Maine lawmakers are expected to consider a procedure that allows Dean Minunite’s followers to automatically receive insurance.
Representative Steve Foster submitted the draft law on behalf of its components of Minunite, who say that insurance violates their religious principles.
“Minunite believes that they will provide them and that they must stay from the” yoke “of the government or insurance companies and do not rely on others outside their belief in providing them.”
The draft law will allow qualified religious organizations to meet the requirements of the state’s financial responsibility to operate a car through self-insurance. A member of a qualified religious organization will be able to use a self-insurance certificate from the Foreign Minister as evidence of financial responsibility for registering a car or a horse-drawn vehicle.
Foster said that when he suggested this procedure for the first time in 2019, he determined that he would only apply to Minunite, as he saw in some other states. Then he decided that he might have better results if he expanded to include all religions, although no one else had known similar beliefs at that time. Now, after years of looking at this issue, he said that he is “more confident” that Mennonites are the only religious group in his term with a principle of their faith “that makes them ready to meet the requirements of” financial responsibility law, avoid using car insurance, and pay all claims themselves.
Most people meet the financial requirements by purchasing insurance coverage for their cars and providing evidence of this insurance annually when they register their cars. However, the law also provides a process by which the individual can show financial responsibility by depositing money or securities. Foster’s suggestion will create a new choice for religious organizers with a common faith in mutual financial assistance at a time of need to help members meet financial obligations that they cannot meet on their own.
Proof of responsibility
According to the draft law, the religious organization will be able to submit it to the Foreign Minister in the form of an irreversible credit letter from a qualified financial institution or depositing money and securities as provided that the religious organization meets the next minimum of requirements: for 5 to 10 vehicles, the amount must be equal to the common individual limit amounting to 250 thousand dollars; For more than 10 cars, the amount must be increased by $ 2,500 per car.
If Maine has survived this procedure, it will join 18 other states with a form of residence for religious groups that want self-insurance. According to Foster, one of the reasons that he believes will succeed is that Mennonites have made it work in other states. “There is only one reason for Menonians to obtain this opportunity for many years in other states. Because they did not fail to cover the claims when they occurred, and this is true to this day in Maine in the allegations and the few issues that they faced here,” said the Republican legislator.
Another supporter, Senator Stisi Ghuerene, acknowledged the importance of ensuring that there is no financial responsibility while providing flexibility.
“This flexibility is important for institutions that may not fit with the standard insurance model, but still need to ensure that they follow the rules,” said Guerin. “Although this bill gives religious organizations the ability to self-insure, it also ensures that public safety is not exposed to danger. If the organization stops meeting financial requirements, the state can intervene and cancel a self-insurance certificate. This will lead to keeping things if everyone is covered on the road.”
The procedure appeared with a report divided outside the insurance committee. It is now before the full parliament and the Senate to consider it. There are still obstacles to their progress again, including the opposition of the Foreign Minister and the state’s financial services organizer.
State opponents
Foreign Minister Shina Bilose, who is also the chief auto official in the state, has warned that the draft law represents administrative challenges and costs as well as possible legal challenges, including “unintended consequences that may be harmful” to a member of the qualified organization or the public as a whole.
Sandra Darby, real estate expert/victims at the insurance office, warned that the bill “will allow institutions to conduct insurance-like activities while avoiding insurance regulations that protect the public” from financial harm. “Although we respect these beliefs, we are concerned that the draft law will impose on religious organizations the responsibilities of the insurance company without the organizational handrails that preserve insurance companies for the insured and the demands,” Darby said to the legislators.
Minute leaders
A message from three-minute leaders from the Corina/Dexter region showed that they believed that they were responsible for providing their own needs as individuals and families as much as possible. “We believe that the entire insurance system contradicts the various principles,” they wrote.
The leaders made it clear that Menonin does not use the courts to file lawsuits to others, and does not employ others to make lawsuits for them. Insurance companies or anyone else do not want to represent them in court or struggle for them. Instead, “they may make a humble appeal but are ready to suffer from error.”
Church leaders confirmed that they are not looking for any unfair advantage, noting that despite their exemption from paying social security taxes, they also signed all rights to receive the advantages of social security. They pay other taxes, but they finance their private schools without obtaining any help from the government. None of the church members receive any part of the general luxury or other forms of federal or governmental bulletins.
“This method that you do not care about life is not much more costs of life in terms of the benefits that have not been taken, more than what it provides in terms of insurance installments on the vehicles that have not been paid,” they assert.
Minnunite Minister wrote that one of his sons several years ago was involved in a vehicle accident in which he was wrong. In order to settle the issue, the organization agreed to more than $ 100,000 to close the claim. “With the help of various individuals and churches, all of this was component and paid for somewhat timely,” he wrote.
According to Foster, the number of Mennonites in Main state is low compared to other parts of the country. Members of the Corina region in the center of Maine currently have about 15 vehicles, while others in Bronfield owned up to 70. But he said that the number of Minonians moved to Maine from other states was growing. “They are good neighbors who care about their families, continue their property, improve their farm lands, and often buy old farms that have been abandoned for this use. They pay their taxes and provide others in need while they are requesting the government.”
