House changes to the bill and the Governor signed the
bill into law.
NEW AGENT FINGERPRINTING
A bill authorizing the Insurance Commissioner to
require fingerprinting of new agent applicants was
signed into law this Session. The KAIA supported this
measure to continue to promote. The Commissioner
would submit the fingerprints to a state and national
criminal history record check. The fingerprints would
be used to identify the applicant and to determine
whether the applicant has a record of criminal arrests
and convictions in Kansas or in other jurisdictions.
As it stands now, the Insurance Department only
conducts a state background check on applicants.
HOUSE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS INTERIM
FOR MOTOR LIABILITY BILL
The House Insurance Committee this session
recommended that the provisions of HB2104 be more
thoroughly studied by a special committee in the
interim session. This bill would prohibit an insurer
from reducing the amount of underinsured motorist
coverage available for a claim by any payment amount
paid by anyone other than the insurer. Also, the bill
would increase the minimum bodily injury limit on
motorist insurance policies from $50,000 to $100,000.
The Legislative Coordinating Council will consider
this request for an interim study and may assign some
time in the summer and fall for a special committee to
study the issue further.
POOL AUDIT BILL BECOMES LAW
House Bill 2043, the bill that amends the audit
requirements for pools, became law this year.
Specifically, the new law eliminates provisions
directing the Insurance Commissioner to conduct an
examination of the affairs and financial condition of
municipal group-funded liability pools and group-
funded workers compensation pools every five years.
Instead, under the bill, the Commissioner is permitted
to conduct these examinations as the Commissioner
deems necessary. The KAIA opposed the bill in 2016
and was successful in killing the bill. However, after
extensive discussions with the Insurance Department,
the Government Affairs Committee voted to remain
neutral on the bill this session.