Senate Bill sb1480c1
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1480
By the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and Senator Garcia
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to insurance; amending s.
3 626.916, F.S.; providing that the Office of
4 Insurance Regulation may by order declare
5 classes of insurance eligible for export;
6 providing that such an order continues in
7 effect until vacated or modified; amending s.
8 626.938, F.S.; providing that an insured's
9 representative may file independently procured
10 coverage with the service office and remit
11 taxes and fees; amending s. 628.511, F.S.;
12 revising the definitions of the terms "clearing
13 corporation" and "custodian"; deleting
14 definitions of the terms "book entry system"
15 and "member bank" and making conforming
16 changes; amending s. 943.135, F.S.; revising
17 the presumption of disability for purposes of
18 workers compensation and establishing
19 tobacco-use standards; providing an effective
20 date.
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22 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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24 Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 626.916, Florida
25 Statutes, is amended to read:
26 626.916 Eligibility for export.--
27 (2) The office commission may by order rule declare
28 eligible for export generally, and notwithstanding the
29 provisions of paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) of subsection
30 (1), any class or classes of insurance coverage or risk for
31 which it finds, after a hearing, that there is no reasonable
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1480
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1 or adequate market among authorized insurers. Any such order
2 rules shall continue in effect until vacated or modified by
3 further order of the office during the existence of the
4 conditions upon which predicated, but subject to termination
5 by the commission.
6 Section 2. Subsections (1), (3), and (4) of section
7 626.938, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
8 626.938 Report and tax of independently procured
9 coverages.--
10 (1) Every insured or insured's representative who in
11 this state procures or causes to be procured or continues or
12 renews insurance with an unauthorized foreign or alien
13 insurer, or any self-insurer who in this state so procures or
14 continues excess loss, catastrophe, or other insurance, upon a
15 subject of insurance resident, located, or to be performed
16 within this state, other than insurance procured through a
17 surplus lines agent pursuant to the Surplus Lines Law of this
18 state or exempted from tax under s. 626.932(4), shall, within
19 30 days after the date such insurance was so procured,
20 continued, or renewed, file a report of the same with the
21 Florida Surplus Lines Service Office in writing and upon forms
22 designated by the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office and
23 furnished to such an insured upon request, or in a computer
24 readable format as determined by the Florida Surplus Lines
25 Service Office. The report shall show the name and address of
26 the insured or insureds, the name and address of the insurer,
27 the subject of the insurance, a general description of the
28 coverage, the amount of premium currently charged therefor,
29 and such additional pertinent information as is reasonably
30 requested by the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office.
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Florida Senate - 2005 CS for SB 1480
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1 (3) For the general support of the government of this
2 state, there is levied upon the obligation, chose in action,
3 or right represented by the premium charged for such insurance
4 a tax at the rate of 5 percent of the gross amount of such
5 premium and a 0.3 percent service fee pursuant to s. 626.9325.
6 The insured or the insured's representative shall withhold the
7 amount of the tax and service fee from the amount of premium
8 charged by and otherwise payable to the insurer for such
9 insurance. Within 30 days after the insurance is procured,
10 continued, or renewed, and simultaneously with the filing of
11 the report provided for in subsection (1) with the Florida
12 Surplus Lines Service Office, the insured or the insured's
13 representative shall make payable to the department the amount
14 of the tax and make payable to the Florida Surplus Lines
15 Service Office the amount of the service fee. The insured or
16 the insured's representative shall remit the tax and the
17 service fee to the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office. The
18 Florida Surplus Lines Service Office shall forward to the
19 department the taxes, and any interest collected pursuant to
20 subsection (5), within 10 days after receipt.
21 (4) If the insured or the insured's representative
22 fails to withhold from the premium the amount of tax and the
23 service fee herein levied, the insured shall be liable for the
24 amount thereof and shall pay that amount to the Florida
25 Surplus Lines Service Office within the time stated in
26 subsection (3).
27 Section 3. Section 628.511, Florida Statutes, is
28 amended to read:
29 628.511 Clearing corporations Book entry accounting
30 system.--
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1 (1) The purpose of this section is to authorize
2 domestic insurers to utilize modern systems for holding and
3 transferring securities without physical delivery of
4 securities certificates, subject to appropriate rules of the
5 commission.
6 (2) The following terms are defined for use in this
7 section:
8 (a) "Securities" means instruments as defined in s.
9 678.1021.
10 (b) "Clearing corporation" means a clearing
11 corporation as defined in s. 678.1021. The term "clearing
12 corporation" also includes "Treasury/Reserve Automated Debt
13 Entry Securities System" and "Treasury Direct" book-entry
14 securities systems established pursuant to 31 U.S.C. ss. 3100
15 et seq., 12 U.S.C. 391 and 5 U.S.C. 301.
16 (c) "Custodian" "Direct participant" means a national
17 bank, state bank, or trust company, or broker/dealer that
18 which maintains an account in its name in a clearing
19 corporation and through which an insurance company
20 participates in a clearing corporation.
21 (d) "Federal Reserve book-entry system" means the
22 computerized systems sponsored by the United States Department
23 of the Treasury and agencies and instrumentalities of the
24 United States for holding and transferring securities of the
25 United States Government and such agencies and
26 instrumentalities, respectively, in Federal Reserve banks
27 through banks which are members of the Federal Reserve System
28 or which otherwise have access to such computerized systems.
29 (e) "Member bank" means a national bank, state bank or
30 trust company which is a member of the Federal Reserve System
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1 and through which an insurer participates in the Federal
2 Reserve book-entry system.
3 (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
4 domestic insurer may deposit or arrange for the deposit of
5 securities held in or purchased for its general account and
6 its separate accounts in a clearing corporation or in the
7 Federal Reserve book-entry system. When securities are
8 deposited with a clearing corporation, certificates
9 representing securities of the same class of the same issuer
10 may be merged and held in bulk in the name of the nominee of
11 such clearing corporation with any other securities deposited
12 with such clearing corporation by any person, regardless of
13 the ownership of such securities, and certificates
14 representing securities of small denominations may be merged
15 into one or more certificates of larger denominations. The
16 records of any custodian bank through which an insurer holds
17 securities in the Federal Reserve book-entry system, and the
18 records of any custodian banks through which an insurer holds
19 securities in a clearing corporation, shall at all times show
20 that such securities are held for such insurer and for which
21 accounts thereof. Ownership of, and other interests in, such
22 securities may be transferred by bookkeeping entry on the
23 books of such clearing corporation or in the Federal Reserve
24 book-entry system without, in either case, physical delivery
25 of certificates representing such securities.
26 (4) The commission may adopt rules governing the
27 deposit by insurers of securities with clearing corporations
28 and in the Federal Reserve book-entry system.
29 Section 4. Subsections (5) and (6) are added to
30 section 943.135, Florida Statutes, to read:
31 943.135 Requirements for continued employment.--
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1 (5) An employing agency as defined in s. 943.10(4) may
2 require a law enforcement officer and correctional officer as
3 defined in s. 943.10 (1), (2), or (3) to successfully pass a
4 physical examination in order to be eligible for the
5 presumption set forth in s. 112.18. The employing agency shall
6 have the physical examination performed prior to or
7 immediately upon employment of the officer. Alternatively, an
8 employing agency may elect to accept the results of a physical
9 examination that has been previously performed by another
10 employing agency prior to the officer's current employment.
11 This provision shall not affect the applicability of the
12 presumption set forth in s. 112.18 for law enforcement
13 officers or correctional officers who are currently employed
14 by an employing agency.
15 (6) An employing agency as defined in s. 943.10(4) may
16 set tobacco-use standards for law enforcement officers and
17 correctional officers as defined in s. 943.10 (1), (2), or (3)
18 employed by a municipality, county, political subdivision of
19 the state, or any agent of the political subdivision who has
20 constitutional authority or statutory authority to employ or
21 appoint an officer.
22 Section 5. This act shall take effect October 1, 2005.
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1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 Senate Bill 1480
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o Authorizes the Office of Insurance Regulation to issue an
5 order designating the classes of insurance that are
eligible for export to surplus lines companies.
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o Permits a representative of an insured, who obtains
7 independently procured coverage from a surplus lines
insurer, to file the required report of the policy with
8 the Surplus Lines Service Office and the applicable taxes
and service fees.
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o Revises provisions relating to security deposits by
10 domestic insurers to conform Florida law to the model law
and rules enacted by the National Association of
11 Insurance Commissioners.
12 o Provides that the state or local governments may require
a law enforcement officer and correctional officer to
13 pass a physical exam in order to be eligible for the
statutory presumption that when a law enforcement officer
14 or correctional officer has a medical condition caused by
tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension, it is
15 presumed that the medical condition was suffered in the
line of duty, unless shown to the contrary by competent
16 evidence. This legislation would not apply to officers
who are currently employed.
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o Provides that the state, county, or municipality may set
18 tobacco use standards for law enforcement officers and
correctional officers.
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