PCI: The New Group Has More Clout In Congress
By Steven Brostoff, Washington Editor
NU Online News Service, Jan. 9, 9:42 a.m. EST, Washington?When Carl Parks and the federal government affairs staff at the new Property-Casualty Insurers Association of America walk the hallways on Capitol Hill, they can justifiably claim to represent constituents of just about every single member of Congress.[@@]
"We have at least one company in every state," Mr. Parks, PCI's senior vice president of federal affairs, said in an interview with National Underwriter. "We have a direct employee of one of our members in almost every Congressional district. This gives us a great capability to impact legislation."
PCI, the Des Plaines, Ill.-based association formed by the merger of the National Association of Independent Insurers and the Alliance of American Insurers, will be able to advance its members' government affairs agenda with a merged staff and a growing Political Action Committee (PAC) at a time when Congress and the federal regulatory agencies have a heightened interest in issues important to the p-c industry, Mr. Parks said.
PCI, including Mr. Parks, who was previously senior vice president with NAII, has seven full-time lobbyists, including David Farmer, who was the long-time top lobbyist for the Alliance and a frequent commentator on Congressional issues.
In addition, Mr. Parks said PCI already has the largest p-c insurer PAC (now about $500,000), and he hopes to see robust growth.
It is important, he added, to understand the nature of PAC contributions. PAC contributions represent money from individuals, not corporations, he said, a fact that is frequently misunderstood.
Individual employees of the member companies, Mr. Parks said, write checks to maintain the association's advocacy efforts. This is a fundamental sign, he said, of membership interest and support.
"The merger gives us the potential to do fabulous things in the political area," Mr. Parks added.
He said that this enhanced support will be of great benefit to members, who face an increasingly diverse array of issues. In addition to issues that directly affect p-c insurers, Mr. Parks said, PCI will have to be active on such issues as employee-employer relations, pensions and similar concerns.
In addition, he said, on the regulatory front, PCI will have greater capacity to participate in rulemaking under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act and the USA Patriot Act.
He noted that FCRA reauthorization mandates a Federal Trade Commission study on the impact of insurance credit scoring on the availability of credit. PCI, Mr. Parks said, will be very active on these regulatory issues.
Mr. Parks said that PCI also plans a very aggressive campaign to inform members of Congress and their staff about the new association.
PCI, he noted, represents a brand new identification. He said he is very happy with the new name because it clearly and distinctly defines who the association represents?namely, p-c insurers.
Mr. Parks added that the merger is an easy fit legislatively. He said that he and Mr. Farmer are long-time personal friends and have worked well together for several years.
As far as specific issues go, Mr. Parks said, there traditionally have not been major differences between NAII and the Alliance on most issues, but he noted it will be up to the new board of directors to determine PCI's position on legislation.
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