If the first week is any indication, the 89th regular session of the Texas Legislature will be a busy one. Bill filing for the session began on November 12, and the first five days saw almost 1,600 bills filed in the House and Senate. This represents about a 60% increase compared to the same filing period before the 2023 session.

Amid rising premiums in the home and auto insurance markets, legislative interest in property/casualty insurance issues is higher heading into this session than it has been in years. Bill filings during the first week were more limited, with only a handful of proposals directly related to property/casualty lines. These included:

• One of the key debates from the 2023 legislative session involved whether home and auto policies should be required to include appraisal provisions. Several bills on this topic were proposed last session, but none passed. Two appraisal bills were filed in the first week: HB 345 by Rep. Mary Ann Perez, which would mandate appraisal clauses in residential property policies, and SB 369 by Senate Business and Commerce Committee Chairman Charles Schwertner, which would mandate appraisal provisions in private passenger auto policies.
  
  
• SB 213 by Sen. Royce West would prohibit the “tying” of residential property and private passenger auto insurance—requiring the purchase of one type of policy to obtain the other.
  
  
• HB 722 by Rep. John Bucy would require insurers to disclose, upon request, the process used to determine the value of a loss for private passenger auto insurance.

Bill filing is expected to slow considerably for the remainder of the calendar year. More than 8,000 bills and resolutions were filed during the 2023 session, and early indications suggest an even busier session in 2025.

The Legislature convenes on January 14, and bill filing runs until March 14. The regular session ends on June 2. ICT’s advocacy team is already meeting with legislative offices and preparing for what promises to be a very active and challenging session.

• Significant losses from Hurricane Beryl, which totaled $455 million as of September 30, 2024, depleting the Catastrophe Reserve Trust Fund (CRTF).
  
  
• Severe convective storms and other non-hurricane events resulted in $172 million in losses during the first nine months of 2024, more than double the $81.6 million budgeted.
  
  
• TWIA’s continued growth, with policy counts projected to rise 4.8% from 271,964 at the end of 2024 to 284,975 by the end of 2025. Written premiums for 2025 are forecasted at $779 million, up from the 2024 projection of $742.9 million, with exposure expected to increase by 7.9%.
  
  
• Higher reinsurance costs are anticipated for 2025, driven by the need to secure additional coverage due to the depleted CRTF and growing policy exposures. 

The Texas Department of Workers' Compensation (DWC) has adopted amendments to 28 Texas Administrative Code Chapters 127 and 131, implementing House Bill 2468 from the 88th Texas Legislature's Regular Session in 2023.

DWC also finalized updates to several forms:

• Revised: DWC Form-032, Request for Designated Doctor Examination.
• New: DWC Form-038, Application for Lifetime Income Benefits.
• New: DWC Form-039, First Responder's Annual Certification for Lifetime Income Benefits.
• Revised: DWC PLN-04, Notice of Eligibility for Lifetime Income Benefits.
• Revised: DWC PLN-07, Notice of Change of Indemnity Benefit Type.

For more details, visit the Texas Department of Insurance website.

The Texas Department of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) has released its 2023 report on work-related injuries and illnesses, showing the state’s lowest rate in a decade. At 1.8 incidents per 100 full-time workers, Texas falls below the national average of 2.4. 

Key Points:

• The DWC compiles workplace injury and illness data annually for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Texas recorded a 1.8 injury and illness rate per 100 full-time workers in 2023, the state’s lowest rate in 10 years.
• The national incident rate is 2.4, making Texas’ rate significantly lower.
• The report is available on the Texas Department of Insurance website.

The Texas Department of Insurance is holding an upcoming Meet the Regulator event on Tuesday, December 3, from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Barbara Jordan Building, conference room 2.034.

The event will feature an agency update from Commissioner Brown, followed by sessions where attendees can meet TDI’s deputy commissioners and staff from the Property and Casualty, Life and Health, Consumer Protection, and Financial Regulation divisions. No RSVP is required.

For more details, you can contact Government Relations by email or call 512-676-6605.