New York State Assembly

 
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A02207 Summary:

A02207 Actions:

A02207 Committee Votes:

Committee:INSURANCE   Chair:Weprin      
DATE:01/31/2023AYE/NAY:23/0  Action: Favorable refer to committee Rules        
Weprin
Aye
Blankenbush
Aye
Cook
Aye
Hawley
Aye
Pretlow
Excused
Palmesano
Aye
Lavine
Aye
Gandolfo
Aye
Steck
Aye
Curran
Aye
Dilan
Aye
Jensen
Aye
Hunter
Aye
Blumencranz
Aye
Rosenthal
Aye
Bendett
Aye
Stern
Aye
Jacobson
Aye
Meeks
Aye
Forrest
Aye
Anderson
Aye
Cruz
Aye
Bores
Aye
Lunsford
Aye

Committee:RULES   Chair:Heastie      
DATE:01/31/2023AYE/NAY:27/0  Action: Favorable         
Heastie
Aye
Barclay
Excused
Weinstein
Aye
Hawley
Aye
Pretlow
Aye
Giglio
Aye
Cook
Aye
Blankenbush
Excused
Glick
Aye
Norris
Aye
Aubry
Aye
Ra
Aye
Dinowitz
Aye
Brabenec
Aye
Colton
Aye
Palmesano
Aye
Magnarelli
Aye
Reilly
Aye
Paulin
Aye
Peoples-Stokes
Aye
Benedetto
Aye
Lavine
Aye
Lupardo
Aye
Zebrowski
Aye
Thiele
Aye
Braunstein
Aye
Dickens
Excused
Davila
Excused
Hyndman
Aye
Rozic
Aye
Bronson
Aye

A02207 Floor Votes:

A02207 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A2207
 
SPONSOR: Eichenstein

 
TITLE OF BILL:
 
An act to amend the insurance law, in relation to insurance for victims
of a hate crime; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating
thereto
 
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
 
The purpose of this bill is to make amendments to Chapter 676 of the
Laws of 2022 relating to insurance for victims of a hate crime.
 
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
 
Sections 1-2 make amendments to Chapter. 676 of the Laws of 2022 to move
a section of law which prohibits the cancellation or increase in cost of
an insurance policy due to a claim resulting from an insured being the
victim of a hate crime to Article 34 of the Insurance law, adds that
this protection applies to an independently owned and operated business
entity that employs 100 or fewer employees, changes the term "offender"
to "perpetrator", clarifies that this new law shall not prohibit an
insurer from abiding by other sections of the Insurance law and provides
a ninety-day effective date.
 
Section 3 provides the effective date.
 
 
JUSTIFICATION:
 
Modeled after an Illinois Law, this legislation seeks to protect victims
of hate crimes from having their insurance policy cancelled for the sole
reason that they were the victim of a hate crime. It is abhorrent to
think that an insurer might cancel a policy for this singular reason,
this legislation does allow for a policy to be cancelled if there are
other compelling factors, it also does not prohibit terms of a policy
from being changed, it simples provides protection from being cancelled.
As an example, a Jew who has a swastika repeatedly etched into their car
in their driveway would be protected against their auto insurance being
cancelled because of this vandalism. Or a mosque that is the constant
victim of vandalism on their building and property would likewise be
protected from a cancellation of their insurance policy. This legis-
lation seeks to bring peace of mind to these individuals by removing the
fear that if they rapport a claim, they may lose their insurance policy.
We should be doing all we can to remove artificial barriers towards the
reporting of hate crimes and this legislation helps to achieve that
goal.
 
Chapter 676 of the Laws of 2022 prohibited an insurer from cancelling,
refusing to issue, refusing to renew, or increasing the premium of a
policy solely on the basis that one or more claims have been made
against any policy during the preceding sixty months for a loss that is
the result of a hate crime. This Chapter amendment moves this protection
to Article 34 of the Insurance law, adds that this protection applies to
an independently owned and operated business entity that employs 100 or
fewer employees, changes the term "offender" to "perpetrator", clarifies
that this new law shall not prohibit an insurer from abiding by other
sections of the Insurance law and provides a ninety-day effective date.
 
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
 
This is a new bill.
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
 
None noted.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law and shall apply to all policies issued, renewed, modified,
altered or amended on or after such date; provided, however, that the
provisions of section one of this act shall take effect on the same date
and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2022 amending the
insurance law relating to insurance for victims of a hate crime, as
proposed in legislative bills numbers S.  7658-B and A. 8869-B, takes
effect.

A02207 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          2207
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 24, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  EICHENSTEIN -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Insurance
 
        AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to insurance for  victims
          of a hate crime; and to repeal certain provisions of such law relating
          thereto
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1. Section 3114 of the insurance law, as added by a chapter of
     2  the laws of 2022 amending the insurance law relating  to  insurance  for
     3  victims  of  a  hate  crime, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.
     4  7658-B and A.  8869-B, is REPEALED.
     5    § 2. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 3422 to read
     6  as follows:
     7    § 3422. Hate crimes;  coverage  refusal.  (a)  For  purposes  of  this
     8  section,  "insured"  means  a current policyholder or a person or entity
     9  that is covered under an insurance policy.
    10    (b) This section shall apply to policies of insurance if  the  insured
    11  or proposed insured is:
    12    (1) an individual;
    13    (2)  a  business  entity  that is independently owned and operated and
    14  employs one hundred or fewer individuals;
    15    (3) a religious organization;
    16    (4) an educational organization; or
    17    (5) any other nonprofit organization that is  organized  and  operated
    18  for religious, charitable or educational purposes.
    19    (c)  An  insurer  that issues or delivers a policy in this state shall
    20  not cancel, refuse to issue, refuse to renew, or increase the premium of
    21  a policy or exclude, limit, restrict,  or  reduce  coverage  under  such
    22  policy  solely  on  the  basis  that  one  or more claims have been made
    23  against any policy during the preceding sixty months for a loss that  is
    24  the  result of a hate crime, as defined pursuant to article four hundred

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD03944-01-3
        A. 2207                             2
 
     1  eighty-five of the penal law, committed against the person  or  property
     2  insured  if  the named insured provides evidence to the insurer that the
     3  act causing such loss is a result of a hate crime and  that  an  insured
     4  was not the perpetrator of the hate crime.
     5    (d)  Nothing in this section shall prohibit an insurer from canceling,
     6  refusing to renew, increasing the premium  of  an  insurance  policy  or
     7  excluding, limiting, restricting, or reducing coverage under such policy
     8  due  to  other  factors  that are permitted by any other section of this
     9  chapter, including the factors set forth in section two  thousand  three
    10  hundred three of this chapter.
    11    §  3.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    12  have become a law and shall apply to all policies issued, renewed, modi-
    13  fied, altered or amended on or after such date; provided, however,  that
    14  the  provisions of section one of this act shall take effect on the same
    15  date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws  of  2022  amending
    16  the  insurance law relating to insurance for victims of a hate crime, as
    17  proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 7658-B  and  A.  8869-B,  takes
    18  effect.

A02207 LFIN:

 
NO LFIN

A02207 Chamber Video/Transcript: