H. B. 4191
(By Delegates Brown, Barker, Fleischauer, Guthrie, Hunt,
Longstreth, Marshall, D. Poling, Shook,
Staggers and Williams)
[Introduced January 27, 2010; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §33-2-10 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to eliminating the Insurance
Commissioner's exemption relating to workers' compensation
rulemaking from the Administrative Procedures Act.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §33-2-10 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. INSURANCE COMMISSIONER.
§33-2-10. Rules and regulations.
(a) The commissioner is authorized to promulgate and adopt
rules relating to insurance as are necessary to discharge his or
her duties and exercise his or her powers and to effectuate the
provisions of this chapter, protect and safeguard the interests of
policyholders and the public of this state.
(b) The commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules
necessary to discharge his or her duties relating to workers' compensation insurance as set forth in chapter twenty-three of this
code, which shall be exempt from the provisions of
article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a
article three of this code, except that these
rules shall be filed with the Secretary of State's office.
However, beginning July 1, 2010, this exemption will expire and all
rules relating to workers' compensation insurance as set forth in
chapter twenty-three of this code will be subject to legislative
review and approval pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-
a of this code.
(c) Prior to assuming regulatory authority over workers'
compensation insurance pursuant to article two-c, chapter twenty-
three of this code, the commissioner shall review and revise all
applicable rules to reflect the assumption of this new regulatory
authority: Provided, That all such revisions shall be exempt from
the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a, article three, except that
the amended rules shall be filed with the Secretary of State's
Office.
NOTE: The purpose of this act is to eliminate the Insurance
Commissioner's exemption relating to workers' compensation
rulemaking from the Administrative Procedures Act.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.