P&C Legislative Round-Up: August 2019

Editor’s Note: At the start of each month, we publish insurance legislative news and updates from around the nation.

National updates

The INSURANCE Act (HB 3781) was introduced in the House by Representatives Jesús “Chuy” García (IL), Hank Johnson (GA) and Matt Cartwright (PA). The bill would increase the minimum requirements for motor carriers to adjust to the inflation rate of medical costs. The current minimum insurance requirements for motor carriers was established in 1980 and has never been adjusted for inflation.

The Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana (CLAIM) Act, a bipartisan bill that has been introduced to the U.S House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, would expand insurance coverage for thousands of cannabis businesses by establishing a federal “safe harbor,” which will prevent the criminal prosecution of insurers and prevent civil liability for agents, brokers and insurers that service the cannabis industry.

State updates

A group of new bills seeking to modify the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) have made their way through the California Legislature. Five pieces of legislation were introduced, but only three passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee and are now heading to the Committee on Appropriations. Those bills include:

• Assembly Bill 25: This bill originally sought to change the definition of who is covered under the CCPA to exempt information collected on individuals “within their employee role, or in similar roles within the employment context, as specified,” drawing a difference between data collected on people within personal and professional contexts.
• Assembly Bill 846: Bill 846 would create an exemption that allows companies to sell consumer data in exchange for loyalty rewards programs that customers could sign up for.
• Assembly Bill 1564: This bill would allow companies to supply consumers with an email to submit disclosure requests and would eliminate the requirement that companies provide a toll-free telephone number for such requests.

New York Senate Bill S3065, a bill seeking to amend insurance law, is currently with the state’s Insurance Committee. The bill would require insurers to provide supplemental spousal liability coverage in motor vehicle policies unless the insured rejects such coverage in writing.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HOB 7065. The law, which went into effect July 1, addresses the rampant abuse related to assignment of benefits (AOB), which has led to less coverage and higher rates for Florida property owners.

“Florida consumers are the biggest winners with these critical protections. This year, we advocated for Florida homeowners and passed reforms to help stop rampant lawsuit abuse across the state. My fraud detectives, as well as sheriffs, state attorneys and other law enforcement leaders have joined our efforts to create a Fraud Free Florida, and this new law furthers this mission,” said Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis in a statement.

Governor Gavin Newson signed Assembly Bill 1054 into law in California, which establishes a wildfire fund of up to $21 billion for the state’s largest utility companies. The insurance-like fund will provide liquidity for utilities to cover eligible, uninsured third-party damage claims resulting from future catastrophic wildfires. The bill also establishes a new framework to encourage and certify utility safety practices intended to reduce the risk of wildfires ignited by power infrastructure.

Gov. Newson also signed SB508 into law, which requires insurance carriers to provide mobile-home and condominium residents a copy of the California Residential Property Insurance Bill of Rights prior to issuing or renewing residential property insurance policies.

Effective August 1, AS 23.30.240 and 8 AAC 45.184 of the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Act will be repealed and reenacted. The change to AS 23.30.240 states that “an executive officer elected or appointed and empowered in accordance with the charter and bylaws of a corporation or a member of a limited liability company organized under AS 10.50 is not an employee of the business entity under this chapter if the executive officer or member owns at least 10% of the business entity.”

Under the repeal of 8 AAC 45.184, the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Division will no longer accept applications or issue executive officer waivers.

A4882 and S712 were signed into law in New Jersey. Known as the “Bill Ricci World Trade Center Rescue, Recovery, and Cleanup Operations Act” and “Thomas P. Canzanella First Century First Responders Protection Act,” respectively, the bills amend provisions of the state’s workers’ compensation law to create a rebuttable presumption of coverage for public safety workers for certain illnesses, including those who volunteered for 9/11 rescue, recovery, and clean-up efforts at World Trade Center sites. Under the prior law, first responders and firefighters had the burden of proving causation for their illnesses.