WASHINGTON BUREAU — A new group, the States Alliance for Balanced Insurance Regulation, will represent small and midsize insurance-related businesses in the looming battle over the role of federal regulators.
Ernest Csiszar, a former South Carolina insurance director, will be the chairman SABIR, organizers say.
Many expect the next Congress to consider giving insurers the option of adopting a federal charter and coming under the jurisdiction of a federal regulatory agency, rather than sticking with the traditional state-run insurance regulatory system.
SABIR will speak for members who are leery of increased federal involvement in the industry, according to David Bass, president of Raptor Strategies L.L.C., Washington.
Bass will be the executive director of SABIR, and Barry Goldwater Jr. will be the president. Goldwater, the son of the late Arizona senator and 1964 presidential candidate, represented California in the House from 1969 to 1984.
Csiszar and Bass are set to speak in Seattle at the summer meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Kansas City, Mo.