NAILBA 29: Time to Get to Work in Washington

GRAPEVINE, TEXAS — The life insurance industry needs all the help it can get with explaining its products to new members of Congress.

Leon Huffman, a 2010 government affairs committee co-chair at the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA), Fairfax, Va., delivered that message here today during the opening general session at NAILBA’s 29th annual meeting.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck call,” Huffman said.

As a result of the recent fall elections, one-fifth of all members of Congress and one-third of the Republicans in Congress are new, Huffman said.

The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a group created by President Obama to look for ways to cut the federal budget deficit, has posted a draft report showing that it is considering the idea of lowering the marginal tax rate and increasing revenue by eliminating all “tax expenditures” — including the treatment now accorded the inside buildup of life policy value.

“We have been put on notice that our products will be on the table when there are discussions about raising revenue,” Huffman said.

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