Product Liability Risk Retention Act of 1979
Latest action. Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Product Liability Risk Retention Act of 1979 - Title I: Risk Retention Groups - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to promulgate standards for the approval of risk retention groups. Defines such groups as entities formed to assume or spread the liability of two or more persons arising from products liability claims or defective construction claims. Enumerates standards which the Secretary may consider in approving any such group including the amount and liquidity of its assets, soundness of its reserves, adequacy of its insurance coverage, and its overall plan of operations. Sets forth factors to be included in a group's application for approval. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct audits of the applicant. Sets forth limitations on the risk coverage afforded to any one person in the group. Authorizes the Secretary to make approval conditional as necessary. Requires any refusal of approval to specify the factual conclusions and legal authority upon which is is based. Authorizes the Secretary to require a group to set a maximum amount of risk which it will accept. Requires such a group's participants to obtain insurance for losses in excess of such maximum limitations. Establishes requirements for the terms of such insurance coverage. Prohibits a group from assuming liability for any person other than its members or its members' affiliates. Permits a group to assume liability which arises from an agreement of hold harmless or indemnity between a member and its supplier, purchaser, or consignee. Requires all or a portion of an individual's product liability or completed operations risk exposure be assumed by the group. Sets forth requirements concerning the return of a withdrawing member's capital contribution. Prohibits such groups from acquiring reinsurance from its members or affiliates. Prohibits a group from making non-pro-rata assessments or retroactive adjustments based on the loss experience of a member. Directs the Secretary to require each group to maintain reserves which it shall hold as a fiduciary for the benefit of claimants against its members. Prohibits a group from having any interest in the securities or debts or its members or their affiliates. Requires each group to submit annual reports to the Secretary. Declares that this Act shall preempt any State law relating to the formation, operation, or provision of insurance-services to risk retention groups. Stipulates that this Act shall not effect the authority of a State to tax risk retention groups. Applies Federal antitrust laws to such groups. Exempts the ownership interest of such groups from the securities laws. Limits the use of information obtained pursuant to this Act. Permits the Secretary to require data concerning the product liability claims experience of such groups. Authorizes the Secretary to audit each group and to require each group to engage an independent accountant to examine its books, records, and financial statements. Requires each group to pay an application fee and annual fees to cover supervisory expenses of the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to revoke the certificate of approval of a risk retention group. Enumerates circumstances in which such authority may be exercised. Requires that all hearings to revoke a group's certificate of approval be held in the District of Columbia. Exempts such hearings from requirements of law relating to agency adjudications. Empowers the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to hear appeals from orders of the Secretary issued pursuant to this Act. Requires the proceeds from a group's reinsurance policies to be paid to the group's receiver or other appropriate judicial officer if the group is adjudged insolvent. Title II: Group Purchase of Product Liability and Completed Operations Insurance - Exempts any group seeking to purchase liability insurance, its members, or any person who provides such insurance from any State law which restricts group insurance or would prohibit or discriminate against the application of this Act. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Declares that this Act shall not be deemed to affect State tort law. Directs the Secretary to issue rules and regulations and to take all other actions necessary or appropriate to implement this Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on September 21, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 21, 1979: Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
JOHN CULVER (D-IA) introduced it on September 21, 1979, and 5 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 21, 1979, 17203 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17203 days ago, on September 21, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers