E-News December 22, 2005

NAPSLO Forms Political Action Committee
President Mac Wesson announced the formation of NAPSLO PAC, a Political Action Committee, which will support candidates at the federal level. 

The NAPSLO PAC was formed following approval by the Association's Board of Directors in November. The PAC has been registered with the Federal Election Commission, which regulates the solicitation and administration of PACs.

Mr. Wesson said the NAPSLO PAC is committed to supporting candidates for the U.S. House and Senate whose philosophies and attitudes are consistent with the goals of NAPSLO, the surplus lines industry and the wholesale brokerage system.

The Treasurer of the PAC will be NAPSLO Executive Director Richard Bouhan and the Assistant Treasurer is Maria Berthoud of B&D Sagamore, NAPSLO's Washington D.C. representative. 

"Based on early comments from several NAPSLO members, we are confident that this PAC will be strongly supported by the NAPSLO community," said President Mac Wesson.

Additional details regarding purpose, goals and activities of the PAC, Federal Election Campaign donation rules, and other general information will be posted soon in the Legislation/Regulation section of the NAPSLO web site.

For additional information on the NAPSLO PAC, please contact Richard Bouhan, NAPSLO PAC Treasurer. 

 Congress Passes TRIA Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have approved a compromise Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) bill which will extend the federal terrorism insurance backstop through 2007. The bill has been sent to the President for signature.

TRIA requires insurers to provide coverage for property & casualty risks and, in return, guarantees that the U.S. government will pay most of the losses after an initial deductible. The approved bill increases the amount of losses that trigger federal payments from the current threshold of $5 million to $50 million in 2006 and $100 million 2007.

In addition, the retention level, or the maximum amount the industry would pay in a year, increases from $15 billion to $25 billion in 2006 and $27.5 billion in 2007.

The compromise features language from the White House suggested legislation, which was supported by the Senate. Unfortunately, features of the House bill, including surplus lines language supporting Automatic Export for exempt commercial purchasers and One-State Compliance with diligent search requirements for multi-state surplus lines risks, were not included in the final bill.

The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act was scheduled to expire at the end of the year and both the House and Senate had passed extensions but had to work out differences in the respective bills.

Upcoming NAPSLO Events
Mid-Year Workshop - February 16-18 - Phoenix
NAPSLO E&S School - June 10-13, 2006 - St. Louis
Annual Convention - September 13-16, 2006 - Chicago