MONTPELIER, Vt. — Lawmakers on the Commerce & Economic Development committee heard testimony Jan. 15 on H.648, the Department of Financial Regulation's annual housekeeping bill, which would make technical updates to statutes governing insurers, banks and credit unions.

Jamie Fien, speaking for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, highlighted four insurer-focused revisions in the bill: Section 44 would allow mutual insurers that reorganize into a mutual insurance holding company to continue using the word “mutual” in their name; Section 45 clarifies that insurers must file quarterly statements with the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR); Section 47 updates the Insurance Trade Practices Act to address unfair discrimination and protected classes; and Section 57 relocates language about the insurance supervisory/regulatory fund without substantive change. “So we support that,” Fien said of the package of changes, adding that the quarterly statements are already common practice and that the statutes appear to be filling omissions rather than imposing new requirements.

Chris Delia, president of the Vermont Bankers Association, told the committee many of the banking-related edits are technical and supported by his membership. “We reached consensus, and that's the language that's before you today,” Delia said, praising the association's work with DFR on governance and loan-authority language.

Carrie Allen, president of the Association of Vermont Credit Unions, said the proposed modernizations align state statute with federal practice and give credit unions flexibility to innovate. “We are very pleased to see these move forward,” Allen said, noting Vermont has 14 credit unions, “soon to be 13.”

The bill also addresses how DFR handles fees and assessments it collects. Fien described the annual transfer of excess balances from the insurance supervisory/regulatory fund to the state's general fund as “pretty sizable,” but the testimony did not provide a dollar figure. Committee members said fee-related provisions mean H.648 will be referred to the House Ways and Means Committee; the chair said she had alerted relevant chairs and expected the bill to reach the floor next week.

No formal votes or amendments were taken during this hearing. Committee members thanked DFR staff and the trade associations for their work on the language and indicated a relatively smooth path to floor consideration.

Next steps: the committee will transmit the bill to Ways and Means because it contains fee provisions; floor scheduling was expected in the coming week.