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House panel advances plan to create two insurance‑stabilization enterprises for homeowners
Summary
Sponsors advanced House Bill 13‑02, a two‑enterprise package that would create a program to fund home hardening for hail and a wildfire reinsurance enterprise to stabilize availability of homeowners insurance in Colorado; committee adopted multiple industry negotiated amendments and voted the bill out to Appropriations.
The House Finance Committee voted to advance House Bill 13‑02, a package that creates two new state enterprises intended to stabilize Colorado’s homeowners insurance market by funding home‑hardening grants and a state wildfire reinsurance facility.
Sponsor Representative Brown said the bill establishes a Strengthen Colorado Homes enterprise to fund grants for homeowners to make roofs and other features more resistant to hail and wind. The bill’s second component is a Wildfire Catastrophe Reinsurance Enterprise that would allow insurers to cede a portion of catastrophic wildfire risk to a state facility in exchange for writing policies in higher‑risk areas.
Members heard extensive testimony from county commissioners, the state insurance commissioner, fire district chiefs, nonprofit housing groups, and insurance industry representatives. Supporters — including counties and the state insurance commissioner — said the proposal is a market‑stabilizing approach that mixes mitigation grants with reinsurance capacity to bring insurers back into high‑risk areas. Multiple speakers cited front‑range hail losses and wildfire‑driven availability problems as drivers of skyrocketing premiums and nonrenewals.
Industry witnesses urged changes to board composition, governance, and funding mechanisms; sponsors negotiated a set of amendments during the hearing that reduced fees, removed loss ratio mandates, clarified governance language, and substituted a premium‑based fee model for the initially proposed catastrophe bond funding.
Committee members adopted a package of amendments and voted 9‑4 to advance HB 13‑02 to the Committee on Appropriations with a favorable recommendation. Supporters said the enterprises would fund roof hardening and offer a state reinsurance backstop, while opponents warned about the impact of new fees on policyholders and urged caution.
Ending: The bill now goes to appropriations, with sponsors and industry continuing to negotiate technical details during the legislative process.
