Federal Legislative Developments

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The House passed its $1 trillion healthcare reform bill over the weekend, following a week-long flurry of behind the scenes activity by Democratic leaders, as they worked to line up the 218 votes necessary for passage.  Across the Capitol, the Senate remained in a holding pattern, and many Senators have begun to acknowledge that a vote on healthcare reform may not occur in their chamber before the end of the year. 

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Read More Last Week in DC: The Healthcare Reform Debate – November 9, 2009

On October 27, 2009, the House Financial Services Committee and the Treasury Department released draft legislation, titled the Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009 (the “Bill”), to address systemic risk issues, particularly in connection with financial institutions that are considered “too big to fail.” 

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Read More House Financial Services Committee and Treasury Department Release Draft Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009

H.R. 2609, the Insurance Information Act of 2009, was reintroduced into the U.S. House of Representatives on May 21, 2009 by Representative Paul Kanjorski (D-PA).  The act would establish the Office of Insurance Information (the “OII”).  A revised discussion draft of H.R. 2609, released on October 1, 2009, was the subject of a recent Congressional hearing and debated in the House Financial Services Committee on October 27, 2009. …
Read More Representative Kanjorski Attempts to Form an Insurance Information Office with Regulatory Powers

This updates our June 23, 2009 posting.  As we previously reported, the Obama Administration proposed a broad overhaul of the federal financial regulatory system earlier this year.  As part of the overhaul, the Administration, together with Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass), proposed H.R. 3126 which would create a Consumer Finance Protection Agency (“CFPA”) to act as an independent executive agency with broad authority to regulate the provision of consumer financial products or services, including certain insurance products. 

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Read More House Financial Services Committee Exempts Insurance from Oversight by Proposed Consumer Finance Protection Agency

On October 21, the House Judiciary Committee voted to repeal health and medical malpractice insurers’ long-standing federal antitrust exemption.  By a vote of 20-9 in which three Republicans crossed party lines to vote yes, the committee approved H.R. 3596, the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009. …
Read More House Committee Votes to Eliminate Insurers’ Federal Antitrust Exemption

The House Financial Services Committee is set to begin consideration of several bills that are key to achieving financial regulatory reform.  Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) will convene a full committee markup on October 14, and is prepared for the session to span the course of multiple days, if necessary. …
Read More Financial Regulatory Reform Update

In an attempt to win broader support for emerging legislation to reform the financial industry, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) moved to change one of the proposal’s more controversial provisions – the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). …
Read More Democrats Agree to Scale Back Emerging Financial Regulatory Reform Bill

Vice President Joseph Biden spoke yesterday at the NAIC Fall meeting taking place near Washington DC, and he used the opportunity to seek the support of state insurance commissioners for the Government’s proposals for national healthcare reform.…

Read More Report from the NAIC Fall Meeting – Vice President Biden Addresses State insurance Commissioners on Healthcare Reform