NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9091
SPONSOR: DiPietro TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to authorizing
the Iroquois central school district to establish an insurance reserve
fund
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA. OF BILL:
To authorize the Iroquois central school district to establish an insur-
ance reserve fund in order to make expenditures related to health-relat-
ed claims.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section one amends the general municipal law
governing insurance reserve funds to permit the Iroquois central school
district to establish such reserve funds.
Section 2. Establishes the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
Click here to enter text.
JUSTIFICATION:
In an effort to contain costs associated with increasing health insur-
ance premiums, which create a significant strain on school budgets annu-
ally, many school districts have opted to move to a self-insurance model
for health benefit programs as opposed to traditional premium based
programs. The Iroquois central school district has determined that a
self-insurance model is a lower cost method of delivering health insur-
ance to its employees, thereby lowering the district's budgetary
expenses. Nonetheless, the challenge with such a model is the unpredict-
ability of claims. Such fluctuations in claims, coupled with the exist-
ing statutory restrictions related to fund balances, necessitate this
authorization
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9091
IN ASSEMBLY
February 6, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DiPIETRO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Education
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to authorizing
the Iroquois central school district to establish an insurance reserve
fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 6-n of the gener-
2 al municipal law, as separately amended by chapters 589 and 598 of the
3 laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
4 (a) The governing board of any municipal corporation may establish a
5 reserve fund to be known as the insurance reserve fund. Upon the
6 creation of the fund, the municipality may make expenditures from the
7 fund for any loss, claim, action or judgment for which the municipal
8 corporation is authorized or required to purchase or maintain insurance,
9 except those kinds of risks for which insurance is authorized pursuant
10 to paragraph one, two, three, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen,
11 twenty-two or twenty-three of subsection (a) of section one thousand one
12 hundred thirteen of the insurance law, or for payments in lieu of
13 contributions under article eighteen of the labor law; provided however,
14 that no municipality shall make an expenditure from such fund for any
15 loss, claim, action or judgment for which the municipal corporation has
16 established a reserve fund under any other provision of law; provided,
17 further that the Scarsdale union free school district, the Mamaroneck
18 union free school district, the Minisink Valley central school district,
19 the Vernon Verona Sherrill central school district, the Ithaca city
20 school district, the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda union free school
21 district, the Bedford central school district, the Grand Island central
22 school district, the Tonawanda city school district, the enlarged city
23 school district of Middletown, the Frontier central school district, the
24 Owego Apalachin central school district, the Maine-Endwell central
25 school district, the Binghamton city school district, the Candor central
26 school district, the Cleveland Hill union free school district, the
27 Depew union free school district, the Iroquois central school district,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14051-01-4
A. 9091 2
1 the Liverpool central school district, the Auburn enlarged city school
2 district, the Carmel central school district, and the Canastota central
3 school district may establish insurance reserve funds in compliance with
4 this section and article seventy-four of the education law and such
5 school districts may make expenditures in compliance with this section
6 and article seventy-four of the education law from such reserve fund for
7 any loss, claim, action or judgment for which the school districts are
8 authorized or required to purchase or maintain insurance for the kinds
9 of risks for which insurance is authorized pursuant to paragraph three
10 of subsection (a) of section one thousand one hundred thirteen of the
11 insurance law.
12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
