Bill Text: TX SB2305 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to certain functions of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and a study regarding a merger of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan; authorizing a penalty.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-05-21 - Placed on General State Calendar [SB2305 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-SB2305-Comm_Sub.html

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86R30838 JES-F
By: Taylor S.B. No. 2305
(Bonnen of Galveston)
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 2305: No.

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain functions of the Texas Windstorm Insurance
Association and a study regarding a merger of the Texas Windstorm
Insurance Association and the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements
Plan; authorizing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2210.251(g), Insurance Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(g) A certificate of compliance issued by the department [or
association] under Section 2210.2515 demonstrates compliance with
the applicable building code under the plan of operation. The
certificate is evidence of insurability of the structure by the
association.
SECTION 2. Section 2210.2515, Insurance Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (c) and (e) and adding Subsections (i) and (j)
to read as follows:
(c) A person may apply to the department [association] on a
form prescribed by the department for a certificate of compliance
for a completed improvement. Except as provided by Subsection (e),
the department [The association] shall issue a certificate of
compliance for a completed improvement if a professional engineer
licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers inspects the
completed improvement in accordance with commissioner rule and
affirms the improvement complies [:
[(1) has designed the improvement, has affixed the
engineer's seal on the design, and submits to the association on a
form prescribed by the department an affirmation of compliance]
with the applicable building code under the plan of operation and,
if a design of the completed improvement affixed with the seal of a
licensed professional engineer was submitted, that the improvement
conforms to the design[; or
[(2) completes a sealed post-construction evaluation
report that confirms compliance with the applicable building code
under the plan of operation].
(e) Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, the
department may not issue a certificate of compliance under
Subsection (c) or (d) if within six months after the date of the
final inspection of the structure that is the subject of the
application, the department has not received:
(1) fully completed forms prescribed by the department
demonstrating that the improvement satisfies the requirements
under Subsection (c) or Subsection (d)(1) or (2), as applicable;
and
(2) payment in full of all inspection fees, including
fees for prior department inspections, owed to the department.
(i) The department may rescind a certificate of compliance
issued under this section if the department finds that the
certificate was improperly issued.
(j) If the department finds that a professional engineer has
failed to provide complete and accurate information in connection
with an application for a certificate of compliance under this
section, the department may submit a formal complaint to the Texas
Board of Professional Engineers recommending license revocation.
If the Texas Board of Professional Engineers finds that the
engineer provided complete and accurate information in connection
with the application for a certificate of compliance, the
department may not refuse to issue the certificate of compliance
solely on the basis of that engineer's conduct.
SECTION 3. Subchapter H, Chapter 2210, Insurance Code, is
amended by adding Section 2210.3511 to read as follows:
Sec. 2210.3511. PUBLIC ACCESS TO RATE ADEQUACY ANALYSIS.
(a) The association shall make the association's rate adequacy
analysis publicly available on its Internet website for at least 14
days before the date the board of directors votes on the submission
of a proposed rate filing based on the analysis to the department.
The rate adequacy analysis must include:
(1) all user selected hurricane model input
assumptions; and
(2) output data:
(A) with the same content and in the same format
that is customarily provided to:
(i) the association by hurricane modelers;
and
(ii) the department by the association; and
(B) in a searchable electronic format that allows
for efficient analysis and is sufficiently detailed to allow the
historical experience in this state to be compared to results
produced by the model.
(b) The association shall accept public comment with
respect to the association's rate adequacy analysis at a public
meeting of the board of directors before the board of directors
votes on the submission of a proposed rate filing to the department.
SECTION 4. (a) The windstorm insurance legislative
oversight board established under Subchapter N, Chapter 2210,
Insurance Code, shall conduct a study to evaluate a merger of the
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association established under Chapter
2210, Insurance Code, and the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements
Plan established under Chapter 2211, Insurance Code.
(b) The evaluation must consider:
(1) the affordability and availability of windstorm
and hail insurance throughout this state and, in particular, in the
seacoast territory as defined by Section 2210.003, Insurance Code;
(2) the affordability and availability of residential
property insurance throughout this state and, in particular, in
underserved areas as defined by Section 2211.001, Insurance Code;
(3) the advisability of merging the Texas Windstorm
Insurance Association and the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements
Plan to provide windstorm and hail and residential property
insurance in this state;
(4) any efficiencies or inefficiencies from a merger
of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and the Fair Access to
Insurance Requirements Plan;
(5) the funding necessary to ensure that windstorm and
hail and residential property insurance are available after the
merger of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and the Fair
Access to Insurance Requirements Plan; and
(6) any other items the windstorm insurance
legislative oversight board determines are relevant to a merger of
the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and the Fair Access to
Insurance Requirements Plan.
(c) Not later than January 1, 2021, the windstorm insurance
legislative oversight board shall submit to the governor, the
lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives,
and the Texas Department of Insurance a written report of the study
conducted under this section. The report must include the findings
and legislative recommendations of the board.
(d) This section expires January 1, 2022.
SECTION 5. Section 2210.2515(f), Insurance Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 6. (a) Section 2210.251(g), Insurance Code, as
amended by this Act, does not affect the status of a certificate of
compliance issued by the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association
before January 1, 2019, or after January 1, 2019, in response to an
application made before that date for purposes of establishing
evidence of insurability.
(b) Section 2210.2515, Insurance Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to an application for a certificate of compliance
made on or after January 1, 2020. An application for a certificate
of compliance made before January 1, 2020, is governed by the law as
it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(c) Section 2210.3511, Insurance Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a rate adequacy analysis made in relation to a rate
filing made on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.