Big ‘I’ Applauds Effort to Protect State-Based Insurance System

• By: Raaed Haddad
• July 30, 2025

Last week, Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), who serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin) reintroduced the “Business of Insurance Regulatory Reform Act.”

The bill clarifies the jurisdiction granted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and affirms that state insurance regulators are best positioned to oversee insurers and safeguard the interests of consumers.

Specifically, the legislation would prevent the CFPB from pursuing enforcement against any person offering a consumer financial product or service to the extent that person is engaged in the business of insurance.

Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act, enacted in 2010, created and granted the CFPB the authority to regulate financial products or services. The “Business of Insurance Regulatory Reform Act” would clarify that enforcement of the insurance industry remains the power of state regulators, not the CFPB.

Last week, the Big “I” joined several industry trade groups and submitted a letter of support to Sen. Scott and Rep. Steil for the legislation and thanked them for their continued leadership to protect the state-based system of insurance.

The state-based system of insurance regulation has a strong track record of effectively promoting consumer protection. By further clarifying the limits of CFPB’s regulatory authority and affirming the exclusive authority of state insurance regulators, this important legislation will create certainty for insurers, agents and consumers, ensuring that there will not be duplicative or conflicting consumer protection regulations in the future.

The Big “I” will continue to advocate for the state-based regulation of insurance and independent insurance agents and provide updates through the News & Views e-newsletter.

Raaed Haddad is Big “I” director of federal government affairs.