The Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance met today to discuss SB 168.
Senate Bill 168 would relate to the surcharge on fire and casualty insurance policies to fund volunteer fire departments. The increase would be from .55% to 1%. The fiscal note on the bill suggests that the bill would mean an increase in revenue for the volunteer fire departments of 10.9 million dollars.
Jill Rice, the President of the West Virginia Insurance Association, said that West Virginia has one of the highest percentage of surcharge in the nation. She also said that she couldn’t predict the impact that the bill would have.
Rice said, “This bill won’t solve the problem. This is a tax on our policy holders that won’t solve the problem.”
Sam Love, representative of the West Virginia Fire Fighters Association said that the insurance industry would like all the volunteer fire fighters out of business so they can raise their rates. He also discussed about the expenses of volunteer fire departments such as training, pump trucks, and gear. He also explained that other funding sources are not enough as some counties can’t afford to fund them, and fundraising with the boot is not enough. The bill may offset the increase in worker’s compensation rates.
The bill was referred to the committee on Finance with a recommendation that it do pass.
Senate Bill 434 was on the agenda but was carried over until the next meeting.
