Committee reviews cleanup bill shifting State Fire Marshal duties to Insurance Department, queries fireworks fee distribution

The State and Local Government Committee reopened the hearing on Senate Bill 2090 to update statutory language after the State Fire Marshal's office moved from the Attorney General’s Office to the Insurance Department.

The measure is “pretty much a cleanup bill,” an Insurance Department representative told the committee, outlining changes that modernize fireworks and hazardous‑materials language, remove an unused inspection fee, update federal reporting references and move some form distribution online. The department testified the measure also redirects a fireworks application fee into the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund rather than the general fund to keep accounting aligned after the transfer.

Why it matters: the bill affects how fees tied to fireworks and certain inspections are handled, the administrative home of the fire marshal, and how the office complies with federal fire reporting systems — items that influence revenue flows to state funds and practical inspection duties.

What the bill does: the department representative summarized each section for the committee. Section 1 updates language related to fireworks and hazardous materials. Section 2 removes authority to charge a fee for inspections of facilities licensed by the Department of Human Services; the presenter said fire‑marshal inspections tied to childcare licensing “they've never charged” for and the provision is being eliminated as unnecessary. Section 3 authorizes the fire marshal to update reporting requirements when federal systems change. Section 4 removes the requirement to distribute printed blank reports because those forms now reside online. Section 5 changes how the fireworks application fee is processed, directing the fee to the insurance regulatory trust fund instead of the general fund. Section 6 removes a now‑redundant Attorney General appointment reference from the code. Section 7 repeals two sections in title 18 that required billing small amounts for inspections, an effort the presenter described as inefficient.

Committee discussion concentrated on fee distribution. Lawmakers asked where money collected for fireworks — a $250 wholesale fee and a $25 fee collected at individual stands — is going now and whether it historically flowed to rural fire departments. One senator said the $250 was originally intended to support primarily volunteer rural fire departments and asked whether the change returned the funds to the general fund. The Insurance Department witness said the department handles the $250 from wholesalers and the $25 on stands is routed to the location of the stand, but the witness could not provide a definitive accounting on the historical intent and promised to follow up: “I will get you the answer to that question.”

Committee members suggested possible fixes: drafting an amendment that would create a fund inside the Insurance Department to distribute the $250 fee to local fire departments, potentially modeled on how the $25 fee is distributed. One senator recommended distributing the $250 proportionally based on the locations of retailers; others urged caution because sales and where funds are spent do not always coincide and equitable grant processes might be preferable.

Other details raised during testimony: the presenter said the Insurance Department returned roughly $6,000,000 to the general fund in the last biennium and noted that the department had charged the Department of Environmental Quality $3,779 since the transfer for inspection billing — an amount the presenter described as administratively inefficient.

No committee vote was recorded on SB 2090 during the hearing; the committee closed the hearing after members asked the department to provide follow‑up information about the intended and current distribution of fireworks fees and about drafting potential amendment language.

Ending: Committee staff were asked to help draft amendment language if the committee decides to redirect the $250 fee into a trust or distribution mechanism for local fire departments. The insurance department representative agreed to provide the committee with the requested accounting and background on how those fees have been handled historically.