Senate Insurance & Commerce advances four House bills on employee benefits, fiscal impact and oversight

The Senate Committee on Insurance & Commerce advanced four House bills addressing employee-benefits funding, fiscal-impact analysis and oversight during a committee meeting on a date not specified.

Representative Evans introduced House Bill 1097, an Employee Benefits Division (EBD) measure to change the withholding contribution formula for school districts. "It'll move it from an average of about $1.65 up to 300," Representative Evans said, and added that "the department will make that back up, as they fund that through the matrix, based off of ADM." He said the Joint Education adequacy studies will review data going forward to determine whether adjustments are needed. The committee moved to a voice vote, the motion was seconded by Senator Elliott, and the bill passed out of committee.

Senator Urban presented House Bill 1098, which he said resulted from a study with the Siegel Group and would require fiscal-impact statements developed by an actuary under guidelines adopted by the House and Senate Insurance and Commerce committees. "Any legislation that would be proposed that might adjust or change premiums or cost the plans ... we need to know that before voting on that legislation," Urban said. With no questions or public comment, the committee approved the measure by voice vote.

Senator Irvin described House Bill 1099 as an oversight measure for the state's public life and health insurance programs that would establish an EBD oversight subcommittee and require quarterly reports to provide transparency about funding and plan status. "It calls for quarterly reports of an update, to provide that transparency and kind of a continual check on where things are," Irvin said. The committee passed the bill by voice vote after a motion and second.

House Bill 1100 was presented as a related governance measure to establish a governing body for the state public life and health insurance programs. Senator Hickey, presenting the bill, said it mirrors versions heard previously and establishes the governing structure for the programs. The committee voted the bill out by voice vote.

All four bills were advanced without recorded roll-call tallies in the transcript; the committee used voice votes and recorded each motion as "do pass." No substantive public testimony was recorded in the transcript for any bill, although one individual (Virgil Cain of Danville) was signed in to speak on HB 1097 and did not appear at the podium. The committee adjourned after clearing the docket.