Latest Politics Headlines
All the headlines from our Politics Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Senate Links Agent Licensing Reform with Flood Insurance Delay
Jan 21 2014 // There is a new political wrinkle in the attempt to stave off flood insurance rate hikes across the country. The Senate has attached an industry-supported bill to streamline agent and broker licensing to its bill to delay...
Senate Joins House in Approving Spending Bill with Narrow Flood Insurance Fix
Jan 17 2014 // The Senate (72-26) yesterday joined the House of Representatives (359-67) in passing a $1.1 trillion compromise omnibus spending bill that contains a delay for an estimated one quarter of those facing flood insurance...
Congressional Negotiations on Farm Bill Said Close to Deal
Jan 16 2014 // Negotiations in Congress on the long overdue U.S. farm bill could be completed this week after progress was stalled by a disagreement over a dairy price support program, a senator said on Wednesday. The five-year farm...
Senate Re-Election Politics Boosts Flood Insurance Delay Proposals
Jan 16 2014 // Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will do just about anything to help Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu. He arranged the chamber’s floor agenda this week so Landrieu could lead debate on a flood insurance rate reprieve...
Congressional Spending Plan Would Curb Some Flood Insurance Hikes
Jan 15 2014 // The $1.1 trillion government funding agreement unveiled by Congressional negotiators on Monday includes language to postpone for about eight months some of the flood insurance rate hikes triggered by reforms passed in...
Texas Insurance Executive Enters State Senate Race
Jan 8 2014 // Richard “Gordy” Bunch, founder, president and CEO of The Woodlands, Texas-based insurance agency, The Woodlands Financial Group (TWFG), has announced his candidacy for the state’s 4th Senate District. A...
Senate Bill Seeks More Disclosure of Government Settlements with Firms
Jan 8 2014 // Two U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled a new bill that would force enforcement agencies to provide more details about deals to resolve corporate misconduct by U.S. companies. Senators Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts...
Key Senate Vote on Flood Insurance Rate Delay Pushed to Next Week
Jan 7 2014 // The U.S. Senate is expected to take a key vote soon on a bill that would delay some of the flood insurance rate hikes triggered by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. The procedural vote will determine...
Obama Administration Considers Rules on Use of Explosive Chemicals
Jan 7 2014 // Farmers and oil drillers may be required to report their use of explosive chemicals under measures the Obama administration is considering to avoid disasters such as a Texas blast that killed 14 people last year. Policy...
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Isolated Within GOP
Dec 24 2013 // Sandy Praeger is approaching her final year as Kansas insurance commissioner with a national reputation for expertise on health care issues and a lengthy, unbroken string of election victories as a Republican in a...
Massachusetts Congressional Delegation Challenges FEMA’s New Flood Maps
Dec 20 2013 // Members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, led by Congressman Bill Keating, recently sent an open letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The lawmakers argued in their letter that when FEMA...
Democrats Question Government Contracts to Firms with Safety, Labor Violations
Dec 17 2013 // The federal government awards billions of dollars in contracts each year to companies that routinely violate safety, health and wage regulations, according to a report that calls for stricter measures to hold federal...
Insurance Agent Thompson Wins Georgia State Senate Election
Dec 5 2013 // Northwest Georgia insurance agent Bruce Thompson has been elected to represent District 14 in the Georgia state Senate. Thompson won about 68 percent of votes in Tuesday’s general election runoff over Cartersville...
Flood of Regulations Coming from Obama Administration
Dec 5 2013 // Over the next 12 months, the Obama administration is due to issue regulations governing everything from e-cigarettes to smoke-stack emissions in what experts predict will be a second-term rush to put rules in place before...
House, Senate Negotiators Fail to Reach Agreement on Crop Insurance Bill
Nov 21 2013 // House and Senate negotiators adjourned talks on a new agricultural bill until after a congressional recess, increasing the chances of a lapse in programs that could double the price of milk next year. “I’m...
Senate Joins House in Passing Compounding Pharmacy Oversight Bill
Nov 14 2013 // The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a bill designed to tighten government oversight of pharmacies that custom-mix prescription drugs, in the wake of last year’s deadly meningitis outbreak tied to contaminated pain...
Clinton, Democrats Pressure White House to Amend Healthcare Law
Nov 13 2013 // The growing pressure on President Barack Obama to adjust his problem-plagued healthcare law seemed to boil over on Tuesday, as leaders of Obama’s Democratic Party called on him to allow a change in the law so that...
Senate Expected to Pass Gay Workplace Rights Bill Opposed by House
Nov 7 2013 // Most employers would be banned from firing, demoting or refusing to hire workers because of their sexual orientation or gender identity under legislation in line for action today in the U.S. Senate. The measure, known as...
Obama Administration Under Fire for Individual Health Policy Cancellations
Oct 30 2013 // President Barack Obama’s advisers deliberately crafted his signature healthcare law to fulfill his oft-repeated promise: those who like their insurance can keep it. Even with that provision, Obama administration...
Senate, House Negotiators Tackle Farm Bill, Crop Insurance
Oct 24 2013 // U.S. Senate and House negotiators, who will begin working on a compromise farm bill on Oct. 30, face a major fight over proposed deep cuts in food stamps for the poor. The leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture...
