No. V-0098 (1947).

• Case Date: March 20, 1947
• Court: Texas

Texas Attorney General Opinions 1947. No. V-0098 (1947). 1March 20, 1947Hon. J. Alton York,Chairman, Insurance CommitteeThe Senate of the State of TexasAustin, TexasOpinion No. V-98Re: Whether S. B. Nos. 183 and 213, authorizing cooperative rate making practices, exempt such activities from the antitrust laws of Texas.Dear Sir:Your request is as follows:

"The Committee on Insurance voted yesterday in its meeting to submit S. B. Nos. 183 and 213 to your Department to see if they (S. B. No. 183 and No. 213) would, if enacted as Texas statutes, exempt any of the activities in connection with the insurance business, affected by such bills, from the Anti-Trust or monopoly laws of Texas."

We have made a study of these two bills which were submitted to this office along with Committee Amendments and will confine our opinion and discussion to Committee Amendment No. 1 and Committee Amendment No. 1 to Committee Amendment No. 1 to S. B. 183, and to S. B. 213. It is also noted that Sec. 17 of the amended S. B. 183, designed to repeal certain laws, leaves blank the acts or articles of our statutes which are by it repealed. We will therefore assume that no specific reference will be made in Sec. 17 to any of the acts or articles of our statutes specifically dealing with antitrust matters. We will, in this opinion, usually refer to "the legislation" or "the bills" and our remarks will be applicable to either of the bills unless reference2to only one of them is indicated. This is because the theme and arrangement of the two pieces of legislation are, for practical purposes, the same. At the outset, we wish to say that the subject of insurance and the complicated methods in use today in the formulation of rates, plans, schedules, manuals, etc., are subjects of lifetime study by experts. Therefore, we are necessarily restricted to an analysis of the broad scope and plan of the proposed legislation in an effort to determine whether or not such plan operates to exempt any activities therein authorized from the operation of the antitrust statutes. The purpose of the legislation is stated to be:

"To promote the public welfare by regulating insurance rates to the end that they shall not be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory and to authorize and regulate cooperative action among insurers in rate making and in other matters within the scope of this act. Nothing in this act is intended (1) to promote or discourage reasonable competition, or (2) to prohibit, or encourage except to the extent necessary to accomplish the above mentioned purposes, uniformity in insurance rates, rating systems, rating plans or practices. This act shall be liberally interpreted to carry into effect the provisions of this section." (Emphasis supplied.)

The legislation provides that rates shall not be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory. The legislation provides that due consideration shall be given to the...