Deadline looms for measures

The Clarion-Ledger, 3/17/8

Bills intended to offer more protection for insurance policyholders, make it tougher for some marriages to end and prohibit some adoptions likely will die in the Mississippi Legislature this week.

But other bills face an uncertain future Tuesday, the deadline for passing out of committee bills originating in the opposite chamber. Among those are a bill that would limit casinos and another that could eventually allow utility companies to hike rates before building additional plants.

Senate Insurance Committee Chairman Eugene Clarke said he will kill the bill that would require insurance companies to attach a bill of rights to policies, much like what the state Insurance Department now mandates.