78R3372 AKH-D

By:  Ellis                                                        S.B. No. 226



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to remedies for certain past discriminatory practices by 
legal entities engaged in the business of insurance.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Article 21.21-6, Insurance Code, as added by 
Chapter 415, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, 
is amended by adding Section 6 to read as follows:
	Sec. 6. DISCRIMINATORY PRICING: PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF 
PREMIUMS.  (a)  The commissioner shall investigate the extent to 
which premiums charged for and benefits provided under insurance 
policies issued in this state and in force are inequitable as a 
result of race-based practices by insurers in effect at the time the 
policies were first issued.
	(b)  If the commissioner determines that premiums charged 
for or benefits provided under an insurance policy are inequitable 
as a result of race-based practices by an insurer in effect at the 
time the policies were first issued, the commissioner, after notice 
and a hearing, may order that an insurer who issued or has acquired 
the policy be prohibited from collecting a premium on those 
policies, regardless of whether the insurer has ceased to engage in 
those practices.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.