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July 28, 2004 at 08:00 PM
Congressional Road Map In Flux
The chairman of the key subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee has in hand a draft of the so-called insurance regulation “road map” legislation, and plans to provide an exposure draft to interested parties sometime this month, according to some panel officials, who add that no final plans have been made.
According to these officials, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., chairman of the Capital Markets Subcommittee, and Rep. Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, chairman of the full committee, have been presented a staff draft of the proposed legislation, but may decide to make some changes in it before releasing an exposure draft.
However, an early September hearing, and a markup later that month, remains the plan, the officials say.
Under the exposure draft, domiciliary states would be given broader authority to regulate the activities of life insurance companies and agents in their own states. Sources following the progress of the bill say the unveiling was delayed because some Democratic members of the committee and industry representatives are objecting to language that would effectively end rate regulation for property-casualty companies without a phase-in period. A key decision for Baker and Oxley is whether to modify that part of the plan.
As to life issues, sources say the current version of the bill includes the following:
–An interstate compact that would create a single point of entry for filing new life products. If the compact approved a product, the approval would be good in every state in the compact.
