NH Insurance Commissioner details $15.5M budget, $2.6M industry credit and proposes homeowner resiliency grants

D.J. Betancourt, commissioner of the New Hampshire Insurance Department, told the House Finance, Division I panel that the department’s total budget request is about $15,500,000 and that the agency is entirely self‑funded by an assessment on insurance companies doing business in New Hampshire.

Betancourt said the state’s assessed funding is calculated as a pro rata share of premium written in New Hampshire and that ‘‘the total amount of premiums written’’ in the state is ‘‘over $8,000,000,000.’’ He told members that because New Hampshire represents a very small share of the national market the department seeks to work collaboratively with industry.

Why it matters: the funding and staffing choices the department makes affect both regulator capacity and the size of the annual assessment charged to insurers; Betancourt said careful budgeting produced a one‑time credit to carriers and also informed several staffing decisions.

Key budget details and vacancy practice

Betancourt said the department has 88 authorized positions and currently 8 vacancies. He told the committee that, following a request from the governor to present a budget reflecting a 4% reduction in expenditures, the department ‘‘unfunded 3 full time positions’’ (positions remain authorized but without funding). He also described last year’s end‑of‑year result as a department credit to industry: ‘‘we were able to … a rebate back to industry last year of about $2,600,000.0,’’ a credit the department applies against next year’s assessment.

The commissioner said personnel costs have risen because the department has filled positions needed for succession planning and subject‑matter expertise, and because of normal compensation and benefit trends. He noted the department’s staff include a legislative director (Jennifer Smith), an assistant commissioner (Jason Dexter), a business director (Ted Perkins) and the tax unit director (Amy Duham).

How the assessment and taxes fit together

Betancourt and tax unit director Amy Duham explained the distinction between the insurance premium tax (which they said flows to the state general fund) and the department assessment that funds the Insurance Department’s operations. Duham told the committee there are about 1,300 licensed companies that receive the assessment notice each September, and that the assessment is calculated from the estimated amount of premium that will be written in New Hampshire.

Commissioner Betancourt described the assessment mechanic this way: the department estimates a budget (for example $15,000,000), divides that by the estimated premium base (about $8 billion) and charges carriers a pro rata percentage; if the department spends less than budgeted, the unused amount is credited to carriers the following year.

House Bill 2 filings, Granite State Home Resiliency and Mitigation Fund

Betancourt described a separate policy proposal the department filed during the legislative session: the Granite State Home Resiliency and Mitigation Fund. He said legislative leadership asked his office to seek policy review in Commerce rather than include the program directly in House Bill 2; as a result the proposal currently sits with the House Commerce Committee.

Under the department’s proposal the fund would be seeded with a portion of insurance premium tax receipts and grant homeowners up to $10,000 per eligible project, on a means‑tested, first‑come, first‑served basis. Projects would be designed to reduce underwriting risk (examples Betancourt gave included tree removal that presents a wind risk and partial roof repairs). He said the department had proposed retaining $1,000,000 of IPT revenue for the fund and would cap grants at $10,000 per household; he also said the program was not intended to raise taxes or assessments and would require no new staffing in the department as drafted. Betancourt said Commerce is still vetting the policy and the department is open to authorizing the program without state funding so the vehicle is ready if federal funds become available.

Committee action

During discussion on the agency budget the House Finance division moved to remove the three unfunded positions from the Insurance Department block in House Bill 1 and to record the three position numbers; the motion was seconded and approved by show of hands with a unanimous vote as recorded at the hearing. The committee directed staff to provide the specific position numbers before the end of the day.

What was not decided or remains unclear

Betancourt said the department proposed, but did not obtain in the governor’s budget, authority to retain a portion of enforcement fines to offset enforcement costs. He also said the size of any future credit to carriers will depend on actual spending and cannot be predicted in advance. Several committee members asked for additional detail on how the rebate interacts with the department’s FY‑25 numbers; staff agreed to provide further documentation of the three unfunded positions and the assessment calculation.

Ending

Betancourt closed by offering to provide additional materials and to answer follow‑up questions from the division. He emphasized the department’s objective of balancing regulatory capacity with sensitivity to the state’s insurance market.