Advocacy in action blog

The House of Representatives passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 842), a sweeping piece of labor legislation. Among its provisions, the PRO Act as passed by the House would reclassify many insurance and financial professionals as “employees” rather than “independent contractors” under federal labor law. NAIFA argues that such a reclassification will disrupt insurance and financial services business models and limit consumer access to diverse offerings of products, services, and advice.

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux and the CEOs of 13 other insurance and financial services trade associations sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy urging Congress to address concerns with the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 842).

NAIFA’s Texas chapter (NAIFA-TX) held a successful legislative event last week, with several dozen participants. The annual Day at the Capitol was planned as a hybrid event, with both in-person and virtual attendees. However, the lingering effects of recent winter storms required NAIFA-TX to quickly shift to an all-virtual event.

The Wisconsin chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA-WI) will present its annual Day on the Hill advocacy programming March 8 and 10. The virtual event will highlight the importance of political advocacy for insurance financial advisors. Decisions by state lawmakers and regulators have tremendous impacts on the businesses of NAIFA members as well as the Main Street consumers and small businesses they serve.

NAIFA-TN is using its advocacy muscle to convince state legislators to eradicate its professional privilege tax. The tax was used to balance budgets in 1992 and in 2002 and Tennessee is one of only six states with such a tax. Until two years ago, the tax applied to 22 different professions, including dentists, physicians, and real estate principal brokers. In 2019, Tennessee removed the discriminatory tax on 15 of the professions yet continues to require attorneys, securities agents, broker-dealers, investment advisers, lobbyists, osteopathic physicians, and physicians to pay the annual $400 tax.

NAIFA-WI joined other trade associations representing the insurance and financial services industry to push back on a potential regulatory proposal that would complicate existing data privacy and security laws.

The U.S. House of Representatives is currently considering introduction of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) along mostly party lines, likely in April 2021. This wide-reaching bill seeks to reform current labor law in a variety of areas. Impacting the insurance industry, the bill amends the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(3)) by adding language that expands the definition of “independent contractor” by adopting an “ABC” test to define who is an “employee.”

NAIFA-Florida’s Virtual Legislative Day on the Hill was February 23. Approximately 80 participants joined the event and received legislative and regulatory updates as well as advocacy training from NAIFA-FL President Craig Duncan and state lobbyist Tim Meenan of Meenan P.A. Other speakers included Florida Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier.

The White House has released a fact sheet clarifying some aspects of the latest round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding that opened a month ago. The PPP provides loans to small businesses, including NAIFA members and their clients, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The low-interest loans may be forgiven if the businesses that receive them meet certain conditions.

The Biden Administration has confirmed that the Department of Labor (DOL) will move forward with a prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) for financial professionals who provide retirement plan advice. DOL previously announced the new PTE on December 15 during the Trump Administration. It goes into effect February 15.