This morning, during the 2022 Big “I" Legislative Conference in Washington D.C., Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) addressed Big “I" members about the importance of the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill, the Dodd-Frank Act and the war in Ukraine, as well as his appreciation for the independent agent model. 

First elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, Sen. Moran is a senior member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over the insurance marketplace. He also serves as the ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Appropriations Committee; as well as the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; and the Indian Affairs Committee.

Prior to his election to the Senate, Sen. Moran served seven terms in the House of Representatives, as well as eight years in the Kansas State Senate.

Sen. Moran is a leading advocate for issues related to entrepreneurship, job creation and innovation. He is committed to putting policies in place that foster a pro-growth environment where businesses can succeed without government-imposed barriers.

Sen. Moran was introduced by Bob Fee, Big “I" chairman, fellow Kansan and long-time family friend.

“Since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, we have been involved in minimizing the pain and difficulty the disruptions and the intrusions that this legislation creates in the financial sector," Sen. Moran said. “We will continue our effort to try to make certain that the federal insurance office does not expand its role. We believe in state regulation and localizing the way that our insurance products are regulated, not by nationalizing."

Sen. Moran has made it his top priority to stay connected to the people he represents and to protect and preserve the special way of life in communities like in his home state of Kansas. During the last farm bill negotiation, he played an important role protecting the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP), which faced the threat of significant cuts .

“My farmers in Kansas tell me the most important decision that I make in regard to policy in Washington, D.C., related to the farm program is really something that isn't a farm program, it's crop insurance," Sen. Moran said. “We need to have income and disaster yield products that work well for our agricultural producers. It's important for folks here to know that this is a very difficult cumbersome business and if the agent is not compensated, it will not be a product that they will provide to farmers and to ranchers who desperately need that."

Discussing the impact of inflation on rural Kansans and their communities, Sen. Moran said “this is a terrible time," referring to the escalating struggles that the American farmer faces, such as an unstable global economy, commodity prices and escalating supply costs. “Our ability to earn a living in agriculture is diminished and inflation is one of the most damaging things to everyone, but certainly to those on the lowest income levels," he said. 

Speaking about the “Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act," Sen. Moran discussed the Department of Labor's efforts to eliminate the longstanding legal definition of what an independent contractor is. “We're trying to make sure that this administration and the DOL is not successful in their efforts to undermine this important legal standing of an independent contractor in the way that you operate your business," he said. “My takeaway from my conversations with independent agents and particularly those from Kansas is just leave us alone."

In closing, Sen. Moran described his recent visit to the Ukrainian border where he visited with Ukrainian refugees. “700,000 school-aged children have left Ukraine crossing into European borders. Those children generally came without their mothers or their fathers," he said. “The death and destruction is overwhelming."

Speaking about the hopes and dreams of a 10-year-old Ukrainian boy to become an American when he grows up, Sen. Moran said “despite all the challenges we face, the difficulty, the vision in this country, there is still something special and unique about being an American, such that someone halfway around the world has concluded that the best thing he could do when he grows up is to be in America."

“We ought to recognize that we need to solve our problems here, meet our challenges, work better together," he added. “We need to not be divided on everything."

Olivia Overman is IA content editor.