Bill Text: CT HB05381 | 2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: An Act Imposing A Surcharge On Certain Personal Risk Insurance Policies To Fund Regional Fire Schools' Operating Budgets And Certain Firefighter Training Costs.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-22 - Change of Reference, Senate to Committee on Appropriations [HB05381 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2018-HB05381-Introduced.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 5381
February Session, 2018		LCO No. 1743
		*01743_______INS*
Referred to Committee on INSURANCE AND REAL ESTATE
Introduced by:
(INS)

AN ACT IMPOSING A SURCHARGE ON CERTAIN PERSONAL RISK INSURANCE POLICIES TO FUND REGIONAL FIRE SCHOOLS' OPERATING BUDGETS AND CERTAIN FIREFIGHTER TRAINING COSTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2018) (a) Each insurance company that issues, renews, amends or endorses a homeowners or renters insurance policy on or after July 1, 2018, shall remit to the Insurance Commissioner a surcharge, not later than January thirty-first annually, at the rate of one-half of one per cent, on the net direct premiums received by such company during the calendar year next preceding from such policies written on property or risks located or resident in this state. Any such remittances collected shall be deposited in the Connecticut Fire Safety Fund established pursuant to section 2 of this act. As used in this subsection, "net direct premiums" has the same meaning as provided in section 12-201 of the general statutes.

(b) Each such insurance company shall include with such remittance, in a form and manner prescribed by the commissioner, documentation to substantiate the surcharge amount remitted.

(c) Any insurance company aggrieved by the surcharge levied under this section may appeal therefrom to the superior court for the judicial district of New Britain.

Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2018) (a) (1) There is established an account to be known as the "Connecticut Fire Safety Fund" which shall be a separate, nonlapsing account within the General Fund. The account shall contain any moneys required by law to be deposited in the account. Moneys in the account shall be expended by the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection in the following order:

(A) To fund the operating budgets of regional fire schools established pursuant to section 7-323u of the general statutes; and

(B) To fund training costs and fees for Firefighter I certification of paid and volunteer municipal firefighters, provided (i) the municipality, fire department, fire company or fire district requesting such funds requires its firefighters to submit to criminal background checks, and (ii) such firefighters have passed such criminal background checks. Such training costs and fees shall not include any costs associated with such criminal background checks.

(2) Any moneys remaining in the account shall be expended to offset the costs of other firefighter training programs, including, but not limited to, Firefighter II certification and fire operations.

(b) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall establish (1) the form and manner of (A) submission of proposed operating budgets by regional fire schools, and (B) submission of funding requests for the costs and fees specified under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section and the costs specified under subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section, (2) expenditure reporting requirements for regional fire schools, municipalities, fire departments, fire companies and fire districts that receive moneys from the Connecticut Fire Safety Fund in the applicable fiscal year, and (3) a methodology or system for determining the distribution of moneys for the costs and fees specified under subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section and the costs specified under subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section.

(c) As used in this section, "municipality" means any town, city, borough, consolidated town and city or consolidated town and borough.

(d) The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes, to implement the provisions of this section.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2018	New section
Sec. 2	July 1, 2018	New section

Statement of Purpose:

To impose a surcharge on the net direct premiums of homeowners and renters insurance policies written by insurance companies, on property or risks located or resident in this state, to fund the operating budgets of regional fire schools, certain training costs and fees and purchases of fire equipment.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]