NCOIL, NAMIC, CSG oppose Federal insurance regulation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents recently praised three groups for their renewed commitment to oppose federal regulation of insurance. The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) has announced plans to hold a summit of state officials opposed to federal regulation of the insurance industry. The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) has launched a nationwide grassroots action campaign to protect the interests of Main Street insurance companies in the upcoming overhaul of financial services regulation. And the Council of State Governments (CSG) reiterated its opposition to federal insurance chartering by adopting a resolution during its recent meeting in Omaha, Neb.

“PIA applauds NCOIL, NAMIC and the Council of State Governments for taking urgent action to counteract attempts by the advocates of federal insurance regulation to exploit our nation’s current financial crisis by pushing for additional deregulation under the guise of reform,” says PIA National Executive Vice President & CEO Leonard C. Brevik. “Congress will soon consider sweeping regulatory reforms. Lawmakers need to realize that state insurance regulation has proven to be a resounding success, while federal regulation in the banking and securities sectors was an abysmal failure that precipitated the financial crisis. Congress needs to preserve what worked as it fixes what failed.”

PIA believes Congress never intended for the rescue bill to be used to reduce competition in the marketplace.  Federal officials should not be permitted to use this law as leverage to bring about wholesale changes in the manner in which the entire financial services sector operates. To do so would be to allow the current or future Treasury Secretary to unilaterally impose his pre-conceived view of how the entire financial system should operate. Congress never granted Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson any authority to use the current crisis to implement his controversial Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure, which is merely a proposal that has never been debated by Congress or the states.

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