On the Hill

At last week’s Big “I” Legislative Conference, agents and brokers met with almost every U.S. Senate and House of Representatives office to discuss the association’s top legislative concerns.

After 25 years in the insurance business in the Charleston, South Carolina area, Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) understands firsthand the concerns of independent agents and brokers.

At the Big “I” Legislative Conference Breakfast last week, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) addressed insurance-related legislative initiatives relevant to his home state and the country: crop, flood and terrorism insurance.

Commentators Bob Beckel and Tucker Carlson discussed why the presidential election cycle has spiraled into its current state of spectacle during this morning’s Big “I” Legislative Conference General Session Breakfast.

Just in time for today’s annual lobbying pilgrimage to the Hill, Big “I” staff has prepared a preliminary explanatory guide that outlines some of the threshold issues that arise in the U.S. Department of Labor’s new fiduciary rule.

The two-year delay of the “Cadillac” tax is a “perfect example” of bipartisan progress, said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) when he addressed the Young Agents & InsurPac State Chairpersons Legislative Luncheon on Wednesday.

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, is the 2015 Gerald Solomon-Big “I” Legislator of the Year.

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor released a new fiduciary regulation that tightens conflict of interest rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) will address Big “I” membership on Thursday, April 14 at the Big “I” Legislative Conference breakfast.

The Department of Labor is in the final phase of completing a rule that would adjust when certain white collar workers can properly be considered “exempt” employees who are not entitled to overtime compensation.