CIAB Fattens PAC To Add Clout With Congress

He noted that Joel Wood, the CIAB's advocate with Congress, is known for his skills as a lobbyist in Washington. The Hill, an online newspaper for Congress about Congress, lists Mr. Wood among the top 33 most effective association lobbyists.

"The CIAB has one of the smallest political action committees around," Mr. Daniels said. "Think how much more effective we could be with a larger PAC."

Realizing this, he said, the CIAB's board has decided to increase its PAC by $1 million. According to online records of the Federal Election Commission, as of Aug. 31 this year, the CIAB's PAC collected more than $404,000 and disbursed more than $486,000 as of that date.

Considering the significant proportion of insurance premium the members represent, it seemed reasonable to assume that the organization should be able to increase its PAC and, in turn, increase its influence in the political arena, Mr. Daniels said.

On the issue of regulation, Mr. Daniels said he recently attended a conference in Europe, at which all the countries, with the exception of the United States, were represented by just one insurance regulator.

Eight U.S. state regulators were present, and each had their own individual story to tell, said Mr. Daniels. He called it a startling reminder of the inefficiency of the current U.S. regulatory system compared with the rest of the world.

"The contrast was a stark illustration of how our myriad of state insurance regulation presents a confusing and inefficient image to the rest of the world," he said.

He called the system "Byzantine and senseless," noting the CIAB's court battles to overturn individual state's agent countersignature laws and recent passage of the Surplus Lines Act by the House aimed at reforming that system.

This underscores the need for passage of an optional federal charter bill to counteract the current system and aid in modernizing the industry, he added.