Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Committee Package topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee of the whole advances package of mostly noncontroversial House bills
Summary
The Senate in committee of the whole adopted committee reports and advanced several House bills, including renaming a state department, technical insurance changes, license-plate legislation and business-law updates.
The Kansas Senate, sitting as the committee of the whole on March 17, adopted committee reports and advanced a package of House bills under the heading of general orders. Senators explained a series of largely noncontroversial measures covering insurance agency structure, fiduciary protections for third-party administrators, professional licensing, specialty license plates, business law updates and regulatory relief for nonmotorized-trailer dealers.
House Bill 23 33: Carried by Senator Dietrich, the bill renames the Kansas Insurance Department to the Kansas Department of Insurance, designates the securities commissioner's office as the Department of Insurance securities division, and makes conforming changes so that statutes referring to the insurance department will be read to reflect the new name. The bill removes the Senate confirmation requirement for the assistant commissioner, who remains appointed by the commissioner of insurance. The bill's effective date was changed to publication in the Kansas Register; proponents included the Kansas Department of Insurance.
House Bill 20 44: Carried by Senator Arca Bridal, the bill amends the Third Party Administrators Act to require separate fiduciary accounts for each payer, prohibit commingling, and require immediate disclosure to the commissioner of a bankruptcy filing by an administrator (the committee amended the timing language to require notice at the time the filing is made). The intent is to protect payer funds and facilitate transfer of funds if an administrator files for bankruptcy.
House Bill 20 49: Carried by Senator Dietrich, the bill aligns factors applied to denials, suspensions and revocations of insurance agents' and public adjusters' licenses, clarifies response timeframes (the Senate restored 15 business days to respond where the House had reduced it), and preserves hearing rights under the Kansas Administrative Procedure Act.
House Bill 22 01 and House Bill 21 68: Distinctive license-plate bills — HB2201 (FFA plate) and HB2168 (a $50 "blackout" plate with a royalty fee to fund replacement of other specialty plates) were advanced with standard minimums and development-fee mechanics described on the floor.
House Bill 23 71 and House Bill 20 30: HB2371 updates the Kansas Revised Limited Liability Company Act with definitions for electronic documents and electronic signatures and streamlines series LLC registrations. HB2030 exempts dealers and manufacturers of nonmotorized trailers from certain provisions of the vehicle dealers and manufacturers licensing act (excluding semi trailers and travel trailers), aligning regulation with industry practices.
Most bills were described on the floor as having negligible or no fiscal impact to the state, and proponents included state agencies and trade associations. The committee reports were adopted and the bills were reported favorably for passage to the full Senate.
