Kansas Senate Bill SB422

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/29/26
• Refer: 1/30/26
• Report Pass: 2/16/26
• Engrossed: 2/25/26
• Refer: 2/25/26
• Report Pass: 3/12/26

Caption

Reorganizing certain provisions that apply to foreign insurance companies seeking authorization to do business in Kansas, authorizing the suspension or revocation of a nonresident agent's license without notice and opportunity for a hearing following notification to the commissioner of insurance that such nonresident agent no longer holds a home state license and requiring agents and public adjusters to respond to inquiries from the commissioner.

Summary

SB 422 reorganizes and updates several provisions of Kansas insurance law governing foreign insurance companies and insurance licensing. For foreign insurers seeking authority to do business in Kansas, the bill restates and clarifies the conditions for admission, including capital and surplus requirements, financial examination standards, participation in NAIC information systems, and limits on ownership or control by certain governmental entities. It also preserves the commissioner’s authority to waive some requirements in limited circumstances and continues to exempt authorized foreign insurers from certain foreign corporation filing requirements. The bill also tightens and modernizes licensing rules for nonresident insurance agents and public adjusters. It requires agents and public adjusters to respond to inquiries from the insurance commissioner within 14 calendar days, and it allows a nonresident agent’s license to be suspended or revoked without notice and hearing 30 days after the commissioner is notified that the person no longer holds a home state license. The bill updates disciplinary provisions for agents and public adjusters, including grounds for denial, suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal, while retaining hearing rights for most other disciplinary actions and preserving the commissioner’s authority to impose administrative penalties and assess hearing costs. The bill’s impact on state law is primarily administrative and regulatory. It amends K.S.A. 40-209, 40-4906, 40-4909, and 40-5510, repeals the existing versions of those statutes, and replaces them with reorganized language that consolidates and clarifies the Kansas Insurance Department’s authority over foreign insurers, nonresident agents, and public adjusters. It also reinforces compliance expectations by making failure to respond to commissioner inquiries a disciplinary offense and by allowing quicker action when a nonresident licensee loses home-state licensure. The overall sentiment around the bill appears strongly favorable and noncontroversial. The only recorded vote shows the Senate passing the bill on emergency final action by a unanimous 40-0 vote, and there is no committee transcript indicating opposition or significant debate. That voting pattern suggests broad agreement that the bill is a technical or administrative update to insurance regulation rather than a major policy shift. The main point of contention, to the extent one exists in the text, is the bill’s expansion of the commissioner’s enforcement tools, especially the ability to revoke a nonresident agent’s license without notice and hearing after loss of home-state licensure and the shortened 14-day response deadline for inquiries. Those provisions increase regulatory efficiency but also reduce procedural flexibility for affected licensees. No specific stakeholder opposition is reflected in the available record, however, and the unanimous vote indicates these changes were generally accepted.

Impact

SB 422 amends Kansas insurance statutes to reorganize admission standards for foreign insurance companies and to strengthen oversight of nonresident agents and public adjusters. It updates the Kansas Insurance Commissioner’s authority to license, discipline, and, in limited cases, summarily revoke nonresident licenses, while preserving most existing hearing and due-process protections for other disciplinary actions. The bill also repeals and replaces the affected statutes, making the revised provisions the operative law.

Sentiment

The available record shows a strongly positive and largely procedural reception to the bill. It passed the Senate 40-0 on emergency final action, and no committee testimony or recorded debate is included in the materials. The unanimous vote suggests broad support for the bill’s regulatory cleanup and enforcement updates.

Contention

The most notable issues are procedural rather than ideological. The bill allows a nonresident agent’s license to be revoked without notice and hearing 30 days after the commissioner learns the person no longer holds a home-state license, and it shortens the response time to commissioner inquiries to 14 calendar days for agents and public adjusters. Those provisions favor faster enforcement and administrative efficiency, but they also reduce the time and process available to licensees. No specific organized opposition is identified in the record.