Bill Text: NH HB1489 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishing a committee to study the establishment of a fund to reimburse costs associated with firefighters who have cancer.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2014-07-17 - Signed by the Governor on 7/11/2014; Chapter 0182; Effective date 7/11/2014. [HB1489 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2014-HB1489-Introduced.html
HB 1489-FN-A-LOCAL – AS INTRODUCED
2014 SESSION
01/10
HOUSE BILL 1489-FN-A-LOCAL
AN ACT establishing a fund to reimburse costs associated with firefighters who have heart, lung, and cancer disease and continually appropriating a special fund.
SPONSORS: Rep. Pantelakos, Rock 25; Rep. Charron, Rock 4; Rep. McCarthy, Hills 29; Rep. O'Hearne, Sull 3; Sen. Reagan, Dist 17; Sen. Soucy, Dist 18
This bill establishes a fund to reimburse costs associated with firefighters who have heart, lung, and cancer disease. The fund shall consist of moneys from an annual assessment to be assessed by the insurance commissioner against each carrier and self-insurer issuing homeowners and business insurance policies.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
14-2369
01/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT establishing a fund to reimburse costs associated with firefighters who have heart, lung, and cancer disease and continually appropriating a special fund.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Firefighters With Heart, Lung, and Cancer Disease; Fund Established. Amend RSA 281-A:17 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
III.(a) There is hereby established in the office of the state treasurer a fund to be known as the firefighters with heart, lung, and cancer disease fund which shall be kept separate and distinct from all other funds. All moneys in such fund shall be nonlapsing and continually appropriated to the commissioner to be used for the sole purpose of reimbursing costs associated with medical physicals and additional costs in workers’ compensation coverage for such firefighters. The fund shall consist of moneys from an annual assessment by the commissioner against each carrier and self-insurer issuing homeowners and business insurance policies. The assessment shall commence as soon as practicable after July 1, 2014. The commissioner shall establish the amount of the assessment to produce the minimum amount necessary to carry out the purposes of this paragraph; provided that the assessment shall not exceed ˝ of one percent of all commercial and residential insurance policies paid during the previous calendar year. All moneys from the assessment shall be transferred to the state treasurer for deposit into the fund.
(b) The state treasurer shall disburse moneys from the fund only upon written order of the commissioner. The commissioner shall disburse moneys from the fund to the political subdivisions of this state and to the public risk pools covered under RSA 5-B. Costs of administering the fund, including actuarial or accounting costs, shall be a charge against the fund.
(c) The commissioner shall conserve the assets of the fund. The attorney general shall appoint an employee of the department of justice to represent the fund in all proceedings brought to enforce claims against the fund.
(d) The commissioner shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to the proper administration of the fund.
2 New Subparagraph; Rulemaking Added. Amend RSA 281-A:60, I by inserting after subparagraph (aa) the following new subparagraph:
(bb) The administration of the fund established in RSA 281-A:17, III.
3 New Subparagraph; Special Fund Added. Amend RSA 6:12, I(b) by inserting after subparagraph (316) the following new subparagraph:
(317) Moneys deposited into the firefighters with heart, lung, and cancer disease fund, established in RSA 281-A:17, III.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
LBAO
14-2369
12/03/13
HB 1489-FN-A-LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing a fund to reimburse costs associated with firefighters who have heart, lung, and cancer disease and continually appropriating a special fund.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Departments of Labor and Justice state this bill, as introduced, will have an indeterminable fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue and expenditures in FY 2015 and each year thereafter.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Labor states this bill establishes a fund to reimburse costs associated with firefighters who have heart, lung and cancer disease. The Department states it cannot determine the impact of this bill because the costs to be reimbursed are not defined, and the bill does not specify what the assessments that will go into the fund should be based upon, such as claims paid, premium paid or some other factor.
The Department of Justice states this bill would require the attorney general to appoint an employee of the Department to represent the fund in all proceedings brought to enforce claims against the fund. The Department has no information on how many enforcement claims against the fund would be generated or if any of these cases would be appealed to determine the fiscal impact of this bill.
