P&C Legislative Round-Up: March 2020
Here are the latest insurance legislative updates from around the U.S., including Florida, Virginia, Illinois and more.
Editor’s Note: At the start of each month, we publish insurance legislative and regulatory news and updates from around the nation.
National updates
The Repeatedly Flooded Communities Preparation Act (RFCPA) was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bipartisan legislation would require communities with 50 or more repetitive loss structures and that have seen NFIP claims or received Stafford Act assistance in the past decade to identify mitigation strategies to address repeatedly flooded areas, such as drainage improvements or voluntary buyout programs. Additionally, the bill asks affected communities to submit action plans to reduce flood risks to the administrator of FEMA.
The State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act was also introduced to the House. The bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives Cedric Richmond (D-La.), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), and Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) would authorize a new grant program at the Department of Homeland Security to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities on state and local government networks, said a release. Further, it establishes a $400 grant program that will incentivize states to enhance their cybersecurity funding.
State updates
Hawaii passed SB 2384 to protect consumers against predatory towing companies. “Unfortunately, Hawaii is one of several states where we are seeing an uptick in rogue tow truck drivers arriving, unsolicited, at the scene of an accident and presenting themselves as an immediate solution to moving your vehicle from the scene. Many drivers, understandably shaken by the experience, might agree to the tow without thinking of the consequences,” Howard Handler, government affairs director for the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), said in a statement. “Unfortunately, that is often too late. Once they get your vehicle on the hook and tow it to the storage yard, you can be ‘on the hook’ for thousands of dollars in towing and storage fees before you get your vehicle back. This bill is a step in the right direction requiring towers to provide, prior to an accident scene tow, a written estimate.”
Michigan is offering consumers new educational resources to help drivers understand new auto insurance reforms. In 2019, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bill 1; the no-fault auto legislation intended to reform the state’s auto insurance system to guarantee lower rates, protect insurance coverage options, and strengthen consumer protections. The law’s changes will go into effect on July 1, 2020.
Several bills were introduced to the Florida State Senate.
- SB 1670: This consumer data privacy bill would prohibit the ”use of personal data contained in public records for certain marketing, soliciting, and contact without the person’s consent; requiring the operator of a website or online service that collects certain information from consumers in this state to establish a designated request address and provide specified notice regarding the collection and sale of such information; prohibiting such operator from making any sale of consumer information upon request of the consumer, etc.”
- SB 1460: This bill would place a constitutional amendment on the state ballot to make the position of Commissioner of Insurance an elected position and a member of the governor’s cabinet.
- SB 1194: The Florida Family Leave Act would require employers to allow employees who work an average of at least 20 hours per week, and who have been employed for at least 18 months, to take up to three months of paid leave after the birth, fostering or adoption of a child.
- SB 962: This bill would expand the rights of medical marijuana users. Under the proposed law, employees and job applicants would have the right to sue an employer if adverse action is taken against the employee as a result of being a medical marijuana patient.
- SB 206: The Florida Competitive Workforce Act would prohibit employers from discriminating against employees and applicants based on their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Additionally, proposal HB 779 passed the Florida House Commerce Committee. The bill seeks to end the no-fault system and replace a requirement that motorists carry personal-injury protection, or PIP, insurance coverage, which is key to the state’s no-fault system. I would also require drivers to carry mandatory bodily injury coverage.
HB 783 passed unanimously in Virginia. The bill adds three cancers to workers’ compensation coverage for first responders. The conditions added include testicular, colon and brain cancers, and benefits would only apply to first responders who are diagnosed after July 1, 2020. The bill would also reduce the required time of service for benefits eligibility from 12 years to five.
House Bill 5170 was filed in Illinois, which would amend the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act and the Illinois Insurance Code. The bill would require gun owners to carry a $1 million liability insurance coverage policy. Additionally, it would prohibit insurance sales to Illinois gun owners who would like to insure against rogue police and prosecutor’s investigation, indictment, and prosecution of any criminal charge arising out of the use of a firearm.
New legislation was introduced in California that would make it more difficult for insurers to withdraw from the homeowners market in wildfire-prone areas and give them a greater role in protecting communities. AB 2367, also known as the Renew California bill, would require insurance companies to write or renew policies for hardened homes in communities that meet a new statewide standard. The bill also would authorize the Insurance Commissioner to require insurers to offer financial incentives for homeowners to make their homes more fire-safe and create the Wildfire Resilience Task Force.
“More Californians are hardening their homes against wildfires but not seeing the results of their hard work when it comes time to obtain or renew insurance,” said Commissioner Ricardo Lara in a statement. “If you have a fire-hardened home in a fire-hardened community, you should be able to get insurance and keep it. We need insurance companies to renew their commitment to wildfire safety with incentives that will allow Californians to lower risk while stopping the domino effect of unstable real estate markets and a declining local tax base for vital services.”
California also introduced Assembly Bill 2665 to the state’s legislature. The bill would include skin cancer as a compensable occupational disease for peace officers employed by the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Lawmakers in Utah approved House Bill 11, which would lower the blood alcohol level that triggers a presumption that intoxication was the major contributing cause of a workplace injury. The current code marks .08 as the blood or breath alcohol limit that employers use to dispute a claim for workers’ comp. The new bill would lower the limit to .05.
Vermont Governor Phill Scott signed SB 108 into law. The new law allows for the investigation of the misclassification of workers and creates a new group committed to studying workers’ compensation claims for mental conditions, including PTSD.
A new proposed bill in Massachusetts, H. 3141, would make it illegal for the commonwealth’s government to use license plate readers.
West Virginia passed a comprehensive bill, HB 4361, which enhance the state’s anti-fraud laws. According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, the bill would “increase criminal fraud penalties; create a fund for insurance-fraud forfeiture recoveries; require insurers to provide information and documents on suspected fraud to the commissioner; expand the fraud bureau’s powers and duties,” among other provisions.
A new amendment to New York’s Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (the SHIELD Act) will take effect on March 21, 2020. The change broadens the law to apply to all companies that collect personal information of New York residents, even if a company does not conduct business in the state.
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