Editor’s Note: Spring ritual

It’s that time of year when, if you are a member of Congress and you don’t have a meeting with at least one independent insurance agent from back home, you are probably not running for re-election. Like cherry blossoms, independent agents return to Washington, D.C., every Spring to corner and converse with elected leaders of all stripes and persuasions.

The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents reported that hundreds of its members descended on Capitol Hill on March 28 and 29, for its 25th annual Federal Legislative Summit. Members met with their House Representatives and Senators, and participated in a White House briefing.

“We had very focused messages to deliver,” said PIA National President Donna L. Pile. “We told them PIA is steadfast in its support for state regulation of insurance and in opposition to all proposals for federal regulation of insurance. We also expressed our strong support for extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.”

As they did last year, PIA members met with Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., who plans to reintroduce a bill calling for optional federal charters for insurers. “Sen. Sununu’s support of optional federal charters hasn’t changed a bit since last year, and PIA told him our opposition to his proposal also has not changed,” said PIA Regulatory Affairs Committee Chairman Don Flanders, who is a Republican state legislator from New Hampshire. “We had a meeting of the minds, but we didn’t change each other’s minds.”

PIA members from New York met with presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., while PIA members from Mississippi met with Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott, R-Miss.

The march of PIA members will be followed by the footsteps of more than 1,200 members of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers who will be in Washington April 25 through 27 for the Big “I” Legislative Conference and Convention. Each year, during the legislative conference, Big “I” agents and brokers hold hundreds of meetings with their elected officials. Top issues this year include insurance regulatory reform, natural disaster issues, terrorism risk insurance, the McCarran-Ferguson Act and more.

This year’s Big “I” conference will also feature a somewhat unusual event for the insurance industry: Representatives of all insurance stakeholders in one place at one time, taking audience questions. The Big “I” is promising a lively discussion when it hosts the interactive Insurance Town Hall meeting on April 27. Panel participants include: J. Robert Hunter of the Consumer Federation of America; Congressman Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., a former insurance commissioner and president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners; Roger Sevigny, N.H. insurance commissioner and vice president of the NAIC; Alex Soto, independent agent and Big “I” president, and Tom Van Berkel, president and CEO, The Main Street America Group.

Independent agents are busier than ever and more successful, too. Some part of their continued success stems from their willingness to not only educate themselves about important issues, but also to educate others, including their elected representatives, on insurance.

If you are an independent agent who has gotten away from attending association meetings in recent years, or forgotten the value of face-to-face contact with elected leaders, this Spring is a good season to remember how independence benefits from staying connected.

Topics Agencies Legislation