BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 53
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 53 (Solorio)
As Amended August 13, 2012
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |50-25|(January 26, |SENATE: |24-13|(August 20, |
| | |2012) | | |2012) |
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Original Committee Reference: INS.
SUMMARY : Requires major insurers to report data to the
Insurance Commissioner relating to their contracting with women,
minority, and disabled-veteran owned businesses.
The Senate amendments :
1)Change dates for the reporting periods from 2012 to 2013, and
from 2014 to 2015, respectively, to take into account that the
bill did not move last year.
2)Clarify how an insurer that has no data to report complies
with the reporting requirements.
3)Allow an insurer to request a 30-day extension of the filing
deadline from the Insurance Commissioner.
4)Adopt a 2019 sunset date.
5)Clarify that the Insurance Commissioner, and not the courts,
enforce the civil penalty in the event of violations of the
bill's requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the Department of Insurance has revised its fiscal
estimates since this bill left the Assembly, and the costs to
the Department would be under $100,000 annually.
COMMENTS :
1)The bill specifies its purposes:
a) To encourage greater economic opportunity for women,
minority, disabled-veteran business enterprises (WMDVBEs)
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in the $90 billion California insurance market.
b) To promote competition among the suppliers of regulated
insurance providers in order to enhance economic efficiency
in the procurement of insurance industry contracts.
c) To clarify and expand the program for the procurement by
regulated insurance providers of technology, equipment,
supplies, services, materials, and construction work from
WMDVBEs.
1)The proponents, including The Greenlining Institute and
multiple ethnic chambers of commerce, state that insurance
products are purchased out of necessity by most Californians
and insurance is already closely regulated by the Department
of Insurance to address consumer protection issues. The
Consumer Federation of California states that during this
economic recession, it is critical that the insurance market
be cost-effective and that minority, women, and disabled
veterans enterprises receive an equal opportunity to compete
for business.
Analysis Prepared by : Mark Rakich / INS. / (916) 319-2086
FN: 0004881