WASHINGTON–House floor action on two insurance bills will bedelayed until Congress returns to work in September after a newCalifornia congresswoman voiced concern that one of the bills wouldinadvertently preempt California law.

Industry lobbyists, who declined to be named, said floor actionon the Insurance Information Act of 2008, or H.R. 5840, and theNational Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act,also known as H.R. 5611, will be delayed until Congress returnsfrom its summer recess Sept. 8.

The bills were scheduled to be acted on under the suspensioncalendar, according to the lobbyists.

But action was delayed because new Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.,went to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who represents aneighboring district, to object, the lobbyists said.

Her concerns were first voiced during the markup on the bills inthe Capital Markets Subcommittee of the House Financial ServicesJuly 9, but no action was taken.

Rep. Speier, a longtime member of the California State Senate,was recently elected to replace Rep. Tom Lantos, D, who died inFebruary.

Her concern was that the bill creating the Office of InsuranceInformation would inadvertently preempt consumer protectionsinstituted by Proposition 103, a 1988 ballot initiative dealingwith California insurance rates.

On the property-casualty side it rolled back auto rates, and onthe life side it repealed the state's anti-rebating law.

H.R. 5840 would create an Office of Insurance Regulation withinthe Treasury Department and H.R. 5611 would create a streamlinedsystem for nonresident licensing of insurance agents.

Ms. Speier could hold up action on the bill because it requiresa two-thirds vote to pass under the expedited procedure being usedto get as much work done as possible before the House leaves for amonth-long recess this weekend.

Action on the bill is expected early in September. It has strongsupport in the House, within the insurance industry and within theBush administration.

But in a recent letter to members of Congress, the NationalAssociation of Professional Insurance Agents said the bill has theeffect of “enabling federal insurance regulation.”

That was denied by its primary sponsor, Rep. Paul Kanjorski,D-Pa.

In a recent letter to colleagues, Rep. Kanjorski, the chairmanof the Capital Markets Subcommittee of the FSC, said it is neededto give the federal government “a credible source of informationand expertise on insurance matters.”