PIA National has published its 2023 Policy Priorities. The priorities — says PIA National Vice President of Government Relations Jon Gentile — focus on a variety of issues important to the independent agent and agency members of the PIA, and to the independent agency system.
“In consultation with PIA members across the country, we have developed these Policy Priorities for this year,” he said. “While these items are our top priorities for 2023, PIA is always working to promote the interests of our independent agent members, wherever those interests take us.”
Here are the association’s priorities:
- Crop Insurance: PIA supports the federal crop insurance program, which is a highly technical program that relies on the expertise of independent insurance agents. With the Farm Bill, which includes the federal crop insurance program, up for renewal in September 2023, PIA will work to ensure the program is not subjected to budget cuts.
- Flood Insurance: PIA supports the long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) with needed reforms. The NFIP will expire on September 30, 2023 absent action from Congress. PIA will continue to seek long-term Congressional reauthorization of the NFIP to provide consistency to consumers and to avoid a lapse in the program.
- Repeal of the Federal Insurance Office (FIO): To prevent the continued expansion of the FIO’s authority, and to prevent its further intrusion on states’ power to regulate the business of insurance, the FIO must be fully repealed. PIA will continue to encourage members of Congress to introduce and support FIO repeal legislation in both chambers.
- Cannabis Safe Harbor: PIA strongly supports the Secure And Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would protect insurance agents and carriers from federal criminal liability for engaging in the business of insurance with cannabis-related entities in states where cannabis is legal.
- Tax Issues: PIA supports legislation which would make permanent the 20 percent tax deduction presently available to some S corporations, also known as passthrough corporations.
- Healthcare Issues: PIA supports policies that improve independent agents’ ability to sell health insurance and demonstrate the value of employer-sponsored health coverage to the health insurance industry.
- Consumer Data Privacy: Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the new Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has indicated that passing a data privacy bill will be among his top priorities early in the new Congress.
PIA will work to prevent Congress from passing intrusive federal law in this area; the development of a prescriptive federal legislative regime that would preempt and disrupt existing state law would be disastrous for the state-based insurance regulatory structure.
For additional information, visit PIA’s webpages on our 2023 Policy Priorities — https://www.pianational.org/advocate/issues-of-focus
Source link: PIA National — https://www.pianational.org/docs/default-source/government-industry-affairs/pia-2023-policy-priorities.pdf?sfvrsn=e982ca69_2
