Advocacy in action blog

Congress is looking to extend expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – which include reduced individual tax rates and a 20% deduction of qualified pass-through income for sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S-corporations – while at the same time creating new tax cuts President Donald Trump promised during his campaign. The Congressional Budget Office projects that extending the TCJA alone will cost around $4.6 trillion over 10 years. Lawmakers and the administration are looking to cover the cost by finding new sources of revenue and government spending cuts. We would be naïve to think the insurance and financial services industry will escape scrutiny.

Members of Congress need to understand that the products and services provided by insurance and financial professionals are part of the solution. Tax laws and other policies that encourage Americans to take control of their own financial well-being, plan for retirement, and mitigate life’s inevitable risks strengthen the economy and can reduce government spending. Insurance products and services also improve Americans’ quality of life by providing financial security and reducing financial worries. The results of two surveys, one by LIMRA and Life Happens and the other by ACLI, illustrate the points.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network released an interim final rule that eliminates a beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirement for U.S. businesses. The rule exempts domestic reporting companies and U.S. citizens and residents who are beneficial owners of foreign reporting companies.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has withdrawn a memo issued during the previous administration that would have restricted how Medicare beneficiaries may enroll using a Special Election Period (SEP) when affected by a Government Entity-Declared Disaster or Other Emergency. Under the new direction, the process will not change and individuals will not be forced to enroll by calling Medicare directly.

On Wed. March 12, 2025, NAIFA-NC provided testimony to the NC House Insurance Committee regarding House Bill 79, North Carolina Work and Save (a state-run retirement plan).

Washington insiders and NAIFA consultants Danea Kehoe and Pat Raffaniello have recorded a new video outlining the congressional process of funding the federal government and providing an update on the state of federal tax legislation.

Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D consumers rely on agents and brokers to help them understand and make informed decisions about these often complex products. Yet, ongoing instability in the marketplace and uncertainty about compensation for agents and brokers are making it difficult for professionals to give critical guidance to their clients.

NAIFA has joined NABIP, HAFA, the Big I, and the CIAB in asking Congress to address these challenges.

Prior to passage of the House budget resolution, NAIFA joined a letter from a coalition of Main Street Employers to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urging passage of the resolution to protect S corporations from untenable tax increases. The resolution was passed on February 26 and has been sent to the Senate, which has been working on a separate budget resolution.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Treasury Department has announced that it will further delay enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The CTA requires upwards of 32 million U.S. businesses to submit beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports to the U.S. Treasury Department, and Treasury had set a new deadline of March 21. A release by FinCEN said it will "not issue any fines or penalties or take any other enforcement actions against any companies based on any failure to file or update beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports."

The on-again, off-again Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which requires upwards of 32 million U.S. businesses to submit beneficial ownership information (BOI) reports to the U.S. Treasury Department, is back on with a filing deadline of March 21. A February 18 U.S. District Court decision lifted an earlier injunction that had paused enforcement of the BOI reporting requirement. Generally, the legislation exempts securities brokers or dealers, licensed insurance producers, public accounting firms, and several other types of companies, but many of the business owner clients of NAIFA members are subject to the CTA.

Resolutions passed by the Texas House of Representatives (HR 215) and Senate (SR 76) celebrate the 100-year anniversary of NAIFA’s Texas chapter. The Senate resolution was sponsored by Senator Bryan Hughes and the House resolution by Representative Ryan Guillen.