NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A11341
SPONSOR: Rules (Angelino) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to permitting the
Chenango Forks central school district to create an insurance reserve
fund
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this legislation is to allow the Chenango Forks Central
School District to establish an insurance reserve fund for the purpose
of making payments related to health-related claims.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends section 6-n of the General Municipal Law to add the
Chenango Forks Central School District to the list of school districts
within the state authorized to establish an insurance reserve fund.
Section 2. Establishes the effective date
JUSTIFICATION:
In an effort to control the rising costs associated with insurance
premiums, many school districts are transitioning to a self-insured
health insurance model to provide coverage for their faculty and staff.
The Chenango Forks Central School District has elected to provide cover-
age through such a plan.
Although the overall cost associated with a self-insured plan is lower
than a traditional health plan, there are greater cost fluctuations
resulting from the unpredictability of resulting health claims. With
school districts being prohibited from retaining more than four percent
of their budget in an unappropriated fund balance or reserve fund, this
significantly limits the Chenango Forks Central School District's abili-
ty to prepare for the variable expenses of the self-insured plan.
This bill would allow the school district to create an insurance reserve
and avoid fiscal hardship due to the variability of these types of
claims and lower their overall budgetary expenses.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
11341
IN ASSEMBLY
May 11, 2026
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Angelino) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to permitting the
Chenango Forks central school district to create an insurance reserve
fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 6-n of the gener-
2 al municipal law, as separately amended by chapters 486, 515 and 525 of
3 the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) The governing board of any municipal corporation may establish a
5 reserve fund to be known as the insurance reserve fund. Upon the
6 creation of the fund, the municipality may make expenditures from the
7 fund for any loss, claim, action or judgment for which the municipal
8 corporation is authorized or required to purchase or maintain insurance,
9 except those kinds of risks for which insurance is authorized pursuant
10 to paragraph one, two, three, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen,
11 twenty-two or twenty-three of subsection (a) of section one thousand one
12 hundred thirteen of the insurance law, or for payments in lieu of
13 contributions under article eighteen of the labor law; provided however,
14 that no municipality shall make an expenditure from such fund for any
15 loss, claim, action or judgment for which the municipal corporation has
16 established a reserve fund under any other provision of law; provided,
17 further that the Scarsdale union free school district, the Mamaroneck
18 union free school district, the Minisink Valley central school district,
19 the Vernon Verona Sherrill central school district, the Ithaca city
20 school district, the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda union free school
21 district, the Bedford central school district, the Grand Island central
22 school district, the Tonawanda city school district, the enlarged city
23 school district of Middletown, the Frontier central school district, the
24 Owego Apalachin central school district, the Maine-Endwell central
25 school district, the Binghamton city school district, the Candor central
26 school district, the Cleveland Hill union free school district, the
27 Depew union free school district, the Iroquois central school district,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15804-01-6
A. 11341 2
1 the Liverpool central school district, the Auburn enlarged city school
2 district, the Carmel central school district, the Clarence central
3 school district, the Fulton city school district, [and] the Canastota
4 central school district, and the Chenango Forks central school district
5 may establish insurance reserve funds in compliance with this section
6 and article seventy-four of the education law and such school districts
7 may make expenditures in compliance with this section and article seven-
8 ty-four of the education law from such reserve fund for any loss, claim,
9 action or judgment for which the school districts are authorized or
10 required to purchase or maintain insurance for the kinds of risks for
11 which insurance is authorized pursuant to paragraph three of subsection
12 (a) of section one thousand one hundred thirteen of the insurance law.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
