Kansas Commissioner Asks for Introduction of Bills in State Senate

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius has asked the state Senate Financial Institution and Insurance Committee for the introduction of three bills, which are mostly technical in nature.

According to a Department of Insurance newsletter, the first bill, regarding Risk-Based Capital, would amend K.S.A 40-2c01(j) to make year-to-year date changes automatic so that the effective date of RBC instructions stays current.

The second bill is an amendment to K.S.A 40-221a. It would correct inconsistency between the terminology in the reinsurance statutes and newly proposed legislation. Kansas law currently refers to “a bank which is insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation.” However, the insurance department is adopting the new language in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Model Regulation. In order to be consistent with the NAIC model, the statute needs to be changed to “qualified United States financial institution.”

The third bill concerns the sharing of information. The bill would broaden the language in K.S.A. 40-222 to allow for information sharing pursuant to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The proposed language would grant the same authority to the insurance commissioner to allow for sharing of information pursuant to the GLBA as has been granted to the banking commissioner.

Sebelius is also campaigning for the reintroduction of a viatical bill that died in last year’s session. The bill would update the viatical law that was passed in 1999.

The last day for individuals to introduce bills in the Kansas Legislature is Feb. 13, while Feb. 15 is the last day for most legislative committees to introduce bills.