By:  Dutton                                          H.C.R. No. 116
       73R8436 SMC-D
                                 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, The Texas Automobile Insurance Plan (TAIP) was
    1-2  established by the State Board of Insurance to provide insurance to
    1-3  high-risk drivers who are refused automobile insurance coverage in
    1-4  the open market; and
    1-5        WHEREAS, The TAIP is administered by private insurance
    1-6  companies who spread the risk throughout all automobile insurance
    1-7  companies in the state; and
    1-8        WHEREAS, In the past two years, the TAIP has experienced
    1-9  dramatic statewide growth; the number of drivers in the high-risk
   1-10  insurance pool has increased from 250,000 to more than 830,000; and
   1-11        WHEREAS, This tremendous growth began at the same time the
   1-12  state tightened enforcement of the law requiring motorists to show
   1-13  proof of liability insurance to receive a car inspection, a
   1-14  driver's license, or a license plate renewal; these previously
   1-15  uninsured motorists are coming into the TAIP in record numbers
   1-16  because the voluntary market is reluctant to accept them and 60,000
   1-17  to 70,000 new motorists are forced to join the pool each month; and
   1-18        WHEREAS, In its review of the Texas Automobile Insurance
   1-19  Plan, the Office of Public Insurance Counsel determined that a
   1-20  large percentage of these new TAIP policyholders are from rural,
   1-21  low-income, or minority neighborhoods and are paying up to $100
   1-22  more per year for state-required basic liability insurance; and
   1-23        WHEREAS, The TAIP was intended to provide automobile
   1-24  insurance coverage for drivers with bad driving records and was not
    2-1  meant for low-income residents with good driving records who can
    2-2  afford only basic insurance coverage; these statistics clearly
    2-3  illustrate the serious nature of the problem in Texas and the need
    2-4  for further investigation of this issue; now, therefore, be it
    2-5        RESOLVED, That the 73rd Legislature of the State of Texas
    2-6  hereby request the speaker of the house of representatives and the
    2-7  lieutenant governor to direct the House Committee on Insurance and
    2-8  the Senate Committee on Economic Development to conduct a joint
    2-9  study of the Texas Automobile Insurance Plan and its treatment of
   2-10  policyholders from rural, low-income, or minority neighborhoods and
   2-11  make a full report of their findings and recommendations to the
   2-12  73rd Legislature before it adjourns on May 31, 1993.