After a week off for the Memorial Day holiday, the General Assembly was back at work this week and taking action on a number of legislative items of interest to IIANC members:

• HB 356, which contains various insurance-related provisions, was heard in the Senate Commerce and Insurance Committee, approved, and now moves on to the Senate Finance Committee for a hearing.

IIANC member Senator Todd Johnson was instrumental in getting the IIANC-sought provisions included in the bill.

The three key items on the IIANC Legislative Agenda in HB 356:

clarification that only a certificate of insurance (COI) can be requested by state professional licensing boards, or city and county governments, when proof of coverage is required;

giving the Commissioner of Banks clear authority to sanction licensed mortgage brokers if they violate the prohibition on requiring a replacement cost estimator (RCE) as a condition of issuing a loan;

extending to January 1, 2027, the effective date of a law passed last year to require NC driver’s license holders who are subject to the inexperience operator surcharge to maintain continuous liability coverage, to give carriers and the NC DMV more time to work out the reporting specifications relative to the new requirement.

The bill also contains items advocated for by insurance carriers, including peer-to-peer vehicle sharing, motor vehicle glass repair and replacement, and having habitational property contents coverage in policies issued by the Beach Plan conform to state-approved rates.

IIANC Chief Advocacy Officer Joe Stewart spoke in support of the bill at the committee meeting, and used that opportunity to mention he’s hearing again from coastal agents of a need to look at the statutory limits set for policies issued by the Beach Plan (a policy limit increase was successfully advocated for by IIANC in 2023), letting legislators know IIANC plans to work with NC DOI, carriers and Beach Plan staff to assess coastal insurance markets with an eye to returning with recommendations during the 2027 Session.

A full summary of the bill can be found HERE.

• HB 315, which limits third-party litigation financing, an issue the Big “I” has asked all state independent insurance agent associations to be supportive of (IIANC is part of a coalition led by the NC Chamber that has pushed for this legislation). The bill was approved by the Senate Rules Committee and now heads to the full Senate for a vote next week.
• HB 857, which contains technical corrections to modernize and clean up the provisions regarding agent licensing, passed out of the Senate Rule Committee and heads to the full Senate for a vote next week.
• HB 565, which limits the use of AI by healthcare providers for the purpose of reviewing clinical and treatment records for ‘upcoding,’ the practice of trying to find ways to substantiate additional charges for services provided.

Representatives of the state hospitals expressed concern during the committee meeting that the bill’s language goes too far and could limit the use of AI for discovering errors made in billing, but the bill was approved and now moves on to the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing.

Finally This Week

There was an override of the veto of HB 87 by Democratic Governor Josh Stein, legislation passed last year that brings North Carolina in line with federal tax exemption rules for contributions made to scholarship -granting organizations, a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress.

The vote to override taken in the Senate this week passed 30-19 along party lines.

The House vote was taken last month, and passed 73-46 with the two now-Unaffiliated members from Mecklenburg County, Rep. Carla Cunningham and Rep. Nasif Majeed, voting with Republicans to supply the super majority numbers needed to override a gubernatorial veto.

Cunningham and Majeed changed their partisan affiliation from Democrat after losing in the March Primary election, mostly on the issue of their willingness to vote with Republicans on some issues.