PIA National has been working to advance legislation to protect insurance agents from federal prosecution for doing business with cannabis-related enterprises in states in which such businesses are legal. To that end, PIA helped develop the Clarifying Law Around Insurance of Marijuana (CLAIM) Act, which would provide a legal safe harbor for independent agents that engage in insurance-related transactions associated with cannabis businesses that are otherwise permissible under state law.

PIA National saw our advocacy efforts in support of the CLAIM Act pay off when several of its most critical provisions were folded into another piece of legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in September 2019. However, progress has stalled in the Senate, and the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID), has said that he has concerns with the House-passed bill and his committee plans to develop its own legislation, different from what passed the House.

As a result, PIA National is calling on PIA members to urge their U.S. Senators to cosponsor S. 2201, the CLAIM Act.  It’s vital this legislation demonstrate broad, bipartisan support to show the Senate Banking Committee that the insurance provisions in it are critically important. PIA National is dedicated to ensuring protections for independent agents are included in any legislation considered in the Senate Banking Committee. See the action alert here.

An increasing number of states have legalized marijuana for medical or other uses. That said, PIA National views this strictly as an issue of the primacy of state insurance laws and seeks to ensure that insurance agents that engage in the business of insurance with businesses that comply with state laws are not prosecuted by the federal government. PIA National does not have a position on the legalization of marijuana.