BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2303
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 18, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

           AB 2303 (Committee on Insurance) - As Amended:  March 15, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              InsuranceVote:9 - 
          0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill is the annual Assembly Committee on Insurance omnibus 
          bill which conforms state law to federal insurance law, cleans 
          up the state insurance code, and makes non-controversial 
          licensing changes. Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Requires liquidation notices to include a reference to a 
            website that provides ongoing information for creditors of the 
            company being liquidated.

          2)Requires insurers to provide data related to child care 
            liability policies to the Commissioner upon request.

          3)Establishes a $64 fee for the issuance of a non-resident 
            variable contract authority license.

          4)Requires the Commissioner's curriculum board to propose 
            mandatory pre-licensing and continuing education curriculum 
            for bail agents and insurance adjusters.

          5)Increases from 12 to 20 the number of pre-licensing classroom 
            hours required for bail agents.

          6)Establishes a limited lines license for crop insurance 
            adjusters and prohibits individuals from acting as a crop 
            insurance adjuster without a license.

          7)Prohibits contracting with or employing someone to adjust crop 
            insurance claims unless that person is licensed.

          8)Permits the Commissioner to adopt regulations to implement the 








                                                                  AB 2303
                                                                  Page  2

            crop insurance adjuster license, including additional 
            competency requirements and establishing standards of practice 
            for crop insurance adjusters.

          9)Conforms statutes related to the conservation and liquidation 
            process with changes made in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 
            and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank).

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Costs associated with this legislation should be minor and 
          absorbable within existing resources. 



           COMMENTS 

           1)Purpose  . This bill is sponsored by the Department of Insurance 
            as the 2012 omnibus bill which proposes a range of cleanup, 
            federal conformity, and non-controversial licensing changes.

          2)Crop Insurance Adjusters.   This provision establishes a 
            limited lines crop insurance adjuster license. Federal crop 
            insurance requirements were recently changed requiring crop 
            insurance adjusters to have specific knowledge of the crops at 
            issue in a claim.  If a state does not offer a license based 
            on a crop specific test, then adjusters certified by the 
            National Crop Insurance Services (NCIS) may adjust claims in 
            the state without a license.  This bill establishes state 
            licensure based on the NCIS certification process to comply 
            with the federal requirements.


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