Missouri 2025 2025 Regular Session

Missouri House Bill HB142 Introduced / Bill

Filed 12/02/2024

                    FIRSTREGULARSESSION
HOUSEBILLNO.142
103RDGENERALASSEMBLY
INTRODUCEDBYREPRESENTATIVEFALKNER.
0369H.01I	DANARADEMANMILLER,ChiefClerk
ANACT
Torepealsection537.610,RSMo,andtoenactinlieuthereofonenewsectionrelatingtothe
purchasingofliabilityinsurancefortortclaimsmadeagainstpublicentities.
BeitenactedbytheGeneralAssemblyofthestateofMissouri,asfollows:
SectionA.Section537.610,RSMo,isrepealedandonenewsectionenactedinlieu
2thereof,tobeknownassection537.610,toreadasfollows:
537.610.1.Thecommissionerofadministration,throughthepurchasingdivision,
2andthegoverningbodyofeachpoliticalsubdivisionofthisstate,notwithstandinganyother
3provisionoflaw,maypurchaseliabilityinsurancefortortclaims,madeagainstthestateorthe
4politicalsubdivision,butthemaximumamountofsuchcoverageshallnotexceedtwomillion
5dollarsforallclaimsarisingoutofasingleoccurrenceandshallnotexceedthreehundred
6thousanddollarsforanyonepersoninasingleaccidentoroccurrence,exceptforthoseclaims
7governedbytheprovisionsoftheMissouriworkers'compensationlaw,chapter287,andno
8amountinexcessoftheabovelimitsshallbeawardedorsettledupon.Sovereignimmunity
9forthestateofMissourianditspoliticalsubdivisionsiswaivedonlytothemaximumamount
10ofandonlyforthepurposescoveredbysuchpolicyofinsurancepurchasedpursuanttothe
11provisionsofthissectionandinsuchamountandforsuchpurposesprovidedinanyself-
12insuranceplandulyadoptedbythegoverningbodyofanypoliticalsubdivisionofthestate.
13Forpurposesofthissection,theterm"purchase"refersonlytothedirectacquisitionby
14agoverningbodyofapoliticalsubdivisionofthisstateofinsurancecoveragefroman
15insurancecompanyorotherbusinessentityanddoesnotincludeanyindirectactionby
16contractorotherwiseincluding,butnotlimitedto,requiringadditionalcoverageor
17insuredstatusundertheinsurancepolicyofanotherpersonorentity.
EXPLANATION—Matterenclosedinbold-facedbrackets[thus] intheabovebillisnotenactedandis
intendedtobeomittedfromthelaw.Matterinbold-facetypeintheabovebillisproposedlanguage. 18 2.Theliabilityofthestateanditspublicentitiesonclaimswithinthescopeof
19sections537.600to537.650,shallnotexceedtwomilliondollarsforallclaimsarisingoutof
20asingleaccidentoroccurrenceandshallnotexceedthreehundredthousanddollarsforany
21onepersoninasingleaccidentoroccurrence,exceptforthoseclaimsgovernedbythe
22provisionsoftheMissouriworkers'compensationlaw,chapter287.
23 3.Noawardfordamagesonanyclaimagainstapublicentitywithinthescopeof
24sections537.600to537.650,shallincludepunitiveorexemplarydamages.
25 4.Iftheamountawardedtoorsettleduponmultipleclaimantsexceedstwomillion
26dollars,anypartymayapplytoanycircuitcourttoapportiontoeachclaimanthisproper
27shareofthetotalamountlimitedbysubsection1ofthissection.Theshareapportionedeach
28claimantshallbeintheproportionthattheratiooftheawardorsettlementmadetohimbears
29totheaggregateawardsandsettlementsforallclaimsarisingoutoftheaccidentor
30occurrence,buttheshareshallnotexceedthreehundredthousanddollars.
31 5.Thelimitationonawardsforliabilityprovidedforinthissectionshallbeincreased
32ordecreasedonanannualbasiseffectiveJanuaryfirstofeachyearinaccordancewiththe
33ImplicitPriceDeflatorforPersonalConsumptionExpendituresaspublishedbytheBureauof
34EconomicAnalysisoftheUnitedStatesDepartmentofCommerce.Thecurrentvalueofthe
35limitationshallbecalculatedbythedirectorofthedepartmentofcommerceandinsurance,
36whoshallfurnishthatvaluetothesecretaryofstate,whoshallpublishsuchvalueinthe
37MissouriRegisterassoonaftereachJanuaryfirstaspracticable,butitshallotherwisebe
38exemptfromtheprovisionsofsection536.021.
39 6.Anyclaimfiledagainstanypublicentityunderthissectionshallbesubjecttothe
40penaltiesprovidedbysupremecourtrule55.03,oranysuccessorrule.
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HB142	2