California Assembly Bill AB1053 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1053AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2014 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cooley FEBRUARY 22, 2013 An act  to amend Section 1764.1 of the Insurance Code, relating to insurance.   relating to local government, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.  LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1053, as amended, Cooley.  Insurance: nonadmitted insurer: surplus line brokers: disclosure.   Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District: return of improperly collected money.   Existing law authorizes the formation of a fire protection district and further authorizes an established district to raise revenues, including, but not limited to, levying assessments for fire suppression services pursuant to a specified procedure. Existing law also authorizes a district to charge fees to cover the costs of providing certain services or enforcing certain regulations and to waive those fees under specified conditions.   This bill would authorize the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, until January 1, 2015, and notwithstanding any other law, to return money it improperly collected from payees due to a clerical error in the district's administration of an assessment levied from 2005 to 2012, inclusive. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the public purpose served by this act.   This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.   (1) Existing law requires every nonadmitted insurer and every surplus line broker, as applicable, to obtain, at the time of accepting an application for an insurance policy, other than a renewal of that policy, the signature of the applicant on a disclosure, as specified. An industrial insured is not required to receive the disclosure except on confirmation of insurance. An industrial insured is defined as, among other things, having 25 or more employees on average during the prior 12 months and having aggregate annual premiums for insurance for all risks other than workers' compensation and health coverage totaling no less than $25,000. A violation of this requirement is a crime punishable by imprisonment in the state prison, or in a county jail for not exceeding one year or by a fine of not more than $10,000, or by both.   This bill would change the definition of industrial insured by increasing the industrial insured's aggregate annual premiums for insurance for all risks other than workers' compensation and health coverage to no less than $50,000. Because this bill would change the definition of a crime, it is a state-mandated local program.   (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.  Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  yes   no  . State-mandated local program:  yes   no  . THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:   (a) Integrity and accountability in government demands that when a subdivision of the state discovers that it improperly collected money from the public due to a clerical error, that it be authorized to return the money to the members of the public from whom the money was mistakenly collected.   (b) This act, by authorizing an efficient return of money that the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District improperly collected in the form of an assessment due to an unintentional clerical error, serves a public purpose by maintaining public confidence in the imposition and collection of property assessments to pay for public improvements and services, correcting an unintentional error and restoring accuracy in the district's finances, providing transparency and accountability in the proper collection and use of public funds, and by avoiding the potential public expense of defending against costly litigation filed by those parties from whom money was mistakenly collected.   SEC. 2.   (a)     Notwithstanding any other law, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District may return to a payor any money the district improperly collected from the payor due to a clerical error in the district's administration of that certain assessment known as the Special Fire Tax for Rancho Murieta and Sloughouse area levied from 2005 to 2012, inclusive.   (b) This act shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends that date.   SEC. 3.   The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique and limited need of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District to return money it improperly and unintentionally collected in the form of an assessment.   SEC. 4.   This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:   To remedy as soon as possible the mistaken collection from the public of fire district assessment amounts, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.  All matter omitted in this version of the bill appears in the bill as introduced in the Assembly, February 22, 2013. (JR11)