Sounding Board-NRRA: The right policy at the right time

The 111th Congress offers the best chance in years to enact positive change for the surplus lines industry by passing the surplus lines reform measures contained in the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA). Such reform would benefit both the brokers and underwriters who provide surplus lines insurance, and the consumers who ultimately pay the price of the inefficiencies and duplication in the current regulatory structure. Unlike the admitted market, where policies with multi-state exposures are governed by the rules and regulations of one state--usually that of the insured's principal business or residence--multi-state surplus lines transactions can be subject to the regulations of each state in which an exposure exists. This creates multiple, duplicative and often dissimilar regulatory compliance requirements for the broker, who is obligated to allocate and remit premium tax to each state in which an exposure exists. These tax calculations and payments, exacerbated by the historic failure of states to adopt a uniform national allocation formula, are significant administrative burdens. NRRA will simplify the tax remittance and compliance responsibilities surplus lines brokers must discharge, and bring efficiency and cost reduction of regulatory compliance in placements with multi-state exposures. Although the House passed the NRRA unanimously in both the 109th and 110th Congresses, the bill fell victim to the Senate's schedule. Last July, NRRA was the subject of a positive hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, but became lost in the tsunami of legislation spawned by last fall's economic meltdown. Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), who sponsored NRRA in the last two Congress sessions, will again be the lead sponsor of the bill in the House, along with Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.). In the Senate, Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) will sponsor. With the backing of these strong and respected leaders, NRRA's chances of passage in this Congress are excellent. As I said in my testimony supporting the NRRA before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises in June 2006, "This legislation is the right policy at the right time." I make that same statement again today and urge Congress to enact the surplus lines reforms in the NRRA as soon as possible.