HB2055ham001 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Donald L. Moffitt

Filed: 4/20/2015

09900HB2055ham001 LRB099 08220 JLK 34480 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2055

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2055 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Fire Insurance Cost Note Act.

Section 5. Applicability. Every bill, the effect of which could potentially result in an additional or increased cost to insurance companies for fire coverage, shall have prepared for it, before second reading in the house of introduction, a brief explanatory statement or note that shall include a reliable estimate of the anticipated impact on the cost to insurance companies for fire coverage. These notes shall be known as fire insurance cost notes.

Section 10. Preparation. The sponsor of each bill, to which Section 5 applies, shall present a copy of the bill, with his or her request for a fire insurance cost note, to the Department of Insurance. The fire insurance cost note shall be prepared by the Department of Insurance and furnished to the sponsor of the bill within 5 calendar days thereafter; except that whenever, because of the complexity of the measure, additional time is required for the preparation of the fire insurance cost note, the Department of Insurance may so inform the sponsor of the bill and the sponsor may approve an extension not to exceed an additional 5 calendar days within which to furnish the note. An extension may not, however, be beyond May 15 following the date of the request.

Copies of each fire insurance cost note shall be furnished by the Department to the presiding officer of each chamber, the minority leader of each chamber, the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of the Senate, the sponsor of the bill that is the subject of the note, and the member, if any, who initiated the request for the note.

Section 15. Vote on necessity of fire insurance cost note. Whenever the sponsor of a bill is of the opinion that no fire insurance cost note is necessary, any member of either house may request that a note be obtained, and in that case the applicability of this Act shall be decided by a majority of those present and voting in the house of which the sponsor is a member.

Section 20. Requisites and contents. The note shall be factual in nature, as brief and concise as may be, and shall provide as reliable an estimate of the bill's impact as is possible under the circumstances. The note shall include both the immediate effect and, if determinable or reasonably foreseeable, the long-range effect of the bill. If, after careful investigation, it is determined that no estimate is possible, the note shall contain a statement to that effect setting forth the reasons why no estimate can be given.

Section 25. Comment or opinion; technical or mechanical defects. No comment or opinion shall be included in the note with regard to the merits of the bill for which the note is prepared; however, technical or mechanical defects may be noted. The note shall be prepared in quintuplicate, and the original of the note shall be signed by the Director of Insurance or a person designated by the Director.

Section 30. Appearance of State officials and employees in support or opposition of measure. The fact that a fire insurance cost note is prepared for a bill shall not preclude or restrict the appearance before any committee of the General Assembly of any official or authorized employee of any State board, commission, department, agency, or other entity that desires to be heard in support of or in opposition to the bill.

Section 35. Amendment of bill necessitating statement of effect of proposed amendment. Whenever any committee of either chamber reports any bill with an amendment of such nature as will substantially affect the impact of the bill on insurance companies for fire coverage, and whenever any bill is amended on the floor of either chamber in such manner as to substantially affect the impact of the bill on insurance companies for fire coverage, the Department may, on its own initiative, or shall, within 5 calendar days after a request by any member of the chamber by which the bill is then considered, prepare a new or revised fire insurance cost note in relation to the amended bill. If such a request is made, the bill shall be held on second reading until the note is received or the 5 calendar day period has passed. Copies of each new or revised fire insurance cost note shall be furnished to the persons named in Section 10.

Section 40. Confidentiality. The subject matter of bills submitted to the Director of Insurance shall be kept in strict confidence by the Department of Insurance, and no information relating to the bill or its fire insurance cost impact shall be divulged by any official or employee of the Department, except to the bill's sponsor or the sponsor's designee, before the bill's introduction in the General Assembly.".