A Congressional committee is scheduled to vote next week on legislation that would create federal standards for the surplus lines industry, a committee spokeswoman said.
The House's Capital Markets Subcommittee is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether it will send to the full House the Non-Admitted & Reinsurance Reform Act (HR 5637), a committee spokeswoman confirmed today.
The bill would establish a home state system where the policyholder's domicile would serve as the authority for a multistate transaction. Premiums would be paid to that state, which would then distribute the taxes.
Bernard G. Heinze, executive director of the American Association of Managing General Agents, said the bill would remove obstacles and barriers wholesalers now face when they do multistate business.
The association supports the bill.
He said there appears to be rising support for the bill and there is an expectation that it will pass largely intact, except for some enforcement details that still need to be ironed out.
The hope is that a vote on the entire bill will come by the end of the month before the House of Representatives, he said.
"This is merely a first step in a more intensive look into other insurance regulations that are currently in place that might prove inconsistent or not within a structure that would not enhance speed to market and other type of access to capital and unique products, and at the same time protect consumers' interests," commented Mr. Heinze.
A similar piece of legislation has not been introduced in the Senate, but there does appear to be some receptivity to such an idea, he added.
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