81R6812 PB-D

By: Jackson, Mike S.B. No. 734

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the board of directors of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 2210.102, Insurance Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:

(a) The board of directors is composed of the following 11 [nine] members appointed by the commissioner:

(1) five members who represent the interests of [representatives of different] insurers who are members of the association[, elected by the members as provided by the plan of operation];

(2) four public members [two public representatives] who are nominated by the office of public insurance counsel and who, as of the date of the appointment:

(A) reside in a catastrophe area; and

(B) are policyholders of the association; and

(3) two members who are property and casualty agents, each of whom must:

(A) have demonstrated experience in the association;

(B) maintain the agent's principal office, as of the date of the appointment, in a catastrophe area; and

(C) hold a license under Chapter 4051 as a general property and casualty agent [or a personal lines property and casualty agent].

(c) To be eligible to serve on the board of directors as a representative of insurers, a person must be a full-time employee of an authorized insurer that is a member of the association.

(d) The commissioner or an employee of the department designated by the commissioner serves as an ex officio member of the board of directors.

SECTION 2. Section 2210.103, Insurance Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(a) Members of the board of directors serve three-year staggered terms, with the terms of three or four members expiring on the third Tuesday of March of each year.

(c) A member of the board of directors serves at the pleasure of the commissioner. The commissioner shall appoint a replacement for a member who leaves or is removed from the board of directors in the manner provided by Section 2210.102.

SECTION 3. (a) The board of directors of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association established under Section 2210.102, Insurance Code, as that section existed before amendment by this Act, is abolished on the 30th day after the effective date of this Act.

(b) The commissioner of insurance shall appoint the members of the board of directors of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association under Section 2210.102, Insurance Code, as amended by this Act, for terms beginning on the 31st day after the effective date of this Act.

(c) The term of a person who is serving as a member of the board of directors of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association immediately before the abolition of that board under Subsection (a) of this section expires on the 30th day after the effective date of this Act. Such a person is eligible for appointment by the commissioner of insurance to the new board of directors of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association under Section 2210.102, Insurance Code, as amended by this Act.

SECTION 4. 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, 2009.