Advocacy in action blog

For well over a century, NAIFA members have helped individuals, families, and businesses:

As the leading advocacy association for insurance and financial services professionals, NAIFA continues to work with policymakers at the federal and state levels on efforts to bolster American businesses. Most recently, NAIFA is one of only three insurance-related associations (along with the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America and the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents) to sign onto a letter sent to key members of the Senate and House of Representatives urging Congress to maintain the 20% deduction for qualified business income under Section 199A of the federal tax code.

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) have developed a proposal that they say would update and expand unemployment insurance so that the program is ready to respond to the next recession and meet the needs of the modern workforce.

NAIFA joined industry partners in a letter to Senate Finance Committee leadership to express strong concerns with a provision in the committee’s current discussion draft of the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act.

NAIFA joined with industry partners in a letter to House sponsors of the SECURE Remote Online Notarization Act urging support for the importance of the legislation. Bipartisan legislation (S. 5355, H.R. 6364) was introduced by Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Mark Warner (D-VA), and Reps. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA). 

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux has thanked Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) for introducing the Retirement Security and Savings Act of 2021. The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021 is working its way through the House and three Senators earlier this week introduced the Improving Access to Retirement Savings Act.

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux, CAE, has sent a letter to three members of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), thanking them for introducing the Improving Access to Retirement Savings Act of 2021, which contains some provisions found in a bill that has passed the House and is commonly known as the SECURE Act 2.0.

NAIFA joined with coalition partners to submit a letter to U.S. Senate co-sponsors of the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act (SECURE Notarization Act), signaling support for the legislative initiative moving forward. The Act increases access to remote transactions for consumers.

Policy experts from industry associations, including NAIFA Assistant Vice President for Government Relations Judi Carsrud, provided congressional staff with a briefing on the defined contribution retirement system and how Congress can improve it. They explained some common challenges faced by employers providing plans and employees anxious about covering present-day expenses while saving for retirement.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) have introduced the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2021, also known as the SECURE Act 2.0, and Neal has scheduled a markup session in the committee for Wednesday.

The SECURE Act, enacted in December 2019, changes the rules for certain inherited retirement accounts whose original owners died after Dec. 31, 2019. Under the new rule, many heirs to IRAs and 401(k) accounts will have to fully distribute the funds from their inherited accounts (and pay income tax on the distributions) within 10 years of the original owner’s death. The rule does not apply to surviving spouses, minor children, heirs who are disabled or chronically ill, and heirs who are within 10 years of the age of the decedent.