093_HB2379

 
                                     LRB093 07230 JLS 07386 b

 1        AN ACT concerning insurers.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5.  The  Illinois  Insurance  Code is amended by
 5    adding Section 155.39 as follows:

 6        (215 ILCS 5/155.39 new)
 7        Sec. 155.39.  Slave era policies.
 8        (a)  The General Assembly finds and declares all  of  the
 9    following:
10             (1)  Insurance  policies  from  the slavery era have
11        been discovered in  the  archives  of  several  insurance
12        companies,    documenting    insurance    coverage    for
13        slaveholders  for  damage  to  or  death of their slaves,
14        issued by a predecessor insurance firm.  These  documents
15        provide  the  first  evidence  of ill-gotten profits from
16        slavery, which profits in part capitalized insurers whose
17        successors remain in existence today.
18             (2)  Legislation has been introduced in Congress for
19        the past 10 years demanding an inquiry into  slavery  and
20        its continuing legacies.
21             (3)  The Director of Insurance and the Department of
22        Insurance are entitled to seek information from the files
23        of  insurers  licensed  and doing business in this State,
24        including licensed Illinois subsidiaries of international
25        insurance  corporations,  regarding  insurance   policies
26        issued  to  slaveholders by predecessor corporations. The
27        people of Illinois are entitled to significant historical
28        information of this nature.
29        (b)  The Department shall request and obtain  information
30    from  insurers  licensed  and  doing  business  in this State
31    regarding  any  records  of  slaveholder  insurance  policies
 
                            -2-      LRB093 07230 JLS 07386 b
 1    issued by any predecessor corporation during the slavery era.
 2        (c)  The  Department  shall  obtain  the  names  of   any
 3    slaveholders  or slaves described in those insurance records,
 4    and shall make the information available to  the  public  and
 5    the General Assembly.
 6        (d)  Any  insurer  licensed  and  doing  business in this
 7    State shall  research  and  report  to  the  Department  with
 8    respect  to  any  records  within the insurer's possession or
 9    knowledge  relating   to   insurance   policies   issued   to
10    slaveholders that provided coverage for damage to or death of
11    their slaves.
12        (e)  Descendants  of slaves, whose ancestors were defined
13    as  private  property,  dehumanized,   divided   from   their
14    families,   forced   to  perform  labor  without  appropriate
15    compensation or benefits, and whose  ancestors'  owners  were
16    compensated  for  damages  by  insurers, are entitled to full
17    disclosure.