The White House has expressed concerns about some technical provisions of legislation that would re-establish the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB).
At the same time, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has proposed an amendment to the legislation that would allow states to opt out, a provision that concerns industry officials.
Officials of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors voiced concern about the Coburn amendment.
"NAIFA would urge the Senate to reject Sen. Coburn's expected amendment that would allow states to opt out of the national NARAB program," said John Nichols NAIFA president.
Nichols added, "NARAB would provide agents with an efficient way to be licensed to serve clients in multiple states while maintaining strict licensing requirements. The bill, as written, preserves state regulation of insurance and enjoys broad support among state insurance regulators and other stakeholders."
"An opt-out sounds appealing but in reality is a poison pill," added Joel Wood, senior vice president of government relations at the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers.
He said that under NARAB, states retain all of their core licensing responsibilities, "it is simply an administrative mechanism for multistate licensing."
Wood added that, "As we've seen with the surplus lines laws post the Dodd-Frank financial services reform law, it's important for all states to be a part of any such facility or it simply doesn't work."
"We hope and think we will move forward toward that goal this week," Wood added. The bill is S. 1926, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 and National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act of 2014.
