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Texas House Bill HB3496

Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3496 Compare Versions

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1-H.B. No. 3496
1+By: Shine (Senate Sponsor - Kolkhorst) H.B. No. 3496
2+ (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 2017;
3+ May 8, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Business &
4+ Commerce; May 17, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:
5+ Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 17, 2017, sent to printer.)
6+Click here to see the committee vote
27
38
9+ A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
410 AN ACT
5- relating to farm mutual insurance companies.
11+ relating to voting procedures for policyholders of farm mutual
12+ insurance companies.
613 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
7- SECTION 1. Section 221.001, Insurance Code, is amended by
8- amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
9- follows:
10- (b) This chapter does not apply to:
11- (1) a fraternal benefit society, including a fraternal
12- benefit society operating under Chapter 885;
13- (2) a group hospital service corporation operating
14- under Chapter 842;
15- (3) a stipulated premium company operating under
16- Chapter 884;
17- (4) a mutual assessment association, company, or
18- corporation regulated under Chapter 887; [or]
19- (5) a purely cooperative or mutual fire insurance
20- company carried on by its members solely for the protection of their
21- own property and not for profit, except as provided by Section
22- 221.002(b)(13); or
23- (6) a farm mutual insurance company operating under
24- Chapter 911, unless the company is acting as a fronting insurer.
25- (c) In this section, "fronting insurer" means a farm mutual
26- insurance company:
27- (1) issuing an insurance policy that is the result of:
28- (A) marketing by an insurer not affiliated with
29- the farm mutual insurance company;
30- (B) an application submitted by a consumer to an
31- insurer not affiliated with the farm mutual insurance company; or
32- (C) an agreement with an insurer that is not a
33- farm mutual insurance company solely for the purpose of being
34- regulated under Chapter 911; or
35- (2) that cedes 85 percent or more of the farm mutual
36- insurance company's direct written premium to one or more
37- nonaffiliated reinsurers.
38- SECTION 2. Section 252.005, Insurance Code, is amended to
39- read as follows:
40- Sec. 252.005. EXCEPTION. This chapter does not apply to:
41- (1) a farm mutual insurance company operating under
42- Chapter 911, unless the company is acting as a fronting insurer as
43- defined by Section 221.001(c); or
44- (2) a mutual insurance company engaged in business
45- under Chapter 12, Title 78, Revised Statutes, before that chapter's
46- repeal by Section 18, Chapter 40, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 1st
47- Called Session, 1929, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 60, General
48- Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929, that
49- retains the rights and privileges under the repealed law to the
50- extent provided by those sections.
51- SECTION 3. Section 911.065, Insurance Code, is amended by
14+ SECTION 1. Section 911.065, Insurance Code, is amended by
5215 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
5316 (c) A farm mutual insurance company may provide in its
5417 constitution or bylaws that a policyholder may vote electronically
5518 or by mail without making a personal appearance at a policyholders'
5619 meeting.
57- SECTION 4. Section 2210.006(b), Insurance Code, is amended
58- to read as follows:
59- (b) This chapter does not apply to:
60- (1) a farm mutual insurance company operating under
61- Chapter 911, unless the company is acting as a fronting insurer, as
62- defined by Section 221.001(c);
63- (2) a nonaffiliated county mutual fire insurance
64- company described by Section 912.310 that is writing exclusively
65- industrial fire insurance policies as described by Section
66- 912.310(a)(2); or
67- (3) a mutual insurance company or a statewide mutual
68- assessment company engaged in business under Chapter 12 or 13,
69- Title 78, Revised Statutes, respectively, before those chapters'
70- repeal by Section 18, Chapter 40, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 1st
71- Called Session, 1929, as amended by Section 1, Chapter 60, General
72- Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929, that
73- retains the rights and privileges under the repealed law to the
74- extent provided by those sections.
75- SECTION 5. (a) Sections 221.001 and 252.005, Insurance
76- Code, as amended by this Act, do not affect tax liability accruing
77- before the 2017 calendar year. That liability continues in effect
78- as if this Act had not been enacted, and the former law is continued
79- in effect for the collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal
80- enforcement of the liability for those taxes.
81- (b) Section 2210.006(b), Insurance Code, as amended by this
82- Act, applies only to participation in the Texas Windstorm Insurance
83- Association on or after the effective date of this Act, including
84- the payment of assessments the liability for which accrues on or
85- after that date. Participation in the Texas Windstorm Insurance
86- Association before the effective date of this Act, including the
87- payment of assessments the liability for which accrued before that
88- date, is governed by the law as it existed immediately before that
89- date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
90- SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
91- ______________________________ ______________________________
92- President of the Senate Speaker of the House
93- I certify that H.B. No. 3496 was passed by the House on May 4,
94- 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not
95- voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
96- No. 3496 on May 24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 7,
97- 2 present, not voting.
98- ______________________________
99- Chief Clerk of the House
100- I certify that H.B. No. 3496 was passed by the Senate, with
101- amendments, on May 22, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
102- 0.
103- ______________________________
104- Secretary of the Senate
105- APPROVED: __________________
106- Date
107- __________________
108- Governor
20+ SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
21+ * * * * *