By:  Moncrief                                          S.B. No. 139
         99S0019/2                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to residential fire suppression devices and to an
 1-2     insurance premium discount for the installation of such a device.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 5, Insurance Code, is
 1-5     amended by adding Article 5.33C to read as follows:
 1-6           Art. 5.33C.  REDUCTION IN HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE PREMIUMS FOR
 1-7     APPROVED FIRE SUPPRESSION DEVICES
 1-8           Sec. 1.  DEFINITIONS.  In this article:
 1-9                 (1)  "Stovetop fire suppression device" means a device
1-10     that is magnetically mounted to the vent hood over a residential
1-11     stovetop cooking surface and that contains siliconized sodium
1-12     bicarbonate that protects against one or more hazards through
1-13     suppressing or extinguishing fires.
1-14                 (2)  "Homeowners insurance" has the meaning assigned by
1-15     Section 1, Article 5.33B of this code, as added by Chapter 337,
1-16     Acts of the 74th Legislature, 1995.
1-17           Sec. 2.  ELIGIBILITY FOR PREMIUM REDUCTION.  A policyholder
1-18     of a single-family or multifamily dwelling is entitled to a premium
1-19     reduction for homeowners insurance coverage if the policyholder has
1-20     installed on the covered property a stovetop fire suppression
1-21     device that:
1-22                 (1)  is certified to Underwriters Laboratories Standard
1-23     1254; and
1-24                 (2)  has been approved by the State Fire Marshal
 2-1     through the commissioner.
 2-2           Sec. 3.  AMOUNT OF PREMIUM REDUCTION.  The commissioner shall
 2-3     establish by rule the amount of a premium reduction applicable
 2-4     under this article.
 2-5           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-6           (b)  Article 5.33C, Insurance Code, as added by this Act,
 2-7     applies only to an insurance policy that is delivered, issued for
 2-8     delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2000.  A policy that is
 2-9     delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed before January 1, 2000,
2-10     is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
2-11     effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
2-12     that purpose.
2-13           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.