Chapter 502 Oregon Laws 1999

Session Law

AN ACT

SB 565

Relating to community colleges; creating new provisions; and amending ORS 341.290 and 731.036.

Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:

SECTION 1. ORS 341.290 is amended to read:

341.290. The board of education of a community college district shall be responsible for the general supervision and control of any and all community colleges operated by the district. Consistent with any applicable rules of the State Board of Education, the board may:

(1) Subject to ORS chapter 238, employ administrative officers, professional personnel and other employees, define their duties, terms and conditions of employment and prescribe compensation therefor, pursuant to ORS 243.650 to 243.782.

(2) Enact rules for the government of the community college, including professional personnel and other employees thereof and students therein.

(3) Prescribe the educational program.

(4) Control use of and access to the grounds, buildings, books, equipment and other property of the district.

(5) Acquire, receive, hold, control, convey, sell, manage, operate, lease, lease-purchase, lend, invest, improve and develop any and all property of whatever nature given to or appropriated for the use, support or benefit of any activity under the control of the board, according to the terms and conditions of such gift or appropriation.

(6) Purchase real property upon a contractual basis when the period of time allowed for payment under the contract does not exceed 30 years.

(7) Fix standards of admission to the community college, prescribe and collect tuition for admission to the community college, including fixing different tuition rates for students who reside in the district, students who do not reside in the district but are residents of the state and students who do not reside in the state.

(8) Prescribe and collect fees and expend funds so raised for special programs and services for the students and for programs for the cultural and physical development of the students.

(9) Provide and disseminate to the public information relating to the program, operation and finances of the community college.

(10) Establish or contract for advisory and consultant services.

(11) Take, hold and dispose of mortgages on real and personal property acquired by way of gift or arising out of transactions entered into in accordance with the powers, duties and authority of the board and institute, maintain and participate in suits and actions and other judicial proceedings in the name of the district for the foreclosure of such mortgages.

(12) Maintain programs, services and facilities, and, in connection therewith, cooperate and enter into agreements with any person or public or private agency.

(13) Provide student services including health, guidance, counseling and placement services, and contract therefor.

(14) Join appropriate associations and pay any required dues therefor from resources of the district.

(15) Apply for federal funds and accept and enter into any contracts or agreements for the receipt of such funds from the Federal Government or its agencies for educational purposes.

(16) Exercise any other power, duty or responsibility necessary to carry out the functions under this section or required by law.

(17) Prescribe rules for the use and access to public records of the district that are consistent with ORS 192.420, and education records of students under applicable state and federal law and rules of the State Board of Education. Whenever a student has attained 18 years of age or is attending an institution of post-secondary education, the permission or consent required of and the rights accorded to a parent of the student regarding education records shall thereafter be required of and accorded to only the student. However, faculty records relating to matters such as conduct, personal and academic evaluations, disciplinary actions, if any, and other personal matters shall not be made available to public inspection for any purpose except with the consent of the person who is the subject of the record or upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(18) Enter into contracts for the receipt of cash or property, or both, and establish annuities pursuant to ORS 731.704 to 731.724; and, commit, appropriate, authorize and budget for the payment of or other disposition of general funds to pay, in whole or in part, sums due under an annuity agreement, and to provide the necessary funding for reserves or other trust funds pursuant to ORS 731.716.

(19) Encourage gifts to the district by faithfully devoting the proceeds of such gifts to the district purposes for which intended.

(20) Build, furnish, equip, repair, lease, purchase and raze facilities; and locate, buy and acquire lands for all district purposes. Financing may be by any prudent method including but not limited to loans, contract purchase or lease. Leases authorized by this section include lease-purchase agreements whereunder the district may acquire ownership of the leased property at a nominal price. Such financing agreements may be for a term of up to 30 years except for lease arrangements which may be for a term of up to 50 years.

(21) Participate in an educational consortium with public and private institutions that offer upper division and graduate instruction. Community colleges engaged in such consortiums may expend money, provide facilities and assign staff to assist those institutions offering upper division and graduate instruction.

(22) Enter into contracts of insurance or medical and hospital service contracts or may operate a self-insurance program as provided in section 3 of this 1999 Act.

SECTION 2. Section 3 of this 1999 Act is added to and made a part of ORS chapter 341.

SECTION 3. (1) A board of education of a community college district may operate a self-insurance program to provide its employees with health insurance benefits.

(2) A board may operate a self-insurance program under this section for liability covering all activities of the community college district and for health insurance benefits for students engaging in athletic contests or in traffic patrols, and may pay the necessary premiums thereon.

(3) Failure to operate a self-insurance program shall in no case be construed as negligence or lack of diligence on the part of the board or the members thereof.

SECTION 4. ORS 731.036 is amended to read:

731.036. The Insurance Code does not apply to any of the following to the extent of the subject matter of the exemption:

(1) A bail bondsman, other than a corporate surety and its agents.

(2) A fraternal benefit society that has maintained lodges in this state and other states for 50 years prior to January 1, 1961, and for which a certificate of authority was not required on that date.

(3) A religious organization providing insurance benefits only to its employees, which organization is in existence and exempt from taxation under section 501 (c) (3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code on September 13, 1975.

(4) Public bodies, as defined in ORS 30.260, that either individually or jointly establish a self-insurance fund for tort liability in accordance with ORS 30.282.

(5) Public bodies, as defined in ORS 30.260, that either individually or jointly establish a self-insurance fund for property damage.

(6) Cities, counties, school districts, community college districts, community college service districts or districts, as defined in ORS 198.010 and 198.180, that either individually or jointly insure for health insurance coverage, excluding disability insurance, their employees or retired employees, or their dependents, or students engaged in school activities, or combination of employees and dependents, with or without employee or student contributions, if all of the following conditions are met:

(a) The individual or jointly self-insured program meets the following minimum requirements:

(A) In the case of an individual public body program, the number of covered employees and retired employees aggregates at least 1,000 individuals; and

(B) In the case of a joint program of two or more public bodies, the number of covered employees and retired employees aggregates at least 1,000 individuals, or the annual contributions to the program aggregate at least $500,000;

(b) The individual or jointly self-insured health insurance program includes all coverages and benefits required of group health insurance policies under ORS chapter 743;

(c) The individual or jointly self-insured program must have program documents that define program benefits and administration;

(d) Enrollees must be provided copies of summary plan descriptions including:

(A) Written general information about services provided, access to services, charges and scheduling applicable to each enrollee's coverage;

(B) The program's grievance and appeal process; and

(C) Other group health plan enrollee rights, disclosure or written procedure requirements established under ORS chapter 743;

(e) The financial administration of an individual or jointly self-insured program must include the following requirements:

(A) Program contributions and reserves must be held in separate accounts and used for the exclusive benefit of the program;

(B) The program must maintain adequate reserves. Reserves may be invested in accordance with the provisions of ORS chapter 293. Reserve adequacy must be annually calculated with proper actuarial calculations including the following:

(i) Known claims, paid and outstanding;

(ii) A history of incurred but not reported claims;

(iii) Claims handling expenses;

(iv) Unearned contributions; and

(v) A claims trend factor; and

(C) The program must maintain adequate reinsurance against the risk of economic loss in accordance with the provisions of ORS 742.065 unless the program has received written approval for an alternative arrangement for protection against economic loss from the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services;

(f) The individual or jointly self-insured program must have sufficient personnel to service the employee benefit program or must contract with a third party administrator licensed under ORS chapter 744 as a third party administrator to provide such services;

(g) The individual or jointly self-insured program shall be subject to assessment in accordance with ORS 735.614 and former enrollees shall be eligible for portability coverage in accordance with ORS 735.616;

(h) The public body, or the program administrator in the case of a joint insurance program of two or more public bodies, files with the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services copies of all documents creating and governing the program, all forms used to communicate the coverage to beneficiaries, the schedule of payments established to support the program and, annually, a financial report showing the total incurred cost of the program for the preceding year. A copy of the annual audit required by ORS 297.425 may be used to satisfy the financial report filing requirement; and

(i) Each public body in a joint insurance program is liable only to its own employees and no others for benefits under the program in the event, and to the extent, that no further funds, including funds from insurance policies obtained by the pool, are available in the joint insurance pool.

(7) All ambulance services.

(8) A person providing either or both of the services described in this subsection in connection with motor vehicles. The exemption under this subsection does not apply to an authorized insurer providing such services under an insurance policy. This subsection applies to the following services:

(a) Towing service.

(b) Emergency road service, which means adjustment, repair or replacement of the equipment, tires or mechanical parts of a motor vehicle in order to permit the motor vehicle to be operated under its own power.

(9)(a) A person described in this subsection who, in an agreement to lease or to finance the purchase of a motor vehicle, agrees to waive for no additional charge the amount specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection upon total loss of the motor vehicle because of physical damage, theft or other occurrence, as specified in the agreement. The exemption established in this subsection applies to the following persons:

(A) The seller of the motor vehicle, if the sale is made pursuant to a motor vehicle retail installment contract.

(B) The lessor of the motor vehicle.

(D) The assignee of a person described in this paragraph.

(b) The amount waived pursuant to the agreement shall be the difference, or portion thereof, between the amount received by the seller, lessor, lender or assignee, as applicable, which represents the actual cash value of the motor vehicle at the date of loss, and the amount owed under the agreement.

Approved by the Governor July 6, 1999

Filed in the office of Secretary of State July 6, 1999

Effective date October 23, 1999

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