Adds to existing law to establish provisions regarding the wildfire risk reinsurance and mitigation pool.

Thepurposeofthislegislationistoaddressthechallengesconsumersarefacinginobtainingaffordableproperty coverage due to potential wildfire risk. Property insurers across the country are contracting or withdrawing from certain areas due to an increased concern of wildfire exposure. Some states have seen a significant number of insurers leave the entire state. The issue is driven by the number of forest fires, the high volume of property burnt in other states, the inflationary cost to replace structures, and the skyrocketing cost of reinsurance to mitigate and spread the risk. As insurers contract, it causes market instability. Other insurers are forced to reconsider their market participation. Insurers who stay in less competitive markets face increased additional risks from the concentration of their exposure. The proposal aims to improve and stabilize the market through two approaches. The bill creates an Idaho Wildfire Risk Reinsurance and Mitigation Pool and board. It is modeled after Idaho’s successful High Risk Reinsurance Pool for health carriers and other state mitigation pools. It creates two funds managed by the board. One fund is to provide voluntary reinsurance for insurers who stay in the market in these challenged communities. An insurer would decide whether to cede the risk and pay a premium for the coverage. The second fund is to provide grants to assist consumers in hardening their homes against fire risks. The Pool’s two funds are funded from five sources. 1. Premiums paid by property insurers who voluntarily choosetobuythereinsurancecoverage,2. Futurepremiumtaxdefinedas¼onefourthofpremiumtaxcollected above $135 million, 3. Moneys from the “Reduced Cigarette Ignition Propensity and Firefighter Protection Act Fund" allocated to the State Fire Marshal in sections 39-8904 and 39-8909, Idaho Code, not utilized for the processing, testing, enforcement and oversight activities under that chapter, 4. Federal grants or appropriations, and 5. A mechanism for an a