Congress can enact legislation this year reforming regulation of the surplus lines and reinsurance industries, but support is lacking for creation of a federal backstop for state catastrophe funds, a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee told a meeting of brokers and reinsurers recently.

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said he is "encouraged" that the Senate will take up S. 929, the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2007. The House version of the bill, H.R. 1065, passed overwhelmingly on June 25.

Sen. Martinez laid out prospects for the industry's congressional agenda during a speech at the 2008 Insurance Legislative Summit, sponsored by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers in association with the Reinsurance Association of America.

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