The 2023-24 legislative session in New York saw a flurry of activity, with legislators in both houses passing hundreds of bills. Despite this progress, several bills on PIANY’s radar did not pass the Legislature. Some bills passed one house but not the other, while others were not considered by either house. Here are some of the significant bills that failed to advance this session.
Excess-line reform
S.5896/A.5253 was sponsored by Sen. Neil Breslin, D-46, and Assemblymember Pamela Hunter, D-128. S.5896 successfully passed the Senate floor on May 23, 2024. The bill would have excluded both retail producing insurance brokers and wholesale excess-line insurance brokers from the diligent-effort requirement when placing commercial-lines insurance through an unaffiliated wholesale excess-line insurance broker.
Currently, retail and wholesale E&S brokers must undergo a diligent-effort process, requiring three authorized carriers to decline the risk before they can place business in the E&S marketplace. This process adds another layer of red tape for insurance brokers, and delays obtaining the desired insurance policy for the consumer.
While S.5896 swiftly passed in the state Senate, its companion, A.5253 lost momentum, ultimately dying in the state Assembly — the bill was not reported out of the Assembly Insurance Committee.
Learn more about this issue here.
Staged construction accidents
New York state is witnessing a troubling rise in staged accidents on construction sites designed to commit insurance fraud. These scams are widespread, driving up costs in the construction and housing sectors statewide. Consequently, contractors and developers are burdened with exorbitant insurance premiums, which are inevitably passed on to consumers, resulting in higher housing expenses.
Despite this, S.8413-A/A.8981-A, a bipartisan bill that would have classified staging a construction site accident for insurance fraud as a Class E felony, failed to pass either house of the Legislature. The bill stalled in the Senate and Assembly Codes committees, ultimately failing this legislative term. If enacted, it would have aligned with existing laws that categorize staging a motor vehicle accident as a Class E and D felony, respectively.
Anti-arson
For the past four years, one of PIANY’s key priorities has been repealing the state’s antiquated arson law. Although the bill (S.3547/A.8831) has consistently passed the Assembly since 2021, it has failed to pass the state Senate each time, including this year.
The bill focused primarily on New York City and it would have required property owners to complete an anti-arson application to purchase property insurance. Under the law, completing the anti-arson application is mandatory for all property insurance policies. The application must be completed annually and failure to complete it means insureds will have their insurance policies canceled.
Learn more about this issue here.
Dog breed amendment
After gaining swift momentum in the Assembly and Senate Insurance committees, it was surprising that S.7416-B/A.6867-B was not enacted this year. S.7416-B swiftly passed through the Senate, but A.6867-B ultimately died on the Third Reading.
The bill would have barred insurers that issue renters insurance policies from refusing to issue, renew, cancel, charge, or from reducing, excluding, limiting, or restricting coverage based solely on the breed of the dog. This would have extended the same protections to renters that homeowners currently enjoy.
Learn more about this issue here.
Theophilus Alexander
Theophilus W. Alexander joined PIA Northeast as a government & industry affairs specialist for the Government & Industry Affairs Department in 2023. Prior to joining PIA, Theo had served in both houses of the New York State Legislature. Previously, he worked as a legislative analyst for Hon. New York State Sen. Samra G. Brouk, D-55, and he served at the New York State Assembly, as a policy analyst with New York Assembly Program & Counsel. Theo received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics from Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y.
