February 26, 2018
Last week in the Kansas legislature was turnaround week. This is generally thought to be the halfway point of the legislative session. All non-exempt bills had to be out of the house of origin by February 22 . Only bills that have been introduced by or referred to exempt committees will be allowed to have action in the house of origin from this point in the session forward. Due to the turnaround deadline, there was significant action on both the House and Senate floor this week.
 
The speed of the legislature begins to increase from this point forward. Non-exempt committees will have a little more than three weeks to wrap up their work. The deadline for second house consideration is March 29. The biggest issue to likely be considered during the latter half of the session will be K-12 education funding. There is still a lot of "hall talk" regarding the best path forward on that matter, but there has been no clear resolution to the matter presented at this point in time.
Association's Work Comp E Mod Bill "Blessed"
House legislative leadership "blessed" House Bill 2487 , a bill introduced by the KAIA. The bill was a nonexempt bill, meaning it would have had to pass the House before the Turnaround Deadline on February 22. Blessing a bill refers to the procedural move to make a bill exempt from legislative deadlines by referring the bill to an exempt committee, like Appropriations, and referring the bill back to its committee of origin. Having the bill blessed allows the KAIA to continue to work on a solution with stakeholders in opposition.
 
As you will recall, HB2487 would limit the amount an employer's workers compensation experience modifier (mod) could be increased as a result of a motor vehicle accident (MVA) in which neither an employee of the employer, or the employer was at fault in the accident.
Captive Insurance Company Bill Passes Senate
The full Senate passed the Insurance Department's bill, Senate Bill 410 , which will update Kansas statutes to allow for Kansas businesses to operate captive insurance companies. The KAIA has spent extensive time with the Department about this bill and have no concerns at this point. We will continue to closely monitor as the bill moves. The bill has been referred to the House Insurance Committee.
Electronic Documents Bill Passes Senate
The Senate passed out SB348 , a bill dealing with the electronic delivery of health insurance documents. The proposal, brought by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, would make electronic delivery the standard method of delivery for certain health benefit plan documents. The insured could request to receive paper documents instead of electronic delivery. The bill has been referred to the House Insurance Committee.
Small Business Expensing Passes Senate 
Senate Bill 303 passed out of the Senate.  The bill will restore the ability of small businesses to fully deduct expenses related to the purchase of business and office machinery and equipment.  This policy was enacted in 2011.  Following the passage exempting pass through entities from paying state income taxes in 2012, this provision was rendered moot and was deleted.  However, it was not restored when the legislature passed the retroactive repeal of the so-called small business exemption.  The legislation will retroactively reinstate business expensing for small businesses.  The bill now heads to the House Tax Committee for consideration.

Kansas Association of Insurance Agents
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