Capitol Update

HCAPITOL UPDATE

NATALIE WHITE Communications Director

Winter is drawing closer and that means we are heading into year two of the biennium. Committees have been meeting frequently during the early fall, getting bills ready for the floor. Time is short to get bills through the whole legislative process before session will adjourn sometime this Spring.

During these frequent committee hearings, a few bills of interest to PIA have been making their way through the process. Firstly, Senate Bill 434/ Assembly Bill 483 relates to municipal raze orders and is legislation that I have discussed here before. To refresh, this legislation would change the raze order process to prevent a raze order from being issued by a municipality for an insured single-family dwelling if the damages do not exceed 70% of the insured value of the home. At present, raze orders can be issued for these dwellings if the damages are over 50% of the assessed value of the home. With assessed values varying so significantly across the state, there are instances where raze orders have been issued and the entire home was paid to be replaced, when restoring the home would have made the insured whole and would have been more cost-effective and practical. When this happens, it effectively drives up premiums for other insureds and makes homes in certain areas more difficult to insure. The aim of this legislation is to align the law more closely with the concept of indemnity and make insurance more accessible for homes that may otherwise be too high a risk.

PIA supported this legislation during the committee process. At the time of writing, this legislation has been taken up for a floor vote in the Senate and a vote in the Assembly is not far behind. We are hopeful that this happens soon and is enacted promptly so that this imbalance in the law is corrected.

Another bill PIA has been supporting through the process is Senate Bill 482/ Assembly Bill 491, relating to travel insurance. Seventeen states so far have adopted similar legislation, based off the NAIC and NCOIL models of this bill. The bill codifies many terms and definitions that have been used in the travel insurance marketplace, so that compliance requirements are clearer for the industry. In addition to codifying many current practices into law, the legislation includes several consumer protection measures. In addition to requiring certain disclosures and requiring all materials be consistent with the policy, the bill bans opt-out provisions that force coverage on consumers unless they affirmatively deselect the coverage when purchasing a trip. The bill passed both insurance committees unanimously has been taken up for a vote in the Senate and is on the calendar for an Assembly floor session in the near future.

PIA is pleased to see these bills making their way forward and will continue to support them along to the finish line. These bills will likely have passed both houses by time of publication – keep an eye on our blog!

Outside of legislation, redistricting continues to be a hot topic at the Capitol. Following the completion of the 2020 census, legislators in Wisconsin are tasked with drawing lines for new legislative districts based on the census outcomes. This is done every ten years following the census to ensure that the population in each district is balanced and that the district is representative of the population within. The current maps were confirmed by the 2011 Republican majority and former Republican Governor Scott Walker and ultimately inspired a long court battle, with Democratic members arguing they were drawn to favor Republican candidates.

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