SECTION 5.9410. Executive Committee

(a) Membership.

(1) Composition.

(A) The Executive Committee shall be composed of 11 members:

(i) five members who represent the interests of insurers,

(ii) four public members, and

(iii) two members who are licensed local recording agents.

(B) The Commissioner or the Commissioner's designated representative shall be an ex officio member of the Executive Committee and must be present in every meeting of the Executive Committee.

(2) Qualifications.

(A) Insurer representatives.

(i) To be eligible to serve on the Executive Committee as a representative of insurers, a person must be a full-time employee of an authorized insurer.

(ii) The five insurer representatives appointed to the Executive Committee shall include one representative from each of the following: a large residential property insurer in Texas, a rural residential property insurer in Texas, a mid-sized residential property insurer in Texas, a small-sized residential property insurer in Texas, and a direct writer of residential property insurance in Texas.

(B) Public member representatives.

(i) To be eligible to serve on the Executive Committee as a public member representative, a person must be nominated by the Office of Public Insurance Counsel, a state or local consumer organization, or an elected official.

(ii) A public member representative may not be:

(I) an officer, director, or employee of an insurance company, insurance agency, agent, broker, solicitor, adjuster, or any other business entity regulated by the Department;

(II) a person required to register with the Secretary of State under the Government Code, Chapter 305 (Registration of Lobbyists); or

(III) related to a person described by subclauses (I) and (II) of this clause within the second degree of affinity or consanguinity.

(C) Agent representatives. To be eligible to serve on the Executive Committee as a local recording agent representative, a person must be a licensed local recording agent.

(3) Required forms. The following forms must be completed and submitted to the Department before an individual may be considered for appointment to the Executive Committee:

(A) the Department's nomination form;

(B) the Department's background information form; and

(C) the Department's biographical sheet.

(4) Terms.

(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, this paragraph shall govern the terms of office of Executive Committee members. Members of the Executive Committee shall serve staggered terms of six years. Each term shall run from January 1 of the calendar year following the expiration of the term of office to December 31 of the sixth calendar year following the year of appointment.

(B) Duly appointed members of the Executive Committee at the time of the adoption of this plan of operation shall draw lots to determine their initial terms of office. Such lots shall be drawn at the first meeting of the Executive Committee following the effective date of the adoption of this plan of operation. Two public member representatives, one agent representative, and two insurer representatives shall serve terms expiring on December 31, 1999. Two public member representatives, one agent representative, and three insurer representatives shall serve terms expiring on December 31, 2001.

(C) Members shall serve until the expiration of their terms or until a successor has been appointed unless:

(i) a member voluntarily resigns;

(ii) a member is removed for cause, as provided in this subsection, by at least eight members of the Executive Committee with approval of the Commissioner; or

(iii) a member is removed for cause, as provided in this subsection, by the Commissioner upon the Commissioner's own motion.

(D) Termination of the MAP shall constitute termination of the membership and operation of the Executive Committee.

(5) Replacement and reappointment. Any member resigning or removed from the Executive Committee or whose term expires shall be replaced by the Commissioner with another member representing the same constituency as the resigning member. Members whose terms expire may be reappointed by the Commissioner for one additional term.

(6) Voting. A member of the Executive Committee must be present at an Executive Committee meeting or subcommittee meeting in order to vote on any matter. A member may designate an alternate to attend an Executive Committee meeting or subcommittee meeting in his/her absence, but such alternate shall not be allowed to vote on any matter unless such alternate is appointed by the Commissioner by order.

(7) Removal for cause. An Executive Committee member may be removed from membership on the Executive Committee for any one of the following reasons:

(A) failure of a member or appointed alternate for that member to attend two consecutive meetings of the Executive Committee or an assigned subcommittee in a 12-month period and the Commissioner approves such removal; such removal must be made no later than by the conclusion of the next Executive Committee meeting following the two consecutive absences;

(B) when in the judgment of at least eight members of the Executive Committee the best interests of the MAP would be served by the removal and replacement of an individual member and the Commissioner approves such removal; or

(C) when in the judgment of the Commissioner the best interests of the MAP would be served by the removal and replacement of an individual member.

(b) Election of officers. The following officers shall be elected by majority vote of the 11 members of the Executive Committee for two-year terms and shall perform the duties specified in this subsection. At least one of the officers shall be a public member representative.

(1) Chairperson. The chairperson shall:

(A) preside at all meetings of the Executive Committee;

(B) supervise the performance of the Executive Committee's functions as provided by Article 21.49-12 of the Insurance Code and this plan of operation;

(C) appoint all standing subcommittees and working groups;

(D) represent the Executive Committee on all matters before the Commissioner relating directly or indirectly to the MAP; and

(E) perform any other function as requested by the Commissioner pursuant to Article 21.49-12 of the Insurance Code.

(2) Vice chairperson. The vice chairperson shall:

(A) preside at meetings of the Executive Committee in the absence of the chairperson, and

(B) perform all other duties of the chairperson in the absence of the chairperson.

(3) Secretary. The secretary shall:

(A) be responsible for the posting of meeting notices and notification of members of Executive Committee meetings;

(B) be responsible for taping of Executive Committee meetings and the transcription of meeting tapes; and

(C) assist the chairperson and vice chairperson in other duties as requested.

(c) Functions.

(1) The Executive Committee shall oversee the operation of the MAP to ensure its compliance with Article 21.49-12 of the Insurance Code and this plan of operation, including:

(A) advising and consulting with the Commissioner with regard to the administration of MAP.

(B) recommending suitable amendments to this plan of operation to the Commissioner.

(C) reviewing the demand for and performance of the MAP six months following the approval of the plan of operation and at least annually thereafter, as necessary. After each such review, the Executive Committee shall report to the Commissioner as to the:

(i) necessity for continued operation of the voluntary MAP;

(ii) need for establishment of a mandatory MAP;

(iii) need for establishment of a FAIR Plan;

(iv) other recommendations the Executive Committee deems appropriate.

(2) The Executive Committee shall meet at least once quarterly and, subject to the call of the chairperson or at the written request to the chairperson of any three members of the Executive Committee, may meet more often if necessary. However, the Executive Committee is not required to meet if there are no items of substantive business for the Committee to conduct. If the Executive Committee does not hold a scheduled quarterly meeting due to lack of substantive business to conduct, the Committee is required to hold the next scheduled quarterly meeting.

(3) The Executive Committee shall not have any direct authority over any Department staff or the staff's day-to-day functions as Department employees.

(d) Subcommittees.

(1) The following standing subcommittees are necessary to carry out the functions of the MAP.

(A) Subcommittee for Monitoring the Operations of the MAP. This subcommittee shall be responsible for:

(i) reviewing the administrative operations of the MAP and identifying problems and presenting recommendations to the Executive Committee for consideration and resolution;

(ii) developing and proposing amendments to the plan of operation, resulting from the performance of the tasks specified in clause (i) of this subparagraph or assigned by the chairperson pursuant to clause (iii) of this subparagraph, to the Executive Committee for consideration for recommendation to the Commissioner; and

(iii) any other tasks assigned by the chairperson that are necessary to carry out the purposes of the MAP.

(B) Subcommittee on Data Collection. This subcommittee shall be responsible for:

(i) reviewing the data processed and collected pursuant to Article 21.49-12 of the Insurance Code and this plan of operation and presenting this data to the Executive Committee for periodic review and monitoring purposes;

(ii) assisting in determining criteria for designating underserved areas and for ongoing review and monitoring of underserved areas and for identifying problems and presenting recommendations to the Executive Committee for consideration and resolution;

(iii) developing and proposing amendments to the plan of operation, resulting from the performance of the tasks specified in clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph or assigned by the chairperson pursuant to clause (iv) of this subparagraph, to the Executive Committee for consideration for recommendation to the Commissioner; and

(iv) any other tasks assigned by the chairperson that are necessary to carry out the purposes of the MAP.

(2) If necessary, temporary working groups may be appointed to carry out certain functions of the MAP. Such working groups may be established by the chairperson of the Executive Committee on the chairperson's own motion or at the request of the Commissioner.

(3) Each standing subcommittee and temporary working group shall contain at least one insurer representative, one agent representative, and one public member. The chairperson shall appoint subcommittee and working group members and chairpersons.

(4) Each standing subcommittee shall meet at least once quarterly and, subject to the call of the subcommittee chairperson, may meet more often if necessary. However, the subcommittees are not required to meet if there are no items of substantive business for the subcommittees to conduct.

(5) Each standing subcommittee shall submit a written report to each Executive Committee member within 10 calendar days following any subcommittee meeting. The report shall summarize the subcommittee's deliberation and its recommendations, if any.

(e) Open meetings. The MAP Executive Committee and its subcommittees and working groups are subject to the Open Meetings Act (Texas Government Code Chapter 551).

(1) Notice of meetings. Notice of all Executive Committee and subcommittee and working group meetings must be provided to the Secretary of State for posting for at least seven days before the day of the meeting pursuant to the Open Meetings Act. The notice must contain the date, hour, place, and subject of each meeting pursuant to the Open Meetings Act. The notice must be sufficient to apprise the general public of the subjects to be considered during the meeting.

(2) Minutes and tape recordings of meetings. The Executive Committee and each subcommittee and working group shall prepare and keep minutes or make a tape recording of each meeting. If minutes are prepared, such minutes shall state the subject of each deliberation and indicate each vote, decision, or other action taken. These minutes and tape recordings are public records and shall be available for public inspection and copying on request to the Department.

Source Note: The provisions of this §5.9410 adopted to be effective October 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 8715; transferred effective April 16, 1999, 24 TexReg 3092; amended to be effective June 26, 2000, 25 TexReg 6144