Tennessee: Governor Signs Insurance Legislation

Gov. Phil Bredesen signed SB 2082, the mutual tax correction bill, last week, restoring the county mutual tax “offset” for certain investments within the state. The “offset” language was inadvertently removed when the Tennessee County Mutual Insurance Company Act of 2006 was enacted last year.

Now that the bill has been signed into law, it is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2007.

Liz Reynolds, NAMIC's southeast state affairs manager, worked with House bill sponsor Rep. John Litz and David Braam, legislative director for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, to shepherd the legislation through the process. “We had to get the bill out from ‘behind the budget’ when it got bogged down in the House Finance Committee,” Reynolds said. “Once the committee and subcommittee chairs understood that there was no real fiscal impact and that county mutuals needed a timely resolution to this problem, they sent the bill on for passage.”

Another bill of interest signed by the Tennessee governor last week is SB 2169, which authorizes the insurance commissioner to assess a civil penalty of up to $5,000 against an insurance company for each separate violation of a statute, rule, or order, unless another civil penalty amount is specifically provided for in the applicable statue, rule, or order.

“SB 2169 provides the department with an ‘in-between’ level of enforcement that did not exist before,” Reynolds said. “The insurance industry in Tennessee worked with the Department of Commerce and Insurance to develop language that was acceptable to all parties.”

Direct questions to NAMIC State Affairs Manager Liz Reynolds.

Posted: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Tuesday, June 12, 2007 11:01:37 AM.

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We are 1,400 property/casualty insurance companies serving more than 135 million auto, home and business policyholders, with more than $196 billion in premiums accounting for 50 percent of the automobile/homeowners market and 31 percent of the business insurance market. We are the largest and most diverse property/casualty trade association in the country, with regional and local mutual insurance companies on main streets across America joining many of the country’s largest national insurers who also call NAMIC their home. More than 200,000 people are employed by NAMIC members.