Last week, PIA joined a coalition of allies in sending a letter to the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor (DOL), requesting that the DOL abandon or postpone the issuance of a planned proposed rulemaking that is expected to alter the overtime regulations pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The DOL’s fall …
Continue reading PIA Asks DOL to Abandon or Postpone Expected Changes to Overtime Rule
On May 18, Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) reintroduced the “Main Street Tax Certainty Act of 2023,” a bill that would make permanent the current 20 percent tax deduction available to some passthrough entities. PIA strongly supports this legislation and joined a coalition of business groups in a letter of support for the bill. PIA's support for the bill was noted …
Continue reading PIA-Backed Main Street Tax Certainty Act Reintroduced in Senate
On May 18, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) reintroduced S. 1694, a bill to abolish the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) of the Department of the Treasury. The bill will protect the successful state insurance regulatory system by repealing the FIO, an unnecessary federal bureaucracy created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act …
Continue reading PIA-Supported FIO Repeal Bill Introduced in Senate
Members of PIA of Virginia meet with Congressman Ben Cline (R-VA) PIA members from around the nation converged on Washington, D.C. on May 10 for its 2023 Advocacy Day. Agents met with Senators, Representatives, and legislative staffers to discuss PIA’s key legislative issues. Among PIA’s top issues were a request to the USDA’s Risk Management …
PIA has been advocating to protect insurance agents from federal prosecution for doing business with cannabis-related enterprises in states in which such businesses are legal. Nearly every state has legalized cannabis to some degree. PIA does not take a position on the legalization of cannabis and views this issue strictly a matter of respecting state insurance laws. In addition, …
Continue reading Cannabis Safe Harbor Legislation Reintroduced
On April 27, Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) introduced the Federal Insurance Office Elimination Act of 2023. See PIA’s press release here. Rep. Cline’s press release, with PIA quotes, can be found here. The Federal Insurance Office Elimination Act will protect the successful state insurance regulatory system by repealing the Federal Insurance Office (FIO), an unnecessary federal …
Continue reading FIO Repeal Bill, PIA Top Priority, Introduced in the House
In the latest entry in our Commissioner Spotlight series, we are focusing on the head of the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner Alexander S. Adams Vega. Commissioner Adams has been serving in the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Insurance for more than 10 years, first as a legal adviser and …
Continue reading Commissioner Spotlight: Puerto Rico Commissioner Alexander S. Adams Vega
Recently, the Risk Management Agency (RMA) responded to a March letter sent by PIA and other agent groups, including the Crop Insurance Professionals Association, urging them to reinstate the inflation adjustment for crop agents. In its response, the RMA stated that, without renegotiating the Standard Reinsurance Agreement (SRA), it cannot reinstate the inflation adjustment, despite …
Continue reading RMA to PIA: Reinstatement of Inflation Adjustment Would Require SRA Renegotiation
Data breaches have increasingly affected every industry that collects consumer nonpublic personal information (NPI). Insurance consumers’ data has been subjected to breaches, too, even though sensitive health information is specially protected by safeguards set forth in the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA), and other insurance data is protected by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) of 1999. Insurance agents and brokers …
Continue reading PIA Asks NAIC to Revise Consumer Privacy Model to Address Independent Agent Needs
Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would ban the use of non-compete provisions and non-compete agreements between employers and workers. The NPRM invited members of the public to comment during a 60-day period, which ended on March 20. Independent agency owners are among millions of insurance-related businesses that rely …
Continue reading PIA to FTC: Independent Agencies Need Non-Competes
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