The Power of One

Charles M. Chamness | President & CEO, NAMIC

Fourteen months. Just a little more than a year from now this country will have elected a new president, and yet another new House and Senate. But between now and then, there is an awful lot of politicking to do. Campaigns started much earlier this go-round, with candidates coming out of their respective corners swinging. It is going to be a bloody, muddy process, and I am curious to see who is left standing at the end of it all.

Immediately after last year’s election, NAMIC hit the ground running and picked our way through the thicket that was a new Congress. We have made it through to the ninth month, making several new friends and many inroads along the way.

And we have made it almost 400 days fending off the advances of Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. and his bi-partisan backers’ attempts to crush the limited anti-trust exemption the industry has had in place for more than 60 years – an exemption that continues to benefit consumers.

It has been an acrimonious climate between the property/casualty insurance industry and certain members of Congress with a relationship that transcends the principle “survival of the fittest.” But, as of press time, the industry is holding forth. If we can hold out for a few more weeks, we will more than likely be able to shift into a new gear; and if we can get through the rest of the year, it is less likely we will face a repeal of McCarran.

Running out the clock on McCarran is the best way to stop opponents from piggybacking Lott’s bill, the Insurance Industry Competition Act of 2007, onto another piece of legislation of importance to the industry, such as the extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.

And as we’ve noted before, NAMIC and its members have very much led the battle in the industry. Here’s the two latest examples that have come across my screen:

A few months ago, Rick Wilborn, vice president of government affairs for Farmers Alliance, a Kansas-based NAMIC member, took it upon himself to further the industry’s fight to save McCarran-Ferguson. But the story starts way back in the eighties when the same issue was brewing in Congress. Rick wrote a position paper on the Act and became a key player in working with then-Sen. Bob Dole, D-Kan., and the then-vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Dan Glickman, D-Kan., to save the limited anti-trust exemption.

Obviously, they were successful.

Fast-forward 22 years. Rick, who has been with Farmers for nearly 40 years and in government affairs for 30 years, recognized that the issue was about to resurface. He conducted further research, streamlined his position paper, and created a one-page fact sheet on McCarran-Ferguson and why it is an important tool for the property/casualty insurance market. He saw a need to assist agents and others in the industry to communicate effectively about the issue without having to learn its nuances. Rick provided his agents and underwriters with a sample letter they could tailor for contacting their elected officials. He also provided a list of their senators and representatives.

The package of information was mailed to 900 Farmers Alliance agents in nine states.

That’s involvement.

Meanwhile, one state to the South, NAMIC member companies in Oklahoma have reached out to their congressional delegation on McCarran and other issues. Phil Fraim, president of Oklahoma Attorneys Mutual Insurance Company, has confirmed that Sen. Tom Coburn – a Republican member of the key Senate Judiciary Committee – opposes a McCarran repeal as he understands the importance of it to consumers and the industry.

Grassroots action at work!

We expect 2007 to conclude with this Congress getting its first push of legislation out the door and appropriations bills finished up this fall. We also expect that some of our priorities, such as TRIA, will be enacted upon, then we may be able to take a little breather next year as the primary system kicks into gear.

But as the profound Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

Posted: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 2:57:57 PM.

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We are 1,400 property/casualty insurance companies serving more than 135 million auto, home and business policyholders, with more than $196 billion in premiums accounting for 50 percent of the automobile/homeowners market and 31 percent of the business insurance market. We are the largest and most diverse property/casualty trade association in the country, with regional and local mutual insurance companies on main streets across America joining many of the country’s largest national insurers who also call NAMIC their home. More than 200,000 people are employed by NAMIC members.