Minn. task force backs Fair Plan feasibility study, keeps 'market of last resort' language after close votes
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Summary
A state task force voted to ask the Minnesota Fair Plan to study offering additional insurance products and to report findings to the legislature, while retaining language that the Fair Plan remain a market of last resort. Members split on how prescriptive the study should be and on who should fund it.
The Homeowners and Commercial Property Insurance Task Force voted Feb. 5 to recommend that the Minnesota Fair Plan "examine the feasibility of offering additional products... to help fill coverage gaps in the market and report its findings to the legislature," adopting amended wording proposed by member Carrie Johnson. The panel also left in a sentence stating the Fair Plan should "continue to recognize that the fair plan is a market of last resort only," after a roll-call vote kept that language 10–2 with one absence.
Why it matters: The recommendation directs the Fair Plan to analyze whether it can offer new products — for example, coverage for affordable multifamily housing and other smaller multiunit properties — and to return substantive findings to the Legislature. Members debated whether the task force should prescribe actuarial detail for that study or leave specifics to the legislative process.
How the discussion unfolded: Carrie Johnson said the original draft was "a little too wordy and too prescriptive" and proposed shorter language making the Fair Plan responsible for examining feasibility and reporting findings to the Legislature. Johnson also added a sentence asking that "the legislature provide the fair plan with sufficient funding to conduct the study, including actuarial research." Supporters of higher-detail direction argued actuarial specifics help ensure industry-relevant analysis; opponents said the legislature and bill drafters would be the proper venue for those technical choices.
On funding, members raised procedural and legal questions about whether the Fair Plan, a quasi-public entity, can accept direct appropriations. One member suggested directing funding to the Department of Commerce for pass-through to avoid legal barriers; another said the Fair Plan might be able to absorb a study within its existing budget. A staff member noted that fiscal questions would be addressed during any legislative process.
Votes and outcome: The committee first voted to retain the "market of last resort" sentence (10 yes, 2 no, 1 absent). It then voted to adopt Carrie Johnson's amended recommendation, as modified, by roll call (9 yes, 3 no, 1 absent). The recommendation was inserted into the final report the task force approved for submission to the Legislature.
Next steps: The task force authorized LCC staff to prepare the final report incorporating today's adopted recommendations and submitted it for circulation to the Legislature; the report is due Feb. 15.
Representative voices: "The task force recommends that the Minnesota Fair Plan examine the feasibility of offering additional products... and report its findings to the legislature," Carrie Johnson proposed. Chair Elkins framed the vote as focusing on recommendation wording rather than final bill language.
