LEGISLATION
WHAT CAN INSURANCE AGENTS EXPECT IN THE 2022 LEGISLATIVE SESSION ?
By : Dan Murray
LEGISLATURE CONVENES JANUARY 10 , 2022 The Kansas Legislature convenes for its 2022 regular session on Monday , January 10th . The 2021 legislative session was marked by the state ’ s response to the COVID-19 pandemic . While we expect the legislature will continue to address issues related to the pandemic , it appears legislators are looking to get back on track with a more traditional session .
That said , the 2020 special session and 2021 regular session were marked with efforts to address COVID-19 liability protections . Large bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate passed bills that created and amended laws regarding the governmental response to the coronavirus pandemic in Kansas . The main provisions covered Healthcare Provider Immunity , Business Liability , and Product Liability . KAIA expects these efforts will be affirmed or protected in the 2022 session as new COVID variants emerge .
All statewide offices , including the Governor ’ s office and 125 House of Representative seats , are up for election in 2022 . This fact will undoubtedly color the politics of the 2022 session . Traditionally , in similar election years , the legislature tends to move quickly and avoid a protracted session . A prolonged session prevents legislators from returning to their districts and beginning their efforts for re-election . And re-election in this coming year is notably impacted by the legislature ’ s task to redraw legislative district lines . The every-10-year-requirement means that the legislature will spend significant time redistricting Congressional and state legislative districts in the 2022 session , which will undoubtedly impact all significant political votes legislators make .
In other news , state revenues continue to outpace the projections made considering the pandemic . In November , the Consensus Revenue Estimating Group ( CRE ) predicted the current fiscal year would see a $ 1.3 billion increase in tax revenues over its estimate from the same time a year ago . The predicted jump in revenues in the current fiscal year means the state ’ s ending balance will be near $ 3 billion . If it holds , this windfall implies that the legislature will likely consider ways to return this unexpected revenue to Kansas taxpayers . At this point , we are aware of two major tax cut proposals : 1 ) a reduction or elimination of the sales tax on food ; and 2 ) a significant reduction in the corporate income tax .
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES IMPACTING YOUR AGENCY AND CLIENTS
Rebating . After obtaining passage and approval of its producer licensing overhaul , the Kansas Insurance Department appears poised to have a less ambitious legislative agenda .
Outside of the normal annual updates required for accreditation , the insurance department ' s primary goal is to modernize the anti-rebating language in Kansas statutes . While the exact statutory language is not yet known , we know the Insurance Department ' s starting point is the NAIC Model Rebating Law and its language . KAIA is in ongoing discussions with our GA Committee and the Kansas Insurance Department regarding this language .
Legal Reform . As you will recall , the Kansas Supreme
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