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2008 SESSION

084209532
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 196
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Rules
on February 5, 2008)
(Patron Prior to Substitute—Delegate Hargrove)
Requesting the Bureau of Insurance within the State Corporation Commission to collect certain demographic and other information from agent licensing examination candidates. Report.

WHEREAS, the availability of appropriate insurance products is vital to the personal and financial well-being of the citizens of the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, there is a shortage of qualified insurance agents in the Commonwealth; however, the Bureau of Insurance does not know the number of applicants who enroll in or complete licensing examination preparatory courses, nor does it possess applicant demographic data or information concerning the preparation level of applicants for licensure; and

WHEREAS, the Bureau of Insurance contracts with a professional testing organization to create and administer the licensing examination, which also has the ability to collect various demographic and other information as part of the examination registration process; and

WHEREAS, the collection of such information will help identify needed improvements, if any, to the pre-licensing preparation and the licensing examination processes; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Bureau of Insurance within the State Corporation Commission be requested to collect certain demographic and other information from agent licensing examination candidates.

In collecting the data and information, the Bureau of Insurance is requested to require its contracted insurance license examination provider to obtain from each registrant for the licensing examination (i) the candidate’s race or ethnicity, gender, native language, and highest level of education completed, and (ii) whether the candidate completed a licensing examination preparatory course, and the provider of such course.

In addition, in the course of the data collection, the Bureau of Insurance is also requested to require its contracted insurance license examination provider to prominently display the following statements: (i) requested information concerning the applicant’s pre-licensing study course is required for the examination; (ii) the applicant's disclosure of any demographic information is voluntary and refusal to disclose such information will not affect the results of the applicant's examination; and (iii) the applicant's demographic information will be used only for statistical reporting purposes and that such information shall be maintained separately from the applicant's personally identifiable information.

Further, the Bureau of Insurance is requested to examine and analyze the data collected from July 1, 2008, through September 30, 2008, for each classification of licensing examination by age; gender; race or ethnicity; race or ethnicity with gender; native language; level of education; completion of a licensing examination preparatory course; total number of examinees; percentage and number of examinees who passed the examination on their initial attempt; the mean scaled scores on the examination; standard deviation of scaled scores on the examination; correct-answer rates and correlations; and the pass ratio for each licensing examination preparatory course provider. The combined total for each of the aforementioned categories for which data must be collected shall also be tabulated and provided. To facilitate public access to such data and information, the Bureau of Insurance is requested to require its contracted insurance license examination provider to continue to collect and report all such information to the Bureau of Insurance for a period of two years commencing July 1, 2008, and to post the information biannually on its homepage through the website of the State Corporation Commission.

Technical assistance shall be provided to the Bureau of Insurance by the contracted insurance license examination provider and licensing examination preparatory course providers. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Bureau of Insurance in collecting the information, upon request.

The Bureau of Insurance, through the State Corporation Commission, shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary and the data and information collected on certain demographic and other information from agent licensing examination candidates no later than the first day of the 2009 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall be submitted for publication as a report document as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General Assembly's website.