By: Ellis, Shapiro, West S.B. No. 1061
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to discrimination related to the business of insurance and
to the use of insurance policy proceeds for certain victims of past
discrimination; creating an offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 5, Article 21.21-6, Insurance Code, as
added by Chapter 415, Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1995, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 5. SANCTIONS. (a) Any legal entity engaged in the
business of insurance in this state found to be in violation of or
failing to comply with this article is subject to the sanctions
authorized by Chapter 82 [in Article 1.10] of this code or[,
including] administrative penalties authorized by Chapter 84
[under Article 1.10E] of this code. The commissioner may also
utilize the cease and desist procedures authorized by Chapter 83
[Article 1.10A] of this code.
(b) It is not a defense to an action of the commissioner
under Subsection (a) of this section that the contract giving rise
to the alleged violation was entered into before the effective date
of this article.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Insurance Code, is
amended by adding Article 21.21-6A to read as follows:
Art. 21.21-6A. CRIMINAL PENALTY. (a) In this article,
"person" means a legal entity engaged in the business of life
insurance described in Subdivisions (a), (b), (e), (f), and (j),
Section 2, Article 21.21-6 of this code, as added by Chapter 415,
Acts of the 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, or an officer
or director of one of those entities.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person with criminal
negligence:
(1) offers insurance coverage at a premium based on a
rate that is, because of race, color, religion, ethnicity, or
national origin, different from another premium rate offered or
used by the person for the same coverage, other than for
classifications applicable alike to persons of every race, color,
religion, ethnicity, or national origin; or
(2) collects an insurance premium based on a rate that
is, because of race, color, religion, ethnicity, or national
origin, different from another premium rate offered or used by the
person for the same coverage, other than for classifications
applicable alike to persons of every race, color, religion,
ethnicity, or national origin.
(c) An offense under this article is a state jail felony.
SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 3, Article 21.21-8,
Insurance Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) All actions under this article must be commenced on or
before the second anniversary of [within 12 months after] the date
on which the plaintiff was denied insurance or the unfair act
occurred or the date the plaintiff, in the exercise of reasonable
diligence, should have discovered the occurrence of the unfair act.
SECTION 4. Section 1, Article 21.74, Insurance Code, is
amended by amending Subdivisions (1) and (2) and adding Subdivision
(4) to read as follows:
(1) "Holocaust victim" means a person who was killed
or injured, or who lost real or personal property or financial
assets, as the result of discriminatory laws, policies, or actions
directed against any discrete group of which the person was a
member, during the period of 1920 to 1945, inclusive, in Germany,
areas occupied by Germany, [or] countries allied with Germany, or
countries that were sympathizers with Germany.
(2) "Insurer" means an insurance company or other
entity engaged in the business of insurance or reinsurance in this
state. The term includes:
(A) a capital stock company, a mutual company, or
a Lloyd's plan; and
(B) any parent, subsidiary, reinsurer, successor
in interest, managing general agent, or affiliated company, at
least 50 percent of the stock of which is in common ownership with
an insurer engaged in the business of insurance in this state.
(4) "Proceeds" means the face value or other payout
value of insurance policies and annuities plus reasonable interest
to date of payment without diminution for wartime or immediate
postwar currency devaluation.
SECTION 5. Article 21.74, Insurance Code, is amended by
adding Sections 2A and 2B to read as follows:
Sec. 2A. FILINGS AND CERTIFICATES OF INSURANCE. (a) This
section applies to each insurer engaging in business in the state
that, directly or through a related company, sold to persons in
Europe insurance policies described by Section 1 of this article or
dowry or educational insurance policies that were in effect during
the period of 1920 to 1945, whether the sale occurred before or
after the insurer and the related company became related.
(b) Each insurer shall file or cause to be filed with the
commissioner the following information:
(1) the number of insurance policies described by
Subsection (a) of this section sold by the insurer or a related
company;
(2) the holder, beneficiary, and current status of the
policies; and
(3) the city of origin, domicile, or address for each
policyholder listed in the policies.
(c) Each insurer shall certify:
(1) that the proceeds of the policies described by
Subsection (a) of this section have been paid to the designated
beneficiaries or their heirs in circumstances in which that person
or those persons, after diligent search, could be located and
identified;
(2) that the proceeds of the policies, in
circumstances in which the beneficiaries or heirs could not, after
diligent search, be located or identified, have been distributed to
Holocaust survivors or to qualified charitable nonprofit
organizations for the purpose of assisting Holocaust survivors;
(3) that a court of law has certified in a legal
proceeding resolving the rights of unpaid policyholders and their
heirs and beneficiaries a plan for the distribution of the
proceeds; or
(4) that the proceeds have not been distributed and
the amount of those proceeds.
(d) The commissioner by rule shall require that insurers
update the information submitted to the commissioner under this
section at reasonable intervals.
Sec. 2B. ESTABLISHMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF REGISTRY; PUBLIC
ACCESS. (a) The commissioner shall establish and maintain within
the department a central registry containing records and
information relating to insurance policies described by Section
2A(a) of this article of Holocaust victims, living and deceased.
The registry shall be known as the Holocaust Era Insurance
Registry.
(b) The commissioner by rule shall establish appropriate
mechanisms to ensure public access to the registry.
(c) Information contained in the registry:
(1) is public information;
(2) is not subject to any exceptions to disclosure
under Chapter 552, Government Code; and
(3) cannot be withheld from disclosure under any other
law.
SECTION 6. (a) Article 21.21-6A, Insurance Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the
effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose. For the purposes of this
subsection, an offense is committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense occurs before that date.
(b) Subsection (c), Section 3, Article 21.21-8, Insurance
Code, as amended by this Act, applies to a cause of action for which
the limitations period established under that subsection before its
amendment by this Act has not expired on the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 7. Not later than the 180th day after the effective
date of this Act, an insurer subject to Article 21.74, Insurance
Code, as amended by this Act, shall file the information and
certification required by Section 2A of that article.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.