Advocacy in action blog

Confusion over the status of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is causing hardship for businesses across the country. The legislation, passed in 2021, requires an estimated 32.5 million businesses to file paperwork providing sensitive information about ownership with a division of the U.S. Department of Treasury by January 1, 2025. Under the law, companies that fail to comply would face fines of up to $590 per day. A federal court has issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the Treasury from enforcing the reporting requirements, but that decision is under appeal.

This issue is important to NAIFA because many NAIFA members are business owners or provide financial services for small business clients, even if the CTA does exempt securities brokers or dealers, licensed insurance producers, public accounting firms, and several other types of companies. NAIFA has joined a group of trade organizations supporting legislation that would delay enforcement of the reporting requirements by one year even if the court’s preliminary injunction is lifted. In a letter to Congressional leadership, NAIFA and the other organizations strongly urge lawmakers to include language delaying the CTA requirements in a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government into the new year. Doing so would remove a great deal of uncertainty for American businesses.

The larger funding CR is currently hung up in Congress due to disputes over issues unrelated to the CTA funding provision. 

On behalf of the entire NAIFA family, I am pleased to congratulate NAIFA’s Senior Vice President for Government Relations Diane Boyle, who has been recognized as a Top Association Lobbyist for 2024 by The Hill, a prestigious newspaper covering federal politics. 

NAIFA Senior Vice President for Government Relations Diane Boyle participated in a legislative panel at OneAmerica's Long-Term Care Summit. The summit featured discussions by industry thought leaders focused on the future of long-term care, covering everything from industry trends and government and regulation considerations to consumer perspectives.

The campaigns are done, the voting is over, and the results are becoming clear. Donald Trump will return to the White House as the 47^th President of the United States. Republicans will also control the Senate with at least 52 seats. Races determining which party controls the House of Representatives have yet to be decided (and may not be for some time).

We have an exciting opportunity for you to put your name forward as a nominee to serve on the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council or the Federal Reserve Board’s Insurance Policy Advisory Committee. Details for each are below. If nominated and selected, you will be able to provide critical input on the important role financial professionals and insurance producers play in securing Americans’ futures.

NAIFA along with the American Council of Life Insurers and other advocacy partners recently notched a major win in our lawsuit opposing the Department of Labor’s fiduciary-only rule. As we shared with you last week, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted a stay in the lawsuit that prevents the DOL rule from going into effect September 23.

On July 25, 2024, a federal court in the Eastern District of Texas issued a stay barring the enforcement of the DOL fiduciary-only rule (and amendments to PTE 84-24) while the case in FACC v. DOL is pending. An appeal of the stay to the 5th Circuit is likely.  

Meanwhile, NAIFA’s challenge to the fiduciary-only rule, brought with ACLI and other industry groups, is under review in the Northern District of Texas, where we seek a preliminary injunction and stay against enforcement of the fiduciary-only rule and amendments to PTE 84-24 and 2020-02.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has issued a stay preventing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing a new rule changing compensation rules for professionals providing products and services related to Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D programs. NAIFA is not a party to the lawsuits, Americans for Beneficiary Choice et al. v. the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al. and The Council for Medicare Choice et al. v. HHS et al., but has been an outspoken critic of the rule since it was first proposed.

So-called 529 plans are effective financial planning tools that help many families prepare for education-related costs. They allow tax-free withdrawals to pay “qualified education expenses.” Proposed legislation known as the “Education and Workforce Freedom Act,” which NAIFA supports, would significantly expand approved uses for 529 plan withdrawals and has been passed by the House Ways & Means Committee.

It's been nine-and-a-half years since the National Association of Registered Agents & Brokers (NARAB) Reform Act was enacted, yet the NARAB Board of Directors has still not been established. The Obama administration submitted nominees but the Senate Banking Committee failed to act on the nominations. Since then, the Trump and Biden administrations have not submitted nominations to the Senate for approval.