WASHINGTON–In what is expected to be a marathon session, 10insurance trade groups will have representatives testifying beforethe Senate Banking Committee on insurance regulation reform nextTuesday.

The discussion is expected to center around three specificlegislative proposals. One is a bill introduced in the Senate bySens. John Sununu, R-N.H., and Tim Johnson, D-S.D., that wouldestablish an optional federal charter for insurers–the NationalInsurance Act of 2006, S. 2509.

Another focus for testimony is a bill recently introduced in theHouse that would establish the home state regulator as the dominantregulator for the surplus lines and reinsurance markets–theNonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2006, H.R. 5637.

A third bill up for discussion is the State Modernization andRegulatory Transparency Act (SMART), umbrella legislation beingdrafted in the House Financial Services Committee that wouldestablish federal standards for state insurance regulation. TheHouse surplus lines bill is an offshoot of the SMART bill, part ofa new initiative designed to break the SMART bill into itsconstituent parts.

Also scheduled to be one of those testifying is AlessandroIuppa, president of the National Association of InsuranceCommissioners and Maine insurance superintendent, according tounofficial lists compiled by insurance lobbyists.

Representing the Consumer Federation of America will be TravisPlunkett, its legislative director, according to the list.

Testifying on behalf of the property-casualty industry will berepresentatives of the American Insurance Association, the NationalAssociation of Mutual Insurance Companies, the Property CasualtyInsurers Association of America, the Independent Insurance Agentsand Brokers of America, and the Council of Insurance Agents andBrokers.

The life insurance industry will be represented by the AmericanCouncil of Life Insurers, the National Association of Insurance andFinancial Advisers, and the American Bankers InsuranceAssociation.