The Committee on Banking and Insurance proposed the following amendment (CZ\1071C001.DF.CZ20):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1, by striking Section 23-9-197(A)(3) and inserting:

/ (3)'Firefighter' means any person, male or female, paid or unpaid, who engages in rescue, fire suppression, or related activities under the supervision of a fire chief or fire department or who is employed by the State Commission of Forestry or a forestry district for the purpose of fire protection. /

Amend the bill further, SECTION 2, by striking Section 38-7-30 and inserting:

/"Section 38-7-30.Any expenses, including expenses of counsel, detectives, and officers, incurred by the discrimination in rates, must be defrayed by the fire insurance companies doing business in this State, and a tax of one percent on the gross premium receipts less premiums returned on canceled policy contracts and less dividends and returns of unabsorbed premium deposits of all fire insurance companies is levied for this purpose, to be collected by the director or his designee as other taxes on fire insurance companies are collected. The director or his designee shall keep a separate account of all monies received and disbursed under the provisions of this section and shall include the account in his annual report. Fifty Seventy-five percent of the one percent tax levied in this section must be directed to the Division of Fire and Life Safety of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation to be used only for expenses of this division. For fiscal year 1997-98 only, the fifty percent of the tax levied by this section that is directed to the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation is capped at $2,567,325. The department shall report annually to the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee where any growth above the base authorization for the preceding is expended and for what purposes within the Division of Fire and Life Safety. /