E-News  - Feb 12, 2007

NAPSLO urges reintroduction of surplus lines bill
NAPSLO is contacting members of House Financial Services Committee and Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to urge Congress to enact the surplus lines and reinsurance reform bill introduced in the last Congress.  The bill passed 417-0 last year by the House, but died in the Senate.

In an open letter to members of both Committees, NAPSLO Executive Director Richard Bouhan said NAPSLO’s “top legislative priority in this Congress is the enactment of the ‘Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2006’" (H.R. 5637 in 2006) and that “NAPSLO stands ready to do whatever is necessary to pass that legislation, again, in the House and, hopefully, in the Senate as well.”

Over the past two months, NAPSLO representatives, including Maria Berthoud of B&D Consulting, have met with top staff for House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Ranking Member Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises Chairman Paul Kanjorski (D-Penn.), and most Democratic and Republican members of the Subcommittee to urge the bill’s reintroduction and passage. 

NAPSLO PAC supported candidates successful 
As part of NAPSLO's legislative efforts, the NAPSLO PAC contributed to a number of the members of the House Financial Services Committee. While a number of incumbents were defeated last November, all those members receiving NAPSLO PAC contributions were reelected. 

The PAC contributes to candidates at the federal level whose philosophies and attitudes are consistent with the goals of NAPSLO, the surplus lines industry and the wholesale brokerage system.

Through support of a number of NAPSLO member firms, the PAC is starting to grow and will be an important factor in legislative efforts going forward.

NAPSLO conducting Technology Survey 
The NAPSLO Communications & Technology Committee is surveying members on current uses of technology in the industry and wants members' input.  NAPSLO last surveyed members on technology issues in 2003 and will issue a report providing comparisons between the results of the two surveys.

NAPSLO asks that members complete the survey by Thursday, February 22 in order for results to be made available at the 2007 NAPSLO Mid-Year Workshop.

Some of the questions may be technical in nature so you may want to forward the survey e-mail to a member of the IT staff to complete the survey. If you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact Mike Ardis at NAPSLO at mike@napslo.org or 816-741-3910.

NAPSLO adds CAREERS section to website
As part of efforts to attract new people to the surplus lines industry, the NAPSLO Communications & Technology Committee has updated the web site Member Locator to include a “JOB OPENINGS” option to allow visitors to see which firms offer employment information. 

The Job Openings/Member Locator can be found at the new Careers section at careers.napslo.org. To use the Job Opening feature, click on the box by Job Openings to run. 

A notice will be sent to the membership asking if they wish to be included the JOB OPENINGS list.  Firms also can notify NAPSLO at info@napslo.org to be listed.

The new Careers section will feature information about the industry and types of opportunities available.

Upcoming NAPSLO Events
Mid-Year Workshop - March 1-3 - Palm Springs, CA
E&S School, Session 1 - June 9-12  - St. Louis, MO
E&S School, Session 2 - June 12-15 - St. Louis, MO
Annual Convention - October 3-6 - New Orleans, LA
Advanced School - October 27-30 - St. Louis, MO