A national state legislators group due to vote on modellegislation for the life insurance industry includes severalmembers who have taken campaign money from parties who could beaffected by the measure.

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators, Troy, N.Y., isin the final stages of developing its Life Settlements Model Act.The group is scheduled to hold an all-day meeting on Oct. 25 inChicago and another full-day meeting on Nov. 14 just prior to itsannual meeting in Las Vegas.

Legislators developing the model hope it can be voted throughNCOIL at the annual meeting, according to George Keiser, chair ofthe NCOIL Life Settlements subcommittee.

Life settlements are the sale of life insurance policies to athird party. The issue has taken on considerable import because ofrecent variations on the initial concept of life settlements thatinvolve the purchase of life policies with the intent to at somepoint in the near future settle them.

But filings listed on state Web sites indicate that severalmembers of the subcommittee have accepted campaign contributionsfrom stakeholders in the model's development.

Records show that four members of the 11-member subcommitteedeveloping the life settlement model law have accepted campaigncontributions from parties that could be affected by the model.

The state legislators are: Kentucky Rep. Robert Damron,D-Jessamine; Pennsylvania Rep. Robert Godshall, R-Montgomery;Georgia Sen. Ralph Hudgens, R-Hull; and New York Sen. James Seward,R- Oneonta.

State election Web sites indicate the following campaigncontributions:

o Rep. Damron--received two campaign contributions from AlanBuerger, CEO of the life settlement company Coventry First, FortWashington, Pa. The first contribution was made on Nov. 14, 2005for $1,000, with a second donation of $1,000 following on Aug. 14,2006. A $1,000 donation was also made by Constance Buerger, CFO ofCoventry First, on Nov. 14, 2005.

o Rep. Godshall--A $1,500 donation was made by Alan andConstance Buerger on April 17, 2007. On the same date, a $1,000contribution was made by Michael Freedman, listed as senior vicepresident of Coventry First.

o Sen. Hudgens--A $1,000 campaign contribution was made byCoventry First on Oct. 11, 2005. On Dec. 2, 2005, a $500 campaigncontribution was made by Prudential Financial, Newark, N.J.; and onDec. 5, 2005, the American Council of Life Insurers, Washington,made a $500 campaign contribution.

o Sen. Seward--2006 donations from the Life Insurance Council ofNew York, totaling $6,697.44; 2005 LICONY contributions totaling$6,000; and a $2,000 Oct. 20, 2006 contribution from HabershamFunding LLC, Atlanta.

Susan Nolan, NCOIL executive director, said NCOIL has no recusalpolicy for legislators to remove themselves from votes, nor does ithave a conflict of interest policy because each state legislator isbound by that legislator's state campaign and ethics laws. She saidthat she could not predict whether NCOIL would develop a conflictof interest policy at some point in the future.

North Dakota State Rep. George Keiser, R-Bismarck, is not listedon his state's Web site as taking contributions from stakeholdersbut did comment on the issue. During an election cycle, he said, itis usual for a legislator to receive legal contributions fromentities that are involved in work on committees that he works on.But, he continued, it would never affect a vote.

Mr. Keiser and several other legislators distinguished betweenregular election cycle contributions and excessively largecontributions in off-election cycle years.

Mr. Keiser said he believes in the integrity of the otherlegislators on his subcommittee and does not think it would impactthe model's development.

Rep. Damron said all donations followed Kentucky law and that inthe last election cycle he had raised approximately $150,000. Henoted that he has taken contributions from a variety of parties inthe industry and that it would "not at all" affect his vote.

He explained that he believes consumers should have the right tosettle their contracts and that if a contract is surrendered orlapses, the true value is not realized. The NCOIL model is a"pretty good model," he asserted.

Sen. Hudgens said that he has taken legal contributions fromstakeholders including a recent $1,000 contribution from theNational Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies,Fairfax, Va., in June. He said that he raised approximately$125,000 to 130,000 in the last election cycle.

He also confirmed that he had accepted a flight on Coventry'sprivate jet in order to reach an NCOIL meeting last year on lifesettlements at Crystal City, Va.

Mr. Hudgens said the Georgia Senate session had met until aftermidnight and when asked if he would be able to attend the NCOILmeeting, he had responded that it would be impossible. He saidCoventry had maintained that it was important for legislators to beat the session which started in the morning and had offered himtransportation. Without such transportation, he said, it would havebeen impossible for him to participate.

Rep. Godshall and Sen. Seward could not be reached immediatelyfor comment.