May 15


TEXAS:

Senate passes measure on Holocaust-era life policies


Heirs of Holocaust victims could learn about life insurance policies
sold to their families in the years before and during the Nazi occupation
of Europe under a bill passed by the Texas Senate on Thursday.

Senate Bill 1061 by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, would also create
criminal penalties for companies that sell or collect race-based life
insurance policies whose face value is often less than premiums paid.

The bill now goes to the Texas House where it will be sponsored by Rep.
Joe Nixon, R-Houston, who pushed through a law last session that extends
the statute of limitations on Holocaust-era policies.

"I think they're very good," he said of House prospects for the passage of
Ellis' latest bill. "It's the right thing to do. If you contracted to pay
somebody under an insurance policy, then you ought to do it."

Under the measure, companies that wish to do business in Texas must
provide information to the Texas Department of Insurance regarding any
Holocaust-era policies.

With the information provided in the Texas Holocaust Insurance Policy
Registry, victims' heirs could file claims on the policies or file
lawsuits if they are in dispute.

"I just want to say thank you," said Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, whose
parents survived the Holocaust as teenagers but whose grandparents, aunts
and uncles did not.

"How would you ever know as a Holocaust survivor that your parents or
grandparents had an insurance policy? It would be impossible," she said.

Ellis said he took an interest in forming a registry after reading a
Houston Chronicle report about an international registry containing
363,232 names of people who bought life insurance policies in Germany
between 1920 and 1945.

Nixon said Holocaust survivors in Texas would especially benefit from its
own registry because the state also has cleared the way for heirs to
collect on the policies.

As a result of a reparations lawsuit against the German government, Nixon
said, a compensation fund was established to be administered in The Hague.

"No one is getting paid. That's the big scandal. Not even the Israeli
government likes the clearing house at this point," Nixon said.

The bill that passed the Senate also establishes criminal penalties for
insurance companies that sell or collect on policies that charge higher
premiums based on race, ethnicity, color of skin or national origin.

Violators could be charged with a state jail felony, punishable by a
maximum fine of $10,000 and six months to two years in a state jail.

The Texas Department of Insurance is separately pursuing lawsuits to
compensate victims of the policies. So far, an early beneficiary is Ellis'
aunt, who received a $200 refund.

(source: Houston Chronicle)