Washington Roundup:
Another Short-Term NFIP Extension?
sources say the reason action on legislation extending the program until sept.
30, 2016 is unlikely is because senators on
both sides of the aisle are demanding that
BY ARTHUR D. POSTAL
Industry officials are starting to prepare for the prospect of another short-term extension to the national
flood insurance Program (nfiP),
as the deadline from the last
extension is fast approaching.
charles symington, senior
vice president of government
affairs for the independent
insurance agents and Brokers
of america (iiaBa), says, “as
time goes by, it is increas-
ingly unlikely that the flood
insurance Modernization bill will be able
to pass the senate and be reconciled with
the House version before the scheduled
expiration of the nfiP on nov. 18.”
the House in July passed H.r. 1309,
“the flood insurance reform act of 2011,”
which would reform and modernize the
program and extend it until sept. 30, 2016.
the senate long-term extension bill is
“the flood insurance reform and Modernization act,” the passage of which would set
the stage for negotiations designed to merge
the mostly similar bills. However, senate-floor action on legislation passed out of committee sept. 8 has still not been scheduled.
It is increasingly unlikely that the
Flood Insurance Modernization bill will be
able to pass the Senate and be reconciled
with the House version before the scheduled
expiration of the NFIP on Nov. 18.”
Charles Symington, senior VP of government affairs for
the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America
the bill be used as an engine to deal with
issues not related to the nfiP.
MCRAITH LAYS OUT FIO VISION
in his first public appearance since being
named federal insurance office (fio) director, Michael Mcraith sought to alleviate
concerns among those in the industry by
saying the states would remain the functional regulators of insurance, and that fio
data requests would not be duplicative.
Mcraith says the fio will consult and work
closely with the state-insurance departments,
which remain the functional regulators, and
will request information only if the infor-
mation is not already available from public
sources, a federal agency or a state regulator.
BY CHAD HEMENWAY
IncuMBent louisiana insurance commissioner Jim donelon was elected on oct. 22 to a third term.
Meanwhile, scott Kipper, who had been
serving in louisiana as deputy commissioner of the office of Health, returns to his
role as head insurance regulator in nevada.
donelon, a republican, beat challenger
donald Hodge by a wide margin—about
2-to-1—to win his third election for insurance commissioner. donelon took the post
in 2006 after robert Wooley resigned and
won an election to continue the term. He
was re-elected in 2007.
Hodge promised to make the insur-ance-commissioner post in louisiana an
appointed position, after criticizing
donelon during the weeks leading up to
the election for accepting campaign donations from insurance companies.
donelon is vice president of the
national association of insurance commissioners—an organization that saw many
changes last november.
in nevada, Kipper, who resigned from
the same position in June 2010 before
heading to louisiana, returns to serve as
the silver state’s insurance commissioner.
He succeeds Brett J. Barratt, who was
named insurance commissioner in July
2010 after Kipper left the post. Barratt
resigned in august to become deputy
insurance commissioner in utah.
Kipper’s first term as insurance commissioner for nevada started in december 2008,
when he replaced acting commissioner
Betty Baker, who served after longtime commissioner alice Molasky-arman retired. NU
