AN ACT to amend and reenact sections 26.1-01-03, 26.1-22-01, 26.1-22-02, 26.1-22-02.1, 26.1-22-03.1, 26.1-22-09, 26.1-22-10, 26.1-22-11, 26.1-22-14, 26.1-22-16, 26.1-22-17, 26.1-22-21, and 26.1-22-22, subdivisions a and c of subsection 1 of section 26.1-23.1-01, and section 37-03-13 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to changing the administration of the state fire and tornado fund from the insurance commissioner to the office of management and budget; to repeal sections 26.1-22-03, 26.1-22-05, 26.1-22-06, 26.1-22-06.1, 26.1-22-08, 26.1-22-10.1, 26.1-22-13, 26.1-22-15, 26.1-22-18, 26.1-22-19, and 26.1-22-21.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the administration of the state fire and tornado fund; to provide for a legislative management study; and to provide a continuing appropriation.
HB 1027 restructures administration of North Dakota’s state fire and tornado fund by moving day-to-day management from the insurance commissioner to the office of management and budget (OMB). The bill updates numerous Century Code sections to replace commissioner references with OMB, while preserving the fund’s core purpose: insuring state agencies, political subdivisions, the International Peace Garden, and winter shows against covered fire, tornado, and related losses, including indirect loss coverage when requested.
The bill also modernizes fund operations and procedures. It authorizes OMB to use information from the state fire marshal program and to contract for administrative services, sets terms for those contracts, clarifies reporting and appraisal requirements, revises assessment and reserve-balance rules, and updates claims handling, reinsurance, waiver of subrogation, and arbitration provisions. Several obsolete sections are repealed, and the bill adds a continuing appropriation for fund payments and administration.
HB 1027 changes the statutory administrator of the state fire and tornado fund from the insurance commissioner to OMB, affecting the duties of state agencies, political subdivisions, winter shows, the International Peace Garden, and related insurance and claims processes. It also revises cross-references in the insurance code and military-installation insurance statute, and it repeals multiple provisions tied to the prior administrative structure. The bill creates a legislative management study on whether political subdivisions should be removed from the fund in the future and how that would affect premiums.
The bill appears to have broad legislative support, passing the House 84-6 and the Senate 41-4. The vote totals suggest general agreement with the administrative transfer and cleanup of the fund statutes. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to indicate strong public disagreement in the available materials.
The main policy issue embedded in the bill is the transfer of authority from the insurance commissioner to OMB, which may raise questions about administrative expertise, oversight, and continuity in managing the fund. A second point of potential contention is the interim study on removing political subdivisions from the fund, because that change could shift insurance costs and premiums for local governments. The bill also adjusts assessment, reserve, and reinsurance mechanisms, which could affect insured entities if rates or fund balance requirements change.