Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Teacher Liability Insurance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lawmakers hear request to subsidize optional teacher professional-liability insurance
Summary
A lawmaker asked the committee to approve a one-time appropriation to help subsidize optional professional-liability policies teachers may purchase under House Bill 267; the requested amount was roughly $795,000 and the program would be opt-in and administered by the Division of Risk Management.
Representative John Tesher (sponsor) presented a request for appropriations to the General Government Appropriations Subcommittee asking the Legislature to subsidize teacher professional-liability insurance that would be offered as an opt-in policy to educators.
"There's a bill ... House Bill 267, that deals with public sector labor unions," Tesher said, and he explained that one component of the bill tasks the Division of Risk Management to procure an outside policy teachers could opt into for narrow professional-liability coverage in classroom or licensing disputes. Tesher asked for a one-time request for appropriations (RFA) of approximately $795,000 to help offset teacher premiums.
Rachel Terry, director of the Division of Risk Management, told the committee that state risk management already provides property, auto and liability insurance that covers the employer side for employment, civil-rights and personal-injury litigation. "If an educator is sued by a parent for something that happens in the course and scope of their employment, risk management handles that," Terry said. She emphasized that the proposed policy would address a narrower set of exposures — professional liability or licensing and employment disputes where the employee needs representation separate from the employer's insurer.
Terry said four policy levels were available from the market, with annual premiums ranging roughly from $75 to $170 and that the division's market research suggested an appropriate policy would cost about $140 to $150 per educator per year. The program is intended to be opt-in, administered through an outside broker and scalable depending on how much the state chooses to subsidize.
Tesher said other states have offered similar programs; he cited market uptake of roughly 35% in comparable programs and used 30,000 Utah teachers as an example to estimate costs at higher take-up rates. He described the appropriation as a one-time request that could be evaluated in subsequent years.
Representative Cutler asked whether the Attorney General's Office already covers most employment and licensing disputes; Terry clarified that risk management covers the employer's defense, and that a separate policy is intended to avoid conflicts when the employee is separately represented or disciplined by the licensing board.
Ending: The committee heard questions and signaled they would consider the RFA; no vote or formal committee action was recorded at the hearing.
