One of the U.S. senators who has sponsored legislation to give insurance companies the option of being regulated by the federal government instead of by states is leaving the Senate Banking Committee that deals with many property/casualty insurance issues.
Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., has been appointed to the Senate Committee on Finance.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made the nomination, which was ratified by Senate Republicans.
Sununu, R-N.H., said he will use the position to give New Hampshire’s small businesses a voice in the Senate.
“In a weak economy, we need to give New Hampshire entrepreneurs real incentives to create new jobs, improve productivity, and provide good health care coverage to their employees and families,” he said. “And even in a Presidential election year, there are real opportunities to pass bipartisan legislation to improve Medicare for New Hampshire seniors by expanding access to electronic prescriptions and information technology.”
Sununu, who is serving his first term in the Senate, will continue to serve on the Foreign Relations Committee, the Commerce Committee, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and the House-Senate Joint Economic Committee. He will no longer serve on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Sununu, along with Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., reintroduced The National Insurance Act of 2007 this past spring. His legislation seeks to provide an optional federal charter (OFC) for insurers.
Under the legislation (SB 40), insurers operating under multiple state jurisdictions could choose to be regulated at the national level under a new “Optional Federal Charter.” Sununu and Johnson introduced similar legislation last year, using the dual-charter system in the banking industry as a model.
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