Insurers Promote Federal Pandemic Insurance Plan to Congress
Apr 29 2020 // The U.S. insurance industry is promoting the idea of an insurance plan backed by the federal government that would help businesses that in the future suffer losses from a pandemic, people familiar with the effort told...
Key Lawmaker Eyes Ban on Mergers to Protect Small Firms During Coronavirus Crisis
Apr 23 2020 // The chair of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel on Thursday called for a moratorium on mergers in the next coronavirus stimulus package and a ban on deals that are not directly related to companies about...
Travelers, W.R. Berkley CEOs Sound Alarm Over Coronavirus Lawsuits, Workers’ Comp
Apr 23 2020 // During an earnings conference call Tuesday, the leader of Travelers insurance alerted listeners to the possibility that frivolous lawsuits by plaintiffs lawyers could slow down the economic recovery from COVID-19...
How COVID-19 Impacts the Surplus Lines Insurance Industry
Apr 22 2020 // COVID-19 has majorly disrupted the global economy, and while many business sectors are subjected to temporary shutdowns or bare minimum operations, the insurance industry is racing forward while confronting unprecedented...
