Latest Politics Headlines
All the headlines from our Politics Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report: Senate May Reject Texas Insurance Commissioner
Mar 11 2013 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman could have trouble winning Senate confirmation to keep her job, as Democrats with enough votes to defeat her nomination question her credentials. Appointed by Texas Gov. Rick...
West Virginia Senate Bill Limits Nursing Home Liability
Mar 8 2013 // A limit would be placed on the amount nursing homes would be forced to pay if sued under a bill passed by the West Virginia Senate this week. The measure explicitly includes nursing homes under the protections of a 2003...
Oklahoma Senate OKs Executive Appointee Plan
Mar 7 2013 // The Oklahoma Senate has advanced a proposal that would allow voters to make the offices of state superintendent, insurance commissioner and labor commissioner gubernatorial appointments. In a statement released by the...
Oregon Senate Approves Medical Mistakes Mediation
Mar 7 2013 // The Oregon Senate has passed a bill creating a new mediation process for patients injured by medical mistakes. The bill passed Tuesday in a 26-3 vote despite criticisms from some lawmakers who said it should have included...
Florida Senate Advances Bill Banning Texting While Driving
Mar 7 2013 // A statewide texting-while-driving ban that has eluded passage for several years is again moving through the Florida Legislature. The Senate Communications committee meets Wednesday to consider the bill (SB 52). Opponents...
West Virginia Senate Votes to Limit Landowner Liability
Mar 7 2013 // The West Virginia Senate unanimously passed a bill that would ensure that property owners face very limited liability from trespassers on their land. In general, common law states that property owners cannot be sued by...
GOP-Backed Workers’ Comp Plan Clears Oklahoma Senate
Mar 1 2013 // A Republican-backed plan to overhaul Oklahoma’s workers’ compensation system has been approved by the state Senate, despite concerns that the cost savings in the bill come at the expense of those injured on the...
Report: Senate May Reject Texas Insurance Commissioner
Feb 26 2013 // Texas Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman could have trouble winning Senate confirmation to keep her job, as Democrats with enough votes to defeat her nomination question her credentials. Kitzman was appointed by Texas...
South Dakota Senate Passes Ban on Texting While Driving
Feb 21 2013 // A measure that would ban texting while driving was approved by the state Senate after supporters said South Dakota needs to join the 39 other states that prohibit the dangerous practice. Senators voted 24-9 to approve the...
Arkansas Senate OKs Electronic Proof of Insurance
Feb 21 2013 // The Arkansas Senate has approved legislation allowing drivers to display their proof of insurance using cellphones and other electronic devices. The Senate unanimously approved a bill that would allow drivers to show their...
Florida Senate Leader to Insurers: Where Are Savings from PIP Reforms?
Feb 21 2013 // Key Florida lawmakers are running out of patience with the state’s fraud-plagued no-fault motor vehicle insurance system that has cost policyholders hundred millions of dollars. Senate President Don Gaetz ,...
Oklahoma Senate Panel Approves Workers’ Comp Change
Feb 20 2013 // A bill to convert Oklahoma’s Workers’ Compensation Court into an administrative system cleared its first hurdle and is now headed to the full Senate for consideration. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 8-2...
N.J. Congressional Delegation Expresses Concern Over NFIP Claims
Feb 15 2013 // On Tuesday Feb. 12, New Jersey’s Congressional delegation sent a letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator W. Craig Fugate, expressing their concern over what the delegation described as “the...
Arizona Teen Drivers Face Cellphone Ban Under Senate Bill
Feb 15 2013 // Arizona lawmakers are coming after teen drivers’ cellphones. A bill approved by the Senate Committee on Public Safety on Wednesday seeks to prohibit teenagers from using wireless devices while they have their...
Obama Administration Says Health Insurance Exchanges on Track
Feb 14 2013 // The Obama administration on Thursday assured U.S. lawmakers that it is on track to enroll millions of people in new state health insurance markets, but it quickly came under fire from Republicans and Democrats about how...
Missouri Senate Backs Bill to Replenish Second Injury Fund
Feb 14 2013 // Missouri senators have endorsed a two-part plan to replenish an insolvent fund for disabled workers and stop people with job-related diseases from bringing big-dollar lawsuits against their employers. The legislation...
Rules for Dodd-Frank Top Republican House Agenda
Feb 12 2013 // Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are gearing up to overhaul the housing finance system this year and will soon map out ways to monitor Wall Street reform rules, according to a draft agenda circulating on...
Washington Senate Passes Workers’ Comp Bills
Feb 7 2013 // The Republican-controlled Washington state Senate passed three contentious measures intended to save businesses money by changing workers’ compensation rules. Senate Bill 5128 would overhaul the...
Missouri Senate to Debate Future of Disability Fund
Feb 5 2013 // Missouri senators are preparing to debate legislation to revive an insolvent fund for disabled workers. The state’s Second Injury Fund has a deficit of about $25 million that is expected to keep growing. The fund...
Tax Cuts, Workers’ Comp Top Oklahoma GOP Agenda
Feb 4 2013 // Republicans enjoying a tighter grip on the Oklahoma Legislature say they hope to cut taxes, overhaul the workers’ compensation system and increase school funding when the 2013 session opens today. Doing so, they say,...
