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| 2 | 2 | | FIRST REGULAR SESSION |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE BILL NO. 454 |
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| 4 | 4 | | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 5 | 5 | | INTRODUCED BY SENATOR TRENT. |
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| 6 | 6 | | 0127S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary |
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| 7 | 7 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 8 | | To repeal section 537.610, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the |
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| 9 | 9 | | purchasing of liability insurance for tort claims made against public entities. |
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| 10 | 10 | | |
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| 11 | 11 | | Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Section A. Section 537.610, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1 |
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| 13 | 13 | | section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 537.610, 2 |
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| 14 | 14 | | to read as follows:3 |
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| 15 | 15 | | 537.610. 1. The commissioner of administration, 1 |
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| 16 | 16 | | through the purchasing division, and the governin g body of 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | each political subdivision of this state, notwithstanding 3 |
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| 18 | 18 | | any other provision of law, may purchase liability insurance 4 |
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| 19 | 19 | | for tort claims, made against the state or the political 5 |
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| 20 | 20 | | subdivision, but the maximum amount of such coverage shall 6 |
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| 21 | 21 | | not exceed two million dollars for all claims arising out of 7 |
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| 22 | 22 | | a single occurrence and shall not exceed three hundred 8 |
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| 23 | 23 | | thousand dollars for any one person in a single accident or 9 |
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| 24 | 24 | | occurrence, except for those claims governed by the 10 |
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| 25 | 25 | | provisions of the Missouri wor kers' compensation law, 11 |
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| 26 | 26 | | chapter 287, and no amount in excess of the above limits 12 |
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| 27 | 27 | | shall be awarded or settled upon. Sovereign immunity for 13 |
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| 28 | 28 | | the state of Missouri and its political subdivisions is 14 |
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| 29 | 29 | | waived only to the maximum amount of and only for the 15 |
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| 30 | 30 | | purposes covered by such policy of insurance purchased 16 |
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| 31 | 31 | | pursuant to the provisions of this section and in such 17 |
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| 32 | 32 | | amount and for such purposes provided in any self -insurance 18 SB 454 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | plan duly adopted by the governing body of any political 19 |
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| 34 | 34 | | subdivision of the state. For purposes of this section, the 20 |
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| 35 | 35 | | term "purchase" refers only to the direct acquisition by a 21 |
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| 36 | 36 | | governing body of a political subdivision of this state of 22 |
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| 37 | 37 | | insurance coverage from an insurance company or other 23 |
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| 38 | 38 | | business entity and does not include any indir ect action by 24 |
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| 39 | 39 | | contract or otherwise including, but not limited to, 25 |
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| 40 | 40 | | requiring additional coverage or insured status under the 26 |
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| 41 | 41 | | insurance policy of another person or entity. 27 |
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| 42 | 42 | | 2. The liability of the state and its public entities 28 |
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| 43 | 43 | | on claims within the scope of sections 537.600 to 537.650, 29 |
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| 44 | 44 | | shall not exceed two million dollars for all claims arising 30 |
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| 45 | 45 | | out of a single accident or occurrence and shall not exceed 31 |
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| 46 | 46 | | three hundred thousand dollars for any one person in a 32 |
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| 47 | 47 | | single accident or occurrence, except f or those claims 33 |
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| 48 | 48 | | governed by the provisions of the Missouri workers' 34 |
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| 49 | 49 | | compensation law, chapter 287. 35 |
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| 50 | 50 | | 3. No award for damages on any claim against a public 36 |
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| 51 | 51 | | entity within the scope of sections 537.600 to 537.650, 37 |
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| 52 | 52 | | shall include punitive or exemplary d amages. 38 |
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| 53 | 53 | | 4. If the amount awarded to or settled upon multiple 39 |
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| 54 | 54 | | claimants exceeds two million dollars, any party may apply 40 |
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| 55 | 55 | | to any circuit court to apportion to each claimant his 41 |
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| 56 | 56 | | proper share of the total amount limited by subsection 1 of 42 |
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| 57 | 57 | | this section. The share apportioned each claimant shall be 43 |
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| 58 | 58 | | in the proportion that the ratio of the award or settlement 44 |
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| 59 | 59 | | made to him bears to the aggregate awards and settlements 45 |
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| 60 | 60 | | for all claims arising out of the accident or occurrence, 46 |
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| 61 | 61 | | but the share shall not exc eed three hundred thousand 47 |
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| 62 | 62 | | dollars. 48 |
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| 63 | 63 | | 5. The limitation on awards for liability provided for 49 |
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| 64 | 64 | | in this section shall be increased or decreased on an annual 50 SB 454 3 |
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| 65 | 65 | | basis effective January first of each year in accordance 51 |
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| 66 | 66 | | with the Implicit Price Deflator for Personal Consumption 52 |
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| 67 | 67 | | Expenditures as published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis 53 |
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| 68 | 68 | | of the United States Department of Commerce. The current 54 |
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| 69 | 69 | | value of the limitation shall be calculated by the director 55 |
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| 70 | 70 | | of the department of commerce and insurance, who sha ll 56 |
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| 71 | 71 | | furnish that value to the secretary of state, who shall 57 |
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| 72 | 72 | | publish such value in the Missouri Register as soon after 58 |
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| 73 | 73 | | each January first as practicable, but it shall otherwise be 59 |
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| 74 | 74 | | exempt from the provisions of section 536.021. 60 |
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| 75 | 75 | | 6. Any claim filed against any public entity under 61 |
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| 76 | 76 | | this section shall be subject to the penalties provided by 62 |
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| 77 | 77 | | supreme court rule 55.03, or any successor rule. 63 |
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| 78 | 78 | | |
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