| 1 | Representative Nuñez offered the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Amendment to Amendment (399507) (with title amendment) |
| 4 | Between lines 177 and 178, insert: |
| 5 | Section 7. Section 624.46226, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 6 | to read: |
| 7 | 624.46226 Public housing authorities self-insurance funds; |
| 8 | exemption for taxation and assessments.- |
| 9 | (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any two or |
| 10 | more public housing authorities in the state as defined in |
| 11 | chapter 421 may form a self-insurance fund for the purpose of |
| 12 | pooling and spreading liabilities of its members as to any one |
| 13 | or combination of casualty risk or real or personal property |
| 14 | risk of every kind and every interest in such property against |
| 15 | loss or damage from any hazard or cause and against any loss |
| 16 | consequential to such loss or damage, provided the self- |
| 17 | insurance fund that is created: |
| 18 | (a) Has annual normal premiums in excess of$3.5 $5 |
| 19 | million. |
| 20 | (b) Uses a qualified actuary to determine rates using |
| 21 | accepted actuarial principles and annually submits to the office |
| 22 | a certification by the actuary that the rates are actuarially |
| 23 | sound and are not inadequate, as defined in s. 627.062. |
| 24 | (c) Uses a qualified actuary to establish reserves for |
| 25 | loss and loss adjustment expenses and annually submits to the |
| 26 | office a certification by the actuary that the loss and loss |
| 27 | adjustment expense reserves are adequate. If the actuary |
| 28 | determines that reserves are not adequate, the fund shall file |
| 29 | with the office a remedial plan for increasing the reserves or |
| 30 | otherwise addressing the financial condition of the fund, |
| 31 | subject to a determination by the office that the fund will |
| 32 | operate on an actuarially sound basis and the fund does not pose |
| 33 | a significant risk of insolvency. |
| 34 | (d) Maintains a continuing program of excess insurance |
| 35 | coverage and reserve evaluation to protect the financial |
| 36 | stability of the fund in an amount and manner determined by a |
| 37 | qualified and independent actuary. At a minimum, this program |
| 38 | must: |
| 39 | 1. Purchase excess insurance from authorized insurance |
| 40 | carriers or eligible surplus lines insurers. |
| 41 | 2. Retain a per-loss occurrence that does not exceed the |
| 42 | lesser of $350,000 or the surplus of the fund as reported in the |
| 43 | immediately preceding audited fiscal year end financial |
| 44 | statement. If not identified as surplus in the audited financial |
| 45 | statements, surplus shall be the difference of the total assets |
| 46 | minus the total liabilities. |
| 47 | (e) Submits to the office annually an audited fiscal year- |
| 48 | end financial statement by an independent certified public |
| 49 | accountant within 6 months after the end of the fiscal year. |
| 50 | (f) Has a governing body which is comprised entirely of |
| 51 | commissioners of public housing authorities that are members of |
| 52 | the public housing authority self-insurance fund or persons |
| 53 | appointed by the commissioners of public housing authorities |
| 54 | that are members of the public housing authority self-insurance |
| 55 | fund. |
| 56 | (g) Uses knowledgeable persons or business entities to |
| 57 | administer or service the fund in the areas of claims |
| 58 | administration, claims adjusting, underwriting, risk management, |
| 59 | loss control, policy administration, financial audit, and legal |
| 60 | areas. Such persons must meet all applicable requirements of law |
| 61 | for state licensure and must have at least 5 years' experience |
| 62 | with commercial self-insurance funds formed under s. 624.462, |
| 63 | self-insurance funds formed under s. 624.4622, or domestic |
| 64 | insurers. |
| 65 | (h) Submits to the office copies of contracts used for its |
| 66 | members that clearly establish the liability of each member for |
| 67 | the obligations of the fund. |
| 68 | (i) Annually submits to the office a certification by the |
| 69 | governing body of the fund that, to the best of its knowledge, |
| 70 | the requirements of this section are met. |
| 71 | (2) As used in this section, the term "qualified actuary" |
| 72 | means an actuary that is a member of the Casualty Actuarial |
| 73 | Society or the American Academy of Actuaries. |
| 74 | (3) A public housing authority's self-insurance fund that |
| 75 | meets the requirements of this section is not: |
| 76 | (a) An insurer for purposes of participation in or |
| 77 | coverage by any insurance guaranty association established by |
| 78 | chapter 631; or |
| 79 | (b) Subject to s. 624.4621 and is not required to file any |
| 80 | report with the department under s. 440.38(2)(b) that is |
| 81 | uniquely required of group self-insurer funds qualified under s. |
| 82 | 624.4621. |
| 83 | (4) Premiums, contributions, and assessments received by a |
| 84 | public housing authority's self-insurance fund are subject to |
| 85 | ss. 624.509(1) and (2) and 624.5092, except that the tax rate |
| 86 | shall be 1.6 percent of the gross amount of such premiums, |
| 87 | contributions, and assessments. |
| 88 | (5) If any of the requirements of subsection (1) are not |
| 89 | met, a public housing authority's self-insurance fund is subject |
| 90 | to the requirements of s. 624.4621 if the fund provides only |
| 91 | workers' compensation coverage or is subject to the requirements |
| 92 | of ss. 624.460-624.488 if the fund provides coverage for other |
| 93 | property, casualty, or surety risks. |
| 94 | (6) Any public housing authority in the state as defined |
| 95 | in chapter 421 that is a member of a self-insurance fund |
| 96 | pursuant to this section shall be exempt from the assessments |
| 97 | imposed under ss. 215.555, 627.351 and 631.57. |
| 98 | (7) Reinsurance companies complying with s. 624.610 may |
| 99 | issue coverage directly to a public housing authority self- |
| 100 | insuring its liabilities under this section. A public housing |
| 101 | authority purchasing reinsurance shall be considered an insurer |
| 102 | for the sole purpose of entering into such reinsurance |
| 103 | contracts. Contracts of reinsurance issued to public housing |
| 104 | authorities self-insuring under this section shall receive the |
| 105 | same tax treatment as reinsurance contracts issued to insurance |
| 106 | companies. However, the purchase of reinsurance coverage by a |
| 107 | public housing authority self-insuring under this section shall |
| 108 | not be construed as authorization to otherwise act as an |
| 109 | insurer. |
| 110 |
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| 111 |
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| 112 | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| 113 | T I T L E A M E N D M E N T |
| 114 | Remove line 3542 and insert: |
| 115 | under specified circumstances; amending s. 624.46226, F.S.; |
| 116 | revising the criteria for public housing authorities to qualify |
| 117 | for a self-insurance fund relating to specified casualty |
| 118 | insurance; amending s. 626.852, F.S.; |