WASHINGTON–Congressional action on key issues affecting property-casualty insurers may not get going until next year based on the lawmakers' timetable, industry lobbyists said.

Congress resumes work Sept. 5 after a month-long recess, but plans to leave by Sept. 29.

Insurance organizations have been pushing to win approval of legislation providing more funds and reforming the National Flood Insurance Program.

But Justin Roth, a senior director of federal affairs at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said action on the flood insurance reform bill will be delayed because of the tight calendar.

He mentioned also that officials of the Federal Emergency Management Agency have indicated to Congress that loan authority and cash on hand appears adequate to keep the NFIP program funded until at least the end of the year. “That removes the time-sensitivity,” Mr. Roth said.

The House bill has passed that chamber and is awaiting action in the Senate. A different version of the bill was passed by the Senate Banking Committee in July and is awaiting floor action.

The House bill has some additional coverages that the Senate “is not necessarily keen on,” Mr. Roth said, including increases in maximum coverage limits and business interruption payments, provisions not included in the Senate bill now awaiting floor action.

He said members of the Senate are taking a stronger stand on reducing government subsidies to the NFIP, “so they have some concerns about the House bill.”

Mr. Roth said NAMIC is lobbying for additional borrowing authority for NFIP to ensure that all claims are paid. Currently, the program's borrowing authority is capped at $21.8 billion; NFIP administrators want this increased to $25 billion. “NAMIC's position is that it wants funds there to ensure that claims are paid in a timely manner,” Mr. Roth said.

Besides providing more funds and reforming the NFIP, other p-c industry issues possibly on the agenda include another hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on insurance regulatory issues and action on legislation that simplifies state oversight of multistate surplus lines and reinsurance.

Some insurance issues, such as action on the NFIP bill, could also be taken up in a lame duck session congressional leadership could hold in mid-November, insurance industry representatives said.

There is the potential that Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., chairman of the Capital Markets Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, will hold a September hearing on the availability of insurance in the Gulf states in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but nothing has been firmed up yet, lobbyists said.

On the issue of insurance regulatory reform, Congress is considering a bill that streamlines and clarifies multistate surplus lines insurance contracts establishing the insured's home state as the sole regulator and collector of premium taxes. The bill allows sophisticated buyers to shop the surplus lines market without requiring them to first seek coverage on the admitted market.

Joel Wood, senior vice president, government affairs at the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, said, “Nothing is certain, but there is every evidence that House passage of the surplus lines bill can and will be achieved this year.”

He noted a consensus within the House Financial Services Committee, which passed the surplus lines bill by voice vote. But, he conceded few session days remain and that the House Judiciary Committee shares jurisdiction on the issue.

Mr. Wood noted further that the Senate Banking Committee has only recently begun a series of inquiries into insurance regulation, “and it may well be that there is not time this year for them to act on the legislation.”

But, Wood said, “We're lobbying in a friendly but assertive way to keep the prospects open for enactment this year.”

Charles Symington, senior vice president of government affairs and federal relations at the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, said the trade group is “hopeful” that the full House will take up the “overwhelmingly bipartisan” surplus lines bill by the end of September.

Mr. Symington noted that, with the election looming, Congress is scheduled to go into recess Sept. 29.

Special Reports /

Congress Action On Insurer Bills Looks Iffy

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