PIA Welcomes Bill Repealing Federal Insurance Agency | Insurance Business America
“The right place for regulating insurance is at the state level”
insurance news
By Mika Pangilinan
The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) has welcomed the reintroduction of a bill in the Senate to abolish the Federal Insurance Office (FIO).
The Federal Insurance Office Abolishment Act, or S. 1694, promoted by Senator Ted Cruz aims to protect the state’s insurance regulatory system by repealing the FIO, which was originally established under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.
PIA has consistently opposed the establishment of the FIO, stating that its responsibilities overlap with those of other government agencies and state insurance commissioners.
“The proper place for insurance regulation is at the federal level, and federal insurance regulation has served the insurance industry and consumers well for over a hundred years,” said PIA President Gerald Hemphill.
In 2021, the Biden administration issued an executive order directing the FIO to assess insurers’ climate risks and identify potential coverage disruptions in areas exposed to climate change.
The FIO then requested zip code-level data from state insurance agencies on property insurance coverage, liabilities, and losses. The office also announced its intention to conduct a call for climate-related financial risk data through the Treasury Department, expanding its engagement into areas such as flood insurance.
“In November 2016, PIA became the first national insurance association to publicly call for the repeal of the FIO, and this remains a top priority,” Hemphill said. “The Federal Insurance Office Abolition Act would protect our strong state regulatory structure by abolishing the FIO entirely.”
The bill’s reinstatement closely follows the PIA’s Advocacy Day in 2023, when PIA members from across the country called on their elected officials to support the abolition of the FIO.
An identical bill was introduced in the House of Representatives last month by Representative Ben Cline.
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