Sponsor withdraws Arkansas retrofit bill after committee questions over funding, distribution and oversight

Summary

Sen. Justin Boyd introduced Senate Bill 179 to fund home retrofits to the IBHS Fortified standard with $10 million from premium tax collections and $2 million for administration. Committee members raised questions about eligibility, geographic distribution, contractor certification and the fiscal impact; Boyd withdrew the bill to rework details.

Senator Justin Boyd presented Senate Bill 179 — branded in testimony as the Strengthen Arkansas Homes Act — to the Arkansas Senate Insurance & Commerce Committee as a grant program to retrofit dwellings to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) Fortified standard, funded by premium-tax revenue. After extended questioning from committee members about eligibility, fund distribution and oversight, Boyd told the committee, “I’m pulling it down,” and said he would rework the proposal.

The bill as introduced would direct $10,000,000 from premium-tax collections to grants for home mitigation and up to $2,000,000 for program administration, according to testimony. Brian Powell of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) described the model as a grant program that pays for retrofits certified to IBHS standards and said post-mitigation claims assessments show substantial reductions in loss: “we're seeing that the reduction of loss ... around 67%,” Powell said. The program would generate a certificate from IBHS that could trigger insurer premium discounts.

Committee members pressed the sponsor and witnesses on several operational points the bill text did not specify. Senator…

Sponsor withdraws Arkansas retrofit bill after committee questions over funding, distribution and oversight

Summary

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