The battle lines began to take shape last week over legislation to create a federal insurance “information office” within the Treasury Department, in what promises to be a tough fight over what might be the first step toward an optional federal charter.

The first shots were fired in a statement by the president of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators, Rhode Island State Rep. Brian Kennedy, D-Hopkinton, voicing “concern” with the Insurance Information Act of 2008.

H.R. 5840 was introduced earlier this month by the chair of the Capital Markets Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa. The concept of the bill was proposed in Treasury's March 31 release of a “Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure,” recommending that Congress immediately establish an Office of Insurance Oversight and strongly backing an optional federal charter.

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