SB102 amends Maryland’s insurance pooling law to add a “Resilience Authority” to the definition of “public entity.” Under current law, certain public entities may join together to purchase casualty, property, or health insurance, or to self-insure against those risks. This bill extends that authority to resilience authorities created by local governments under the Local Government Article.
A resilience authority is a body incorporated by one or more local governments to undertake or support resilience infrastructure projects. By including these entities in the insurance pooling statute, the bill allows them to participate in pooled insurance arrangements on the same basis as other qualifying public entities. The act takes effect October 1, 2025.
Impact
The bill makes a targeted amendment to § 19-602 of the Insurance Article by expanding the statutory definition of “public entity” to include resilience authorities defined in § 22-101 of the Local Government Article. The practical effect is to authorize these authorities to pool risk and obtain casualty, property, or health insurance, or self-insure, which may improve access to coverage and potentially reduce costs for local-government-created resilience projects and related operations.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate 45-0 and the House 138-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The absence of committee transcript material also suggests there was little recorded debate or opposition.
Contention
No notable substantive contention is reflected in the available record. The only policy issue implicit in the bill is whether resilience authorities should be treated like other public entities for insurance pooling purposes, but the unanimous votes indicate that any concerns about expanding eligibility for pooled insurance were not significant enough to generate opposition. The bill’s narrow scope and technical nature likely contributed to the consensus.