Insurer Group: Wisconsin Lawmakers Pass Business Friendly Legislation

Despite a contentious legislative session, Wisconsin lawmakers successfully passed many bills that will help consumers and improve the state’s business climate, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI).

“The 2011-2012 session featured filibusters, walkouts, recall elections and several legislative donnybrooks,” said Jeffrey Junkas PCI regional manager. “But as the dust settles there is a long list of accomplishments including auto insurance reform, lawsuit reform and tax reform. In addition, positive legislation addressing surplus lines and service contracts passed. Lawmakers were up to the challenge of reversing previous legislative and judicial actions that negatively affected consumers and the business community.”

The first major insurance reform bill (AB 4) passed early in the two-year session and was signed by Gov. Scott Walker. The bill lowered the state’s financial responsibility requirements back to pre-2009 levels of 25/50/10, requires only an offer of underinsured motorist coverage and allows for verbal rejection of the coverage.

Junkas noted that “legislation (AB 189) that would have severely restricted insurers’ direct repair programs and could have led to higher repair costs based on the way labor rates would have been determined” did not advance.

Lawmakers also sent major lawsuit reform bills to Gov. Walker. Enacted during the January 2011 special session, SS-SB 1 amended the laws regarding civil actions for product liability, punitive damages, frivolous lawsuits, and non-economic damages against long-term care providers. Other key tort legislation in special session addressed attorney fees (SS-SB 12), judgment interest rates (SS-SB 14) and trespass liability (SS-SB 22).

Late in the session lawmakers passed legislation (SB 202), which eliminates compensatory and punitive damages for acts of employment discrimination or unfair honesty or genetic testing. The bill repeals 2009’s Act 20, which for the first time imposed punitive and compensatory damages under Wisconsin’s employment discrimination law.

Other insurance-related legislation that passed late in the session included SB 492, which contains provisions that will improve the market for service contracts and SB 378, which contains important surplus lines provisions. SB 378 will address problems resulting from the Gillen Federal Court case that required surplus lines forms to be filed with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and it added essential elements from the Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010.

Source: PCI