NAMIC Names Hern Federal Legislator of the Year

DENVER – The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies today named Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., as the association’s Federal Legislator of the Year.

“Congressman Kevin Hern has been a force fighting for consumers and affordability in the House, taking on the litigation investment industry that’s turned the U.S. judicial system into a casino,” said Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for NAMIC. “He has been a champion for Oklahomans and all Americans in working to address one of the main problems behind rising costs across the board – legal system abuse.”

A business owner who has served the people of Oklahoma since 2018, Hern has risen to the upper rungs of House GOP leadership and is now running for U.S. Senate. The congressman received the award for his work to reduce the costs of litigation abuse on the economy and to bring tax fairness to third-party litigation financing system. By turning our court system into a for-profit investment scheme, financiers encourage more costly litigation in the hope of elongating cases and forcing larger settlements, imposing higher costs on businesses and consumers across the nation.
Hern introduced the Tackling Predatory Litigation Funding, TPLF Act, to treat taxable awards from litigation investment as ordinary income and to remove tax benefits encouraging further TPLF abuses. Hern’s work to promote and support the bill has helped shine a spotlight on the costs TPLF abuse inflicts on every American and the backwards tax incentives allowing sophisticated financiers, including foreign investors, to profit off the U.S. justice system.

“It is an honor to receive NAMIC’s Federal Legislator of the Year Award,” said Rep. Hern. “Mutual insurers play an important role in protecting families, businesses, and communities across Oklahoma and the country, which is why we must ensure they have the flexibility to meet the needs of their policyholders. From protecting our state-based insurers to working on legislation to tackle third-party litigation financing, working with NAMIC has helped advance commonsense solutions that lower costs and strengthen the marketplace for both businesses and consumers. I’m grateful for NAMIC’s collaboration over the years and look forward to our continued work together.”

Each year, NAMIC honors a federal lawmaker who has been a leader on issues of great importance to the insurance industry with the Federal Legislator of the Year Award. The award bears the likeness of Ben Franklin, one of the nation’s founding fathers who in 1752 established a mutual insurance company that, as a NAMIC member, continues to serve policyholders to this day.