HJR 24 am: Opposing any law that would establish a federal insurance regulatory system.
00 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 24 am 01 Opposing any law that would establish a federal insurance regulatory system. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS state insurance regulators have ensured the solvency of this nation's 04 insurers, implemented comprehensive consumer protection schemes, licensed insurance 05 companies and agents, and supervised other areas of the insurance business for over 150 06 years; and 07 WHEREAS state insurance regulators oversee thousands of insurance companies and 08 millions of agents and respond to more than 3,000,000 inquiries a year; and 09 WHEREAS state insurance regulation has been largely successful and effective, has 10 adapted to changes in the marketplace, and has encouraged innovation; and 11 WHEREAS state legislatures and state insurance regulators are responsive to the 12 needs of consumers and are more aware of and responsive to the unique characteristics and 13 demands of individual states; and 14 WHEREAS many states, including Alaska, regularly update state insurance laws and 15 have recently enacted legislation that enables the insurance industry to more effectively 16 respond to changing market conditions; and
01 WHEREAS governors, state legislators, and state insurance commissioners have 02 acknowledged the need to streamline and simplify insurance regulation and are working to 03 enact reforms to remedy unnecessary differences in state laws and to eliminate requirements 04 that prevent insurers and agents from serving the needs of insurance consumers in an effective 05 and timely manner; and 06 WHEREAS the 109th United States Congress considered and the 110th United States 07 Congress is expected to consider legislation that would establish a new insurance regulatory 08 system at the federal level that would threaten the continued viability of state regulatory 09 systems in the process; and 10 WHEREAS a new and untested federal insurance regulatory system would almost 11 certainly be more remote, more politicized, less accessible, and less responsive than the 12 current state regulatory systems; and 13 WHEREAS a federal insurance regulatory system would bifurcate insurance 14 regulation between the states and the federal government and undermine state regulatory 15 systems of consumer protections and financial surveillance; and 16 WHEREAS insurance companies paid $13,800,000,000 in annual premium taxes to 17 the states in 2004; and 18 WHEREAS a federal insurance regulatory system would put at risk the taxes, fees, 19 and other vital and necessary state revenue needed to effectively regulate the insurance market 20 and to support residual market programs; and 21 WHEREAS a federal insurance regulatory system would cause a loss of jobs; and 22 WHEREAS a dual regulatory structure would create consumer confusion and result in 23 a regulatory competition; 24 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature is committed to maintaining the 25 states as the sole regulators of the business of insurance and will continue to support state 26 efforts to streamline, simplify, and modernize insurance regulation; and be it 27 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes any law that 28 would establish a federal insurance regulatory system or otherwise alter the McCarran- 29 Ferguson Act; and be it 30 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature opposes any attempt to 31 weaken the current regulation of insurance by the State of Alaska.
01 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Henry M. Paulson, Jr., 02 United States Secretary of the Treasury; the members of the U.S. Senate Committee on 03 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; the members of the U.S. House Committee on 04 Financial Services; and the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. 05 Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska 06 delegation in Congress.