What's happening
This bill allows the West Seneca Central School District to establish and use an insurance reserve fund like certain other districts.
Why it matters
Gives West Seneca Central School District more financial flexibility. by allowing it to set aside money in a dedicated insurance reserve fund, which can help the district manage unexpected costs related to insurance claims or losses.
Levels the playing field with other districts. that already have this authority, ensuring West Seneca can use the same financial tools for risk management and long-term planning as peer districts like Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda, Bedford, and Grand Island.
Could help stabilize school budgets and protect educational programs. by making it easier for the district to handle large or unexpected insurance-related expenses without needing emergency budget cuts or additional fundraising.
Demonstrates a trend of expanding insurance reserve fund access. to more districts, suggesting policymakers see value in giving local schools more autonomy over managing financial risks.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Allow School Insurance Fund
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Recommit, enacting clause stricken
- Referred to local government
- Referred to rules
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6860
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
November 20, 2019
Introduced by Sen. GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to permitting the West Seneca central school district to establish an insurance reserve fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 6-n of the general municipal law, as separately amended by chapters 318, 321, 325 and 342 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The governing board of any municipal corporation may establish a reserve fund to be known as the insurance reserve fund. Upon the creation of the fund, the municipality may make expenditures from the fund for any loss, claim, action or judgment for which the municipal corporation is authorized or required to purchase or maintain insurance, except those kinds of risks for which insurance is authorized pursuant to paragraph one, two, three, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty-two or twenty-three of subsection (a) of section one thousand one hundred thirteen of the insurance law, or for payments in lieu of contributions under article eighteen of the labor law; provided however, that no municipality shall make an expenditure from such fund for any loss, claim, action or judgment for which the municipal corporation has established a reserve fund under any other provision of law; provided, further that the Scarsdale union free school district, the Vernon Verona Sherrill central school district, the Minisink Valley central school district, [and] the Ithaca city school district [and], the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda union free school district, [and] the Bedford central school district [and], the Grand Island central school district and the West Seneca central school district may establish insurance reserve funds in compliance with this section and article seventy-four of the education law and such school districts may make expenditures in compli-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14242-01-9
S. 6860 2
ance with this section and article seventy-four of the education law from such reserve fund for any loss, claim, action or judgment for which the school districts are authorized or required to purchase or maintain insurance for the kinds of risks for which insurance is authorized pursuant to paragraph three of subsection (a) of section one thousand one hundred thirteen of the insurance law.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation to permitting the West Seneca central school district to establish an insurance reserve fund
Purpose
To authorize the West Seneca central school district to establish an insurance reserve fund in order to make expenditures related to claims, et al, specific to accident and health insurance.
Summary of provisions
Section one amends the general municipal law governing insurance reserve funds to permit the West Seneca central school district to establish such reserve funds.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
Justification
In an effort to contain costs associated with increasing health insur- ance premiums, which create a significant strain on school budgets annu- ally, many school districts have opted to move to a self-insurance model for health benefit programs as opposed to traditional premium based programs.
The West Seneca central school district (CSD) moved to a self-insurance model in 2015. Doing so has been fruitful, as the district has achieved savings since moving to said model. However, the challenge with such a model is the lack of predictability with claims. Such unpredictability, coupled with the existing statutory restrictions related to fund balances necessitates this authorization to permit the West Seneca CSD to establish an insurance reserve fund. This fund will help offset costs associated with payment of health care claims without placing a strain on a particular budgetary year.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.