Advocacy in action blog

Virginia House Bill 2174 would establish the VirginiaSaves Program, a state-run automatic enrollment payroll deduction IRA savings program. The program would be optional for employees, but would require employers with five or more employees that do not offer retirement plans to set up a payroll deduction and retirement savings plan through the state-run system.

Elizabeth Pate, a NAIFA-VA Board member and Past President for the state chapter, testified via Zoom before the Virginia House of Delegates Appropriations Compensation and General Government Subcommittee that NAIFA-VA has concerns about the proposed program.

Pate said that NAIFA applauds efforts by the Virginia General Assembly to help Virginians prepare for retirement, but cannot support the legislation as it currently stands. She noted that the federal SECURE Act makes it easier for employers to band together and offer retirement plans in a cost-effective manner. This achieves the goal of encouraging greater retirement preparation by employees without creating a state-run plan to compete with the private sector.

Plans created under the SECURE Act, she noted, would give participants protections afforded by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), while it appears VirginiaSaves participants would not benefit from ERISA protections.

Pate also noted that enrollees in the state-run program would lack access to personalized advice from financial professionals that many participants in private-market plans receive.

Several members of the Subcommittee raised questions about potential financial impacts of the VirginiaSaves plan on small businesses and expressed concerns about the mandatory nature of employer participation under the current draft of the legislation. The Subcommittee vote to send HB 2174 to the full committee for further consideration.

NAIFA and NAIFA-VA will remain politically active and engaged on the proposed legislation.

Michigan and Arkansas have become states number four and five to adopt a best interest annuity rule based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC’s) revised Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation. 

The New York chapter of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) has reached an agreement with Greenberg Traurig under which the firm will represent the advocacy interests of NAIFA-New York with state legislators and regulators. Greenberg Traurig is a global law firm with offices around the country, including in Albany and New York City.

NAIFA-Delaware and the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) have commended Delaware Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro for proposing a best interest annuity rule based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC’s) revised Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation.

In an effort to streamline processes and implement uniform transactions for both licensees and consumers, the Massachusetts Division of Insurance recently announced it has entered into the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Continuing Education Reciprocity (CER) Agreement.

Although the results of a number of races remain undetermined, we are beginning to get a better picture of how yesterday’s election will reshape Congress in the coming year. Nearly 50 races decided yesterday, or in the process of being decided, will result in changes to the composition of congressional committees that have jurisdiction over issues important to NAIFA’s advocacy efforts, the interests of insurance and financial professionals, and the financial security of Main Street Americans.

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NAIFA continues to urge the states to consider and adopt recent amendments to the NAIC’s Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation, and NAIFA state chapters should reach out to their state’s insurance commissioner or director and encourage him/her to support and promote the adoption of the NAIC amendments. The adoption of these amendments by the states remains a top advocacy priority for NAIFA.

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors’ New York chapter (NAIFA-New York) and the Life Insurance Council of New York, Inc. (LICONY) will collaborate in 2021 and beyond on issues that are important to agents and advisors, the industry, and the consumers they serve.  

It’s not just luck that makes NAIFA the leading political advocacy association for insurance and financial professionals in the United States. It takes hard work, a dedicated and informed membership and strong leadership throughout our association chapters. Today’s NAIFA Leadership Blueprint training focused on advocacy to ensure that chapter volunteer leaders have the training and resources they need to empower their states’ NAIFA members and build on NAIFA’s advocacy strength.