The legislature began to gain momentum during the third week of the legislative session. The top news from the week was Sam Brownback's confirmation as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom by the United States Senate. The confirmation sets a chain of events in motion that will eventually lead to Dr. Jeff Colyer becoming the governor of Kansas on Wednesday, January 31st at 3:00 pm. Once Colyer becomes governor, the nature of the 2018 gubernatorial race takes on a new tone as he will obviously have a more direct and visible influence on the policies promoted by the governor's office.
Another main theme around the statehouse during the third week was the issue of legislative transparency. Numerous members of legislative leadership began to state their desires to have a more transparent process regarding whom introduces pieces of legislation and public access to committee hearings. The 2018 legislative session is the first session that has online audio or video of all committee hearings. New measures have been enacted to attempt to make it more transparent regarding who introduced bills in committees. This legislative action is in response to numerous press reports indicating the Kansas legislative process was one of the least transparent in the nation.
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Hearing This Week on KAIA Bill to Limit Work Comp Mod Increases
A hearing has been set for
HB2487
, the bill that the KAIA introduced in House Insurance Committee. As you will recall, the bill that would limit the amount an employer's workers compensation experience modifier (mod) could be increased as a result of a motor vehicle accident (MVA) in which neither an employee of the employer nor the employer itself was at fault in the accident. This bill was precipitated by particular situation which recently occurred, but there have been other similar situations that have occurred. A hearing date is set for Thursday, February 1st in the House Insurance Committee.
*If you have clients who have experienced this problem and are willing to share and/or submit testimony in support of the bill, we would welcome hearing from you.
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Bill to Repeal Automatic Agent Licensure
A representative for various insurance companies introduced a bill amending the uniform insurance agents licensing act last week in House Insurance Committee. The bill,
HB2499
, repeals a paragraph in the act which states that: "certification of other than an individual insurance agent will automatically include each licensed insurance agent who is an officer, director, partner, employee or otherwise legally associated with the corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity appointed by the company." A hearing on this bill is set in House Insurance on Thursday, Feb. 1.
As we understand, the bill sponsor's intent is to remove the requirement that every licensed agent in an agency be automatically required to certify and pay the annual certification fee. If this bill passed, only those directly selling for the company would be subject to the certification and fee.
The Kansas Insurance Department is carefully studying the bill and its fiscal impact on the department. They have yet to publicly state their position. The KAIA continues to gather information and the Government Affairs Committee has not voted on a position. More to follow!
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House Insurance Subcommittee on Bodily Injury Bill
Upon receiving the Special Committee on Financial Institutions & Insurance's interim study report on minimum motor vehicle liability limits and setoff, the House Insurance Committee appointed a Subcommittee to further study the report and the bill,
HB2104
. The bill would prohibit an insurer from reducing the amount of underinsured motorist coverage available for a claim by any payment amount paid by anyone other than the insurer. Also, the bill would increase the minimum bodily injury limit on motorist insurance policies from $50,000 to $100,000.
The subcommittee, made up of fewer legislators, briefly met last week. Members of the subcommittee made requests for additional information. The subcommittee is set to meet again this week.
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CAT Loss Bill Passes House Committee
The House Insurance Committee passed out
HB2469
, a bill dealing with temporary claims facilities following catastrophic loss events. The bill allows insurance companies, after notifying the appropriate local units of government, to set up temporary claims facilities without the delay of complying with ordinances and/or procedures governing temporary business facilities. The committee made a minor amendment to the definition of what constitutes a qualifying event. The bill now heads to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
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Kansas Association of Insurance Agents
815 SW Topeka Blvd.
Topeka, KS 66612
800-229-7048
www.kaia.com
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