PIA has long led the effort to repeal the Federal Insurance Office (FIO). On March 2nd, the “Federal Insurance Office Abolishment Act of 2021″ (S. 524) was reintroduced with our strong support. The bill was introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and cosponsored by senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). See PIA’s press release here.

The proper place for the regulation of insurance is at the state level. State regulation of insurance has served the insurance industry and consumers well for over one hundred years. The FIO Abolishment Act will protect the successful state insurance regulatory system by repealing the FIO, a federal bureaucracy created under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

PIA opposed the creation of the FIO from the outset. Many of FIO’s duties are duplicative of other offices in the U.S. government, and, like most federal offices, since its creation, its power has increased. In its decade of existence, the FIO has sought federal regulation of mortgage insurance; inclusion in supervisory colleges with state regulators; and uniform national standards for state guaranty associations. In addition, it seeks to administer the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB). Each of these acts is an overreach.

In November 2016, PIA became the first national insurance association to publicly call for the repeal of the FIO. The FIO Abolishment Act would protect our strong state regulatory structure by fully repealing the office.

PIA is also working to have the legislation reintroduced in the U.S. House.