Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

S.B. 192 (2016GS)

Sponsor

Sen. Iwamoto, J.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/18/2016

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• encourages the formation of an informal working group or task force to study how to address statutory limits on individual and aggregate claims for damages for personal injury and to present its findings, conclusions, and conceptual outline for any suggested legislation to the Legislature before the 2017 General Session.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

STUDY ON CLAIMS EXCEEDING STATUTORY LIMIT
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Jani Iwamoto
House Sponsor: 
V. Lowry Snow
Cosponsors:
Lyle W. Hillyard
Howard A. Stephenson
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses a study of personal injury claims that exceed a statutory limit.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ encourages the formation of an informal working group or task force to study how
to address statutory limits on individual and aggregate claims for damages for
personal injury and to present its findings, conclusions, and conceptual outline for
any suggested legislation to the Legislature before the 2017 General Session.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Uncodified Material Affected:
ENACTS UNCODIFIED MATERIAL
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. 
Study regarding personal injury damages claims that exceed the
statutory limit.
(1) Utah Code Section 
63G-7-604
 currently contains a limit on the amount that an
individual may claim against a governmental entity for damages for personal injury, and a limit
on the aggregate amount of individual awards that may be awarded in relation to a single
occurrence.
(2) If an individual's claim against a governmental entity for damages for personal
injury exceeds the amount of that statutory limit, the individual cannot recover the amount of
damages that exceed the statutory limit, or the individual has the option of seeking recovery of
some or all of that amount through a process before the state Board of Examiners. Likewise, if
multiple individuals' claims against a governmental entity for damages for personal injury
arising from the same occurrence exceed the aggregate limit, those individuals cannot recover
the amount of damages that exceed the statutory limit, or those individuals have the option of
seeking recovery of some or all of that amount through a process before the state Board of
Examiners.
(3) Some have expressed an interest in exploring possible alternatives to the current
system in order to enable those with legitimate claims for personal injury damages that exceed
the statutory limits to recover their damages while still protecting taxpayer money against large
personal injury damage claims.
(4) This issue is very complex, and formulating a workable alternative to the current
system will require the thoughtful participation of a number of stakeholders.
(5) The Legislature encourages the formation of a voluntary, informal working group
or task force:
(a) to study possible options to the current statutory system for dealing with legitimate,
large individual and aggregate personal injury damage claims, while still protecting taxpayer
money and limited government resources; and
(b) with representation from:
(i) the Division of Risk Management;
(ii) the Insurance Department;
(iii) state agencies covered under the Risk Management Fund;
(iv) local governments, including counties, cities, towns, local districts, special service
districts, school districts, and other political subdivisions of the state;
(v) the Office of the Attorney General;
(vi) trial lawyers representing personal injury plaintiffs;
(vii) the insurance industry;
(viii) the Utah Public Risk Manager's Association; and
(ix) other groups, associations, or entities with an interest in the issue described in
Subsection (3).
(6) The working group or task force should seek and receive input from affected or
interested parties, including private individuals who regularly use public facilities and private
individuals or companies that perform services for public agencies.
(7) Among other things, the working group or task force might consider studying:
(a) the effectiveness of the process of presenting a claim before the state Board of
Examiners and any options for improving the process or replacing it with a better process;
(b) the feasibility of creating a fund or risk pool, with participation from state agencies
and local government entities, to provide money or insurance coverage or both for individual
and aggregate personal injury damage claims that exceed the statutory limit;
(c) the modification of the statutory limit on personal injury individual and aggregate
damages; and
(d) any other alternatives the working group or task force considers appropriate to
address the issues described in this section.
(8) The working group or task force should present its findings and conclusions and
prepare a recommendation, with a conceptual outline of any suggested legislation, to the
Legislature before the 2017 General Session.