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Appropriations panel approves fee increases and sends House Bill 1123 to the floor
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee voted to advance House Bill 1123 after adopting committee changes that raise multiple insurance licensing and producer fees and leave the insurance regulatory trust fund reserve limit at its prior level.
Representative Jonathan Warray, chair of the House Industry, Business and Labor Committee, told the Appropriations Committee that House Bill 1123 updates long-unchanged insurance licensing fees and producer appointment charges.
Warray introduced the bill to Appropriations and said the measure “addresses outdated fees for 2 areas, company licensing and producer licensing.”
The bill raises the combined filing fees companies pay (certificate of authority, annual statement and abstract) from $155 to $300, which Warray said he estimates will generate about $130,000 in additional revenue per biennium. On the producer side, the committee amended a larger increase: the appointment fee would rise from $10 to $25, which the committee estimated would generate roughly $1.3 million more per biennium. The committee also included increases to various smaller filing and renewal fees and standardized fee language. The committee amendment reduced several originally larger increases after stakeholder discussion, Warray said.
John Godfried, insurance commissioner, explained why the bill also proposes changing the insurance regulatory trust fund reserve. “That $1,400,000 payment that goes out to the NDFA comes out in August,” Godfried said, describing an annual timing shortfall that leaves the fund briefly in deficit each year. Deputy Commissioner John Arnold told the panel the shortfall has been as large as “about 1,700,000 down” in the worst months.
Committee members debated an IBNL amendment that would raise the reserve limit from $1,000,000 to $2,500,000. Several members questioned whether the change was necessary since the department said the timing issue was short-lived and the bill’s fee increases would largely offset the cash-flow gap. Representative Munson moved to strip the section that raised the reserve and return the reserve limit to $1,000,000; that motion carried on a roll call. Representative Kempenek then moved a due-pass recommendation for HB 1123 as amended; the committee approved the bill as amended and selected Representative Meyer as the bill carrier to the floor.
The bill package also clarified refund timing for overpayments, setting a two-year expiration for refund claims and giving discretion to the commissioner. The committee recorded that the insurance regulatory trust fund had turned back $3.8 million to the general fund in FY2024 and estimated a similar turnback for FY2025.
Action on HB 1123 now moves to the full House with the committee’s amendment stripping the reserve increase and retaining the fee adjustments.
