S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8053
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 5, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEBB  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic  law,  in  relation  to  owner's
   policies  of  liability insurance issued by a risk retention group not
   chartered within this state; and to amend a chapter  of  the  laws  of
   2023 amending the insurance law and the vehicle and traffic law relat-
   ing  to  owner's  policies  of  liability  insurance  issued by a risk
   retention group not chartered within this state, as proposed in legis-
   lative bills numbers S.5959-B and A.5718-B, in relation to a study and
   reporting on the impact of such bill, required  reporting  by  certain
   risk  retention  groups  of  examinations,  audits,  or other investi-
   gations, performed by another state's insurance commissioner  and  the
   effectiveness thereof
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subdivision 4 of section 311
 of the vehicle and traffic law, paragraphs (b) and (c) as amended  by  a
 chapter  of  the laws of 2023 amending the insurance law and the vehicle
 and traffic law relating to  owner's  policies  of  liability  insurance
 issued  by  a  risk  retention group not chartered within this state, as
 proposed in legislative bills numbers S.5959-B and A.5718-B, are amended
 to read as follows:
   (b) In the case of a vehicle registered in this state, a policy issued
 by (i) an insurer duly authorized to transact business in this state  or
 (ii) WHERE A VEHICLE IS REGISTERED BY A NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT
 IS  TAX-EXEMPT  UNDER  SECTION 501(C)(3) OF THE FEDERAL INTERNAL REVENUE
 CODE, a risk retention group not chartered in this state  but  which  is
 registered  with  the  superintendent  under  the federal liability risk
 retention act of 1986, comprised  entirely  of  organizations  that  are
 tax-exempt  under section 501(c)(3) of the federal internal revenue code
 and where the risk retention group qualifies as a charitable  risk  pool
 under section 501(n) of the federal internal revenue code, PROVIDED THAT
 THE  VEHICLE  BEING  REGISTERED DOES NOT HAVE A SEATING CAPACITY OF MORE
 THAN FIFTEEN PASSENGERS, IS NOT A LIMOUSINE  OR  LUXURY  LIMOUSINE,  AND
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD10375-12-4
 S. 8053                             2
 
 WHERE SUCH VEHICLES ARE NOT SOLELY FOR PERSONAL USE BY A DIRECTOR, OFFI-
 CER,  AUTHORIZED  PERSON,  OR  KEY  PERSON,  THEIR  RELATIVES OR RELATED
 PARTIES; or
   (c)  In the case of a vehicle lawfully registered in another state, or
 in both this state and another state, (i) a policy issued by an  author-
 ized  insurer, or (ii) WHERE A VEHICLE IS REGISTERED BY A NOT-FOR-PROFIT
 ORGANIZATION THAT IS TAX-EXEMPT UNDER SECTION 501(C)(3) OF  THE  FEDERAL
 INTERNAL  REVENUE  CODE,  a  risk  retention group not chartered in this
 state but which is registered with the superintendent under the  federal
 liability  risk  retention  act of 1986, comprised entirely of organiza-
 tions that are tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the federal  inter-
 nal revenue code and where the risk retention group qualifies as a char-
 itable  risk  pool  under section 501(n) of the federal internal revenue
 code,  PROVIDED THAT THE VEHICLE BEING REGISTERED DOES NOT HAVE A  SEAT-
 ING  CAPACITY  OF  MORE  THAN  FIFTEEN PASSENGERS, IS NOT A LIMOUSINE OR
 LUXURY LIMOUSINE, AND WHERE SUCH VEHICLES ARE NOT  SOLELY  FOR  PERSONAL
 USE  BY  A  DIRECTOR,  OFFICER,  AUTHORIZED PERSON, OR KEY PERSON, THEIR
 RELATIVES OR RELATED PARTIES, or (iii) a policy issued by  an  unauthor-
 ized  insurer  authorized  to transact business in another state if such
 unauthorized insurer files with the commissioner in form to be  approved
 by  them  a statement consenting to service of process and declaring its
 policies shall be deemed to be varied to comply with the requirements of
 this article; and
   (d) The form of which has been approved by the superintendent,  EXCEPT
 IN  THE  CASE  OF A RISK RETENTION GROUP NOT CHARTERED IN THIS STATE. No
 such policy shall be issued or delivered in this state until a  copy  of
 the  form  of policy shall have been on file with the superintendent for
 at least thirty days, unless sooner approved in writing  by  the  super-
 intendent,  nor  if within said period of thirty days the superintendent
 shall have notified the carrier in writing that in [his] THE SUPERINTEN-
 DENT'S opinion, specifying the reasons therefor, the form of policy does
 not comply with the laws of this state.
   § 2. The opening paragraph of subdivision 1  of  section  370  of  the
 vehicle  and  traffic  law,  as amended by a chapter of the laws of 2023
 amending the insurance law and the vehicle and traffic law  relating  to
 owner's policies of liability insurance issued by a risk retention group
 not  chartered  within  this  state,  as  proposed  in legislative bills
 numbers S.5959-B and A.5718-B, is amended to read as follows:
   Every person, firm, association or corporation engaged in the business
 of carrying or transporting passengers for hire in any motor vehicle  or
 motorcycle,  except street cars, and motor vehicles or motorcycles owned
 and operated by a municipality, and except as otherwise provided in this
 section, which shall be operated over, upon or along any  public  street
 or  highway of the state of New York shall file with the commissioner of
 motor vehicles for each motor vehicle or motorcycle intended  to  be  so
 operated  evidence, in such form as the commissioner may prescribe, of a
 corporate surety bond or a policy of insurance: (a) approved as to  form
 by  the  superintendent of financial services in a company authorized to
 do business in the state, approved by the superintendent as to  solvency
 and  responsibility; or (b)  WHERE A VEHICLE IS REGISTERED BY A NOT-FOR-
 PROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT IS TAX-EXEMPT UNDER SECTION  501(C)(3)  OF  THE
 FEDERAL  INTERNAL  REVENUE CODE, a risk retention group not chartered in
 this state but which is registered with the superintendent of  financial
 services  under  the   federal liability   risk  retention  act of 1986,
 comprised entirely of organizations that are  tax-exempt  under  section
 501(c)(3)  of  the  federal  internal  revenue  code  and where the risk
 S. 8053                             3
 
 retention group qualifies as a charitable risk pool under section 501(n)
 of the federal internal revenue code, PROVIDED THAT  THE  VEHICLE  BEING
 REGISTERED  DOES  NOT  HAVE    A  SEATING  CAPACITY OF MORE THAN FIFTEEN
 PASSENGERS, IS NOT A LIMOUSINE OR LUXURY LIMOUSINE, AND WHERE SUCH VEHI-
 CLES  ARE NOT SOLELY FOR PERSONAL USE BY A DIRECTOR, OFFICER, AUTHORIZED
 PERSON, OR KEY PERSON, THEIR RELATIVES OR RELATED PARTIES.  Such  surety
 bond  or  policy  of insurance shall be conditioned for the payment of a
 minimum sum, hereinafter called minimum  liability,  on  a  judgment  or
 judgments  for damages, including damages for care and loss of services,
 because of bodily injury to, or death of any one person in any one acci-
 dent, and subject to such minimum liability a maximum  sum,  hereinafter
 called maximum liability on a judgment or judgments for damages, includ-
 ing  damages  for care and loss of services because of bodily injury to,
 or death of two or more persons in any one accident and for the  payment
 of  a minimum sum, called minimum liability on all judgments for damages
 because of injury to or destruction of property of  others  in  any  one
 accident,  recovered  against  such  person, firm, association or corpo-
 ration upon claims arising out of the same transaction  or  transactions
 connected  with  the  same  subject of action, to be apportioned ratably
 among the judgment creditors according to the amount of their respective
 judgments for damage or injury caused in the operation, maintenance, use
 or the defective construction of such motor  vehicle  or  motorcycle  as
 follows:
   § 3. Section 6 of a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the insurance
 law  and  the  vehicle  and  traffic law relating to owner's policies of
 liability insurance issued by a risk retention group not chartered with-
 in this state, as proposed in legislative  bills  numbers  S.5959-B  and
 A.5718-B, is amended and a new section 6-a is added to read as follows:
   §  6.  [Three  years  after  the  effective date of this act, the] THE
 superintendent of financial services, in consultation with  the  commis-
 sioner  of  motor vehicles, shall study the impact of this act to deter-
 mine the efficacy of risk retention groups not chartered in  this  state
 issuing  vehicle  insurance  policies.  Such study shall examine certain
 factors, including, but not limited to: the quality [and practicability]
 of coverage on automotive accidents covered under such  insurance  poli-
 cies,  the  magnitude  of  need and interest in these types of insurance
 policies across the state,  [customer  satisfaction  and  fiscal  surety
 using such policies,] the ability of the state to regulate such policies
 through  the federal [limited] LIABILITY risk retention act OF 1986, and
 other data as is practicable that would assess the potential  impact  on
 nonprofits  that  could  be  covered  by the expansion of eligibility of
 these policies for  organizations  that  are  tax-exempt  under  section
 501(c)(3)  of  the  federal  internal  revenue code. Such superintendent
 shall report the findings and any recommendations of such study  to  the
 governor  and the legislature no later than [four years after the effec-
 tive date of this act] SEPTEMBER 1, 2027.   A RISK RETENTION  GROUP  NOT
 CHARTERED  IN  THIS  STATE  THAT  ISSUES AN INSURANCE POLICY PURSUANT TO
 SECTIONS THREE HUNDRED ELEVEN AND THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY OF  THE  VEHICLE
 AND  TRAFFIC  LAW  SHALL  SUBMIT  TO  THE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FINANCIAL
 SERVICES, UPON THE SUPERINTENDENT'S REQUEST, THE  INFORMATION  NECESSARY
 FOR THE SUPERINTENDENT TO COMPLETE THIS STUDY.
   §  6-A.  PURSUANT  TO  15 U.S.   CODE 3902(A)(1)(E) ANY RISK RETENTION
 GROUP NOT CHARTERED IN THIS STATE  BUT  WHICH  IS  REGISTERED  WITH  THE
 SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FINANCIAL  SERVICES UNDER THE FEDERAL LIABILITY RISK
 RETENTION ACT OF 1986, COMPRISED  ENTIRELY  OF  ORGANIZATIONS  THAT  ARE
 TAX-EXEMPT  UNDER SECTION 501(C)(3) OF THE FEDERAL INTERNAL REVENUE CODE
 S. 8053                             4
 
 AND WHERE THE RISK RETENTION GROUP QUALIFIES AS A CHARITABLE  RISK  POOL
 UNDER  SECTION 501(N) OF THE FEDERAL INTERNAL REVENUE CODE, SHALL REPORT
 TO THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES ANY EXAMINATION, AUDIT, OR OTHER
 INVESTIGATION,  PERFORMED  BY ANOTHER STATE'S INSURANCE COMMISSIONER AND
 ITS FINDINGS, INCLUDING ANY ENFORCEMENT  ACTIONS  FILED  OR  SETTLEMENTS
 ENTERED INTO, WITHIN 60 DAYS TO AVOID UNJUSTIFIED DUPLICATION AND UNJUS-
 TIFIED REPETITION OF SUCH ACT.
   § 4. Section 7 of a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the insurance
 law  and  the  vehicle  and  traffic law relating to owner's policies of
 liability insurance issued by a risk retention group not chartered with-
 in this state, as proposed in legislative  bills  numbers  S.5959-B  and
 A.5718-B, is amended to read as follows:
   §  7.    This  act shall take effect [on the one hundred eightieth day
 after it shall have become a law] MARCH 1, 2024.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately;  provided  however,  that
 sections  one,  two  and three of this act shall take effect on the same
 date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws  of  2023  amending
 the  insurance  law  and the vehicle and traffic law relating to owner's
 policies of liability insurance issued by a  risk  retention  group  not
 chartered  within  this  state, as proposed in legislative bills numbers
 S.5959-B and A.5718-B, takes effect.