BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 53
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   January 19, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   AB 53 (Solorio) - As Amended:  January 10, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              InsuranceVote:7 - 
          4 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires major California insurers to submit a plan 
          for increasing procurement from minority, women, and disabled 
          veteran business enterprises (MWDVBEs). Specifically, this bill: 


          1)Requires insurers with California premiums in excess of $100 
            million to report annually to the Insurance Commissioner (IC) 
            regarding MWDVBE procurement efforts.  

          2)Establishes civil penalties for insurers that fail to file the 
            report. 

          3)Requires the IC to establish and maintain a link on the 
            department's website that provides public access to the 
            contents of the reports. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          On-going costs of approximately $100,000 (Insurance Fund) for 
          DOI to process and post the annual reports and collect the 
          required data every two years. 

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . The purpose of this bill is to increase MWDVBE 
            involvement in California's insurance market, thus encouraging 
            greater economic opportunity for MWDVBEs in the $116 billion 
            California insurance market.

           2)Related Legislation  . This bill is patterned after a state law 








                                                                  AB 53
                                                                  Page  2

            enacted 25 years ago that established a similar program for 
            utility, wireless, and phone companies that is administered by 
            the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).  That legislation was 
            enacted by AB 3678 (Moore; Chapter 1259, Statutes of 1986), 
            and amended by SB 2398 (Dills; Chapter 516, Statutes of 1990).






           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081