Bill Text: NY A00136 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires the department of financial services to fulfill certain requirements to implement homeowner natural disaster preparedness, home safety and loss prevention courses.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to insurance [A00136 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A00136-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           136

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       (Prefiled)

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by M. of A. CRUZ, STERN, BURDICK, SIMON, DARLING, McDONOUGH,
          SILLITTI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Insurance

        AN ACT to amend the insurance law,  in  relation  to  homeowner  natural
          disaster preparedness, home safety and loss prevention courses

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subparagraphs 3 and 4 of paragraph (a) and paragraph (d) of
     2  subsection 5 of section 2346 of the insurance law, as added by section 2
     3  of part BB of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016,  are  amended  and  a  new
     4  paragraph (e) is added to read as follows:
     5    (3)  "Homeowner  natural  disaster  preparedness, home safety and loss
     6  prevention course" means a natural disaster  preparedness,  home  safety
     7  and loss prevention course that has been submitted to the superintendent
     8  for  [their  information and review] approval by an applicant, and which
     9  has been approved by the superintendent, pursuant to  paragraph  (d)  of
    10  this  subsection.  Such course [may] shall provide useful information to
    11  participants on items including, but not limited to: courses  of  action
    12  that  can  be taken before, during and after the occurrence of a natural
    13  disaster, strategies to reduce  risk  exposure  to  insured  residential
    14  property  owners  and renters, and information about the installation of
    15  equipment, devices or other capital improvements to real property  which
    16  can  help  to eliminate or mitigate damage to real or personal property,
    17  personal injury or the loss of life caused  by  a  natural  disaster  or
    18  other insurable event or occurrence of a fire, theft, burglary, personal
    19  injury or property damage.
    20    (4)  "Applicant"  means  an  insurer,  or  any other person, agency or
    21  organization  which  submits  a  proposed  homeowner  natural   disaster
    22  preparedness,  home safety and loss prevention course to the superinten-
    23  dent for [their information and review] approval pursuant  to  paragraph

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02101-01-3
        A. 136                              2

     1  (d)  of  this subsection, and who or which is prepared and able to offer
     2  such course to insureds upon the approval thereof.
     3    (d)  The superintendent may establish, by rule or otherwise, standards
     4  or guidelines to be  used  by  the  superintendent  when  reviewing  the
     5  proposed  homeowner  natural disaster preparedness, home safety and loss
     6  prevention courses.  Every such course submitted by an applicant to  the
     7  superintendent  for  approval  must  be reviewed and shall be subject to
     8  approval by the superintendent.
     9    (e) The department shall issue a request for proposal for the homeown-
    10  er natural disaster preparedness, home safety and loss prevention cours-
    11  es described pursuant to this subsection. On or before March first,  two
    12  thousand  twenty-four,  the  department shall submit a request for state
    13  funding in order  to  effectuate  the  provisions  of  this  subsection;
    14  provided,  however,  that  no expenditure shall be made until the super-
    15  intendent has approved a program and fiscal plan for  homeowner  natural
    16  disaster  preparedness,  home  safety and loss prevention courses.  Such
    17  plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following:  (1)  specific
    18  criteria  to be applied in evaluating the requests for proposal; and (2)
    19  uniform course and cost standards.
    20    § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
    21  ing  the date on which it shall have become a law.  Effective immediate-
    22  ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal  of  any  rule  or  regulation
    23  necessary  for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are
    24  authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.