0001| SENATE BILL 254 | 0002| 42ND LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, | 0003| 1996 | 0004| INTRODUCED BY | 0005| ELIZABETH T. STEFANICS | 0006| | 0007| | 0008| | 0009| | 0010| | 0011| AN ACT | 0012| CREATING AN AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE TASK FORCE; MAKING AN | 0013| APPROPRIATION; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. | 0014| | 0015| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO: | 0016| Section 1. AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE TASK FORCE CREATED-- | 0017| TERMINATION.--There is created a task force which shall be known | 0018| as the "automobile insurance task force". The task force shall | 0019| function from the date of its appointment until the first day of | 0020| December prior to the first session of the forty-third | 0021| legislature. | 0022| Section 2. MEMBERSHIP--APPOINTMENT--VACANCIES.-- | 0023| A. The automobile insurance task force shall be | 0024| composed of seventeen voting members, including four legislative | 0025| members. Two members of the house of representatives, one from | 0001| each of the two major political parties represented in the | 0002| house, shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of | 0003| representatives and two members of the senate, one from each of | 0004| the two major political parties represented in the senate, shall | 0005| be appointed by the committees' committee of the senate or, if | 0006| the senate appointment is made in the interim, by the president | 0007| pro tempore of the senate after consultation with and agreement | 0008| of a majority of the members of the committees' committee. | 0009| B. Vacancies on the task force shall be filled by | 0010| appointment in the same manner as the original appointments. | 0011| The chairman and vice chairman of the task force shall be | 0012| appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the | 0013| president pro tempore of the senate. | 0014| C. The additional thirteen voting members shall be: | 0015| (1) the three state corporation commissioners | 0016| or their designees; | 0017| (2) the director of the motor vehicle division | 0018| of the taxation and revenue department; | 0019| (3) a metropolitan or magistrate court judge | 0020| appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court; | 0021| (4) the secretary of public safety or his | 0022| designee; | 0023| (5) the attorney general or his designee; (6) two public members to represent consumer | 0024| interests, one appointed by the speaker of the house of | 0025| representatives and one appointed by the president pro tempore | 0001| of the senate; | 0002| (7) two lawyers representing the interests of | 0003| trial lawyers, one appointed by the speaker of the house of | 0004| representatives and one appointed by the president pro tempore | 0005| of the senate; and | 0006| (8) two representatives of the interests of the | 0007| automobile insurance industry, one appointed by the speaker of | 0008| the house of representatives and one appointed by the president | 0009| pro tempore of the senate. | 0010| D. The public members shall be paid per diem and | 0011| mileage in accordance with the provisions of the Per Diem and | 0012| Mileage Act. | 0013| Section 3. DUTIES.-- | 0014| A. After its appointment, the automobile insurance | 0015| task force shall hold one organizational meeting to develop a | 0016| work plan and budget for the ensuing interim. The work plan and | 0017| budget shall be submitted to the New Mexico legislative council | 0018| for approval. | 0019| B. Upon approval of the work plan and budget by the | 0020| legislative council, the task force shall examine the statutes, | 0021| constitutional provisions, regulations, court decisions and | 0022| practices governing automobile insurance in New Mexico and | 0023| elsewhere and recommend legislation or changes if any are found | 0024| to be necessary to the first session of the forty-third | 0025| legislature. The task force shall seek in its study to | 0001| determine why automobile insurance rates are at the level they | 0002| are in New Mexico; investigate whether, and if so, why those | 0003| rates are disproportionately high; assess what options are | 0004| reasonably available to lower the rates; determine what | 0005| percentage of New Mexicans are uninsured, and what options may | 0006| be pursued to decrease that percentage; consider what options | 0007| are in general available to address automobile insurance | 0008| problems in New Mexico, including the advantages and | 0009| disadvantages of each; address concerns about competition in the | 0010| marketplace, fraudulent practices and their impact on rates; and | 0011| review how enforcement of effective automobile insurance laws | 0012| can be achieved, including consideration of effective methods | 0013| working in other states. | 0014| Section 4. REPORT.--The automobile insurance task force | 0015| shall make a report of its findings and recommendations for the | 0016| consideration of the first session of the forty-third | 0017| legislature. The report and suggested legislation shall be made | 0018| available on or before December 1, 1996 to the New Mexico | 0019| legislative council, the legislative finance committee and any | 0020| appropriate interim committee with jurisdiction over court or | 0021| insurance matters. | 0022| Section 5. STAFF.--The staff for the automobile insurance | 0023| task force shall be provided by the legislative council service, | 0024| and the staff of the department of insurance, the state | 0025| corporation commission and other state agencies shall provide | 0001| assistance as requested. The legislative council service, at | 0002| the direction of the task force, may hire additional staff as | 0003| necessary and contract with experts to assist the task force in | 0004| carrying out its tasks. | 0005| Section 6. APPROPRIATION.--For the purpose of paying the | 0006| salaries and expenses of the technical, professional, legal, | 0007| clerical and stenographic assistants; for necessary equipment | 0008| and supplies used in carrying out the provisions of this act; | 0009| and for reimbursing the per diem and mileage expenses of the | 0010| automobile insurance task force, there is appropriated to the | 0011| legislative council service from the general fund the sum of | 0012| fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). All or any part of this | 0013| appropriation may be expended in fiscal years 1996 and 1997, and | 0014| any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of | 0015| fiscal year 1997 shall revert to the general fund. Payments | 0016| from the appropriation shall be made upon vouchers signed by the | 0017| director of the legislative council service or his authorized | 0018| representative. | 0019| Section 7. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public | 0020| peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately. | 0021|  | 0022| | 0023| FORTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE | 0024| SECOND SESSION, 1996 | 0025| | 0001| | 0002| JANUARY 25, 1996 | 0003| | 0004| Mr. President: | 0005| | 0006| Your COMMITTEES' COMMITTEE, to whom has been referred | 0007| | 0008| SENATE BILL 254 | 0009| | 0010| has had it under consideration and finds same to be GERMANE, PURSUANT | 0011| TO CONSTITUIONAL PROVISIONS, and thence referred to the CORPORATIONS | 0012| AND TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE. | 0013| | 0014| Respectfully submitted, | 0015| | 0016| | 0017| | 0018| | 0019| __________________________________ | 0020| SENATOR MANNY M. ARAGON, Chairman | 0021| | 0022| | 0023| | 0024| Adopted_______________________ Not Adopted_______________________ | 0025| (Chief Clerk) (Chief Clerk) | 0001| | 0002| | 0003| Date ________________________ | 0004| | 0005| | 0006| | 0007| S0254CC1 | 0008| | 0009| FORTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE SB 254/a | 0010| SECOND SESSION, 1996 | 0011| | 0012| | 0013| January 30, 1996 | 0014| | 0015| Mr. President: | 0016| | 0017| Your CORPORATIONS & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE, to whom | 0018| has been referred | 0019| | 0020| SENATE BILL 254 | 0021| | 0022| has had it under consideration and reports same with recommendation that | 0023| it DO PASS, amended as follows: | 0024| | 0025| 1. On page 1, line 23, strike "seventeen" and insert in lieu | 0001| thereof "fifteen". | 0002| | 0003| 2. On page 2, lines 1 and 2, strike "shall be appointed by the | 0004| speaker of the house of representatives". | 0005| | 0006| 3. On page 2, line 4, strike "committees' committee of the senate | 0007| or, if", strike all of lines 5 through 7 and insert in lieu thereof | 0008| "legislative council". | 0009| | 0010| 4. On page 2, line 10, strike "The chairman and vice chairman" and | 0011| insert in lieu thereof "Co-chairmen". | 0012| | 0013| 5. On page 2, lines 11 and 12, strike "speaker of the house of | 0014| representatives and the president pro tempore of the senate" and insert | 0015| in lieu thereof "legislative council". | 0016| | 0017| 6. On page 2, line 13, strike "thirteen" and insert in lieu | 0018| thereof "eleven". | 0019| | 0020| 7. On page 2, strike lines 18 and 19. | 0021| | 0022| 8. Renumber the succeeding paragraphs accordingly. | 0023| | 0024| 9. On page 2, line 21, after the semicolon insert "and". | 0025| | 0001| 10. On page 2, strike line 22. | 0002| | 0003| 11. Renumber the succeeding paragraph accordingly. | 0004| | 0005| 12. On page 2, line 23, after "(6)" strike the remainder of the | 0006| line, strike all of lines 24 and 25, and on page 3, strike lines 1 | 0007| through 9 and insert in lieu thereof: | 0008| | 0009| "six public members who are knowledgeable about or interested in | 0010| automobile insurance matters to represent consumer interests, three of | 0011| whom shall be appointed by the legislative council and three of whom | 0012| shall be appointed by the governor.", | 0013| | 0014| and thence referred to the FINANCE COMMITTEE. | 0015| | 0016| Respectfully submitted, | 0017| | 0018| | 0019| | 0020| __________________________________ | 0021| Roman M. Maes, III, Chairman | 0022| | 0023| | 0024| | 0025| Adopted_______________________ Not Adopted_______________________ | 0001| (Chief Clerk) (Chief Clerk) | 0002| | 0003| | 0004| Date ________________________ | 0005| | 0006| | 0007| The roll call vote was 5 For 0 Against | 0008| Yes: 5 | 0009| No: 0 | 0010| Excused: Kidd, McKibben, Reagan, Robinson | 0011| Absent: None | 0012| | 0013| | 0014| | 0015| | 0016| | 0017| S0254CT1 .111157.1 | 0018| | 0019| FORTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE SB 254/a | 0020| SECOND SESSION, 1996 | 0021| | 0022| | 0023| February 10, 1996 | 0024| | 0025| Mr. President: | 0001| | 0002| Your FINANCE COMMITTEE, to whom has been referred | 0003| | 0004| SENATE BILL 254, as amended | 0005| | 0006| has had it under consideration and reports same with recommendation that | 0007| it DO PASS, amended as follows: | 0008| | 0009| 1. On page 1, lines 11 and 12, strike "MAKING AN APPROPRIATION;". | 0010| | 0011| 2. On page 5, strike lines 5 through 18 in their entirety. | 0012| | 0013| 3. Renumber the succeeding section accordingly. | 0014| | 0015| | 0016| Respectfully submitted, | 0017| | 0018| | 0019| | 0020| __________________________________ | 0021| Ben D. Altamirano, Chairman | 0022| | 0023| | 0024| | 0025| Adopted_______________________ Not Adopted_______________________ | 0001| (Chief Clerk) (Chief Clerk) | 0002| | 0003| | 0004| Date ________________________ | 0005| | 0006| | 0007| The roll call vote was 9 For 0 Against | 0008| Yes: 9 | 0009| No: 0 | 0010| Excused: Duran, Ingle, Kidd, Sanchez | 0011| Absent: None | 0012| | 0013| | 0014| S0254FC1 .112012.1 | 0015| | 0016| FORTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE | 0017| SECOND SESSION | 0018| | 0019| | 0020| February 11, 1996 | 0021| | 0022| | 0023| SENATE FLOOR AMENDMENT number _______ to SENATE BILL 254, as amended | 0024| | 0025| Amendment sponsored by Senator Elizabeth T. Stefanics | 0001| | 0002| | 0003| 1. Strike Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee | 0004| Amendments 1 and 6. | 0005| | 0006| 2. On page 1, line 23, strike "seventeen" and insert in lieu | 0007| thereof "nineteen". | 0008| | 0009| 3. On page 2, line 13, strike "thirteen" and insert in lieu | 0010| thereof "fifteen". | 0011| | 0012| | 0013| | 0014| | 0015| | 0016| | 0017| | 0018| __________________________ | 0019| Elizabeth T. Stefanics | 0020| | 0021| | 0022| | 0023| Adopted ___________________ Not Adopted _____________________ | 0024| (Chief Clerk) (Chief Clerk) | 0025| | 0001| | 0002| Date _________________ | 0003| |