A bill that would create a “one-stop shop” for agents with licenses in multiple states should be filed in the U.S. House of Representatives this week, insurance officials say.
David Scott
The National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act (NARAB II) would allow producers with licenses in multiple states to comply with one set of licensing and continuing education requirements for all of their non-resident licenses.
The bill passed the House twice previously in 2008 and 2009, but did not make it past the Senate due to a lack of time and more pressing legislative priorities, according to the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (Big I).
NARAB II, sponsored by Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) and Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), is expected to pass Congress this year, according to Ryan Young, senior director of federal government affairs for the Big I.
Both the Big I and the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) support for NARAB II.
The bill would allow insurance agents and brokers to maintain relationships with their clients across state lines, according to Campbell Wallace, government affairs counsel for the PIA of New York.
“It would allow those agents and brokers that have clients with risks in a number of jurisdictions across the country to continue to service those risks for their clients without having to either obtain a number of nonresident licenses or ‘hand off’ business to a local broker,” Wallace told IFA.
NARAB II also would create a “one-stop licensing shop” for agents and brokers, some of who operate in as many as eight or nine, or 35 to 50 states, said Young.
“It’s one of our top priorities as an organization,” Young told IFA. “It would speed market place entry, but would still leave day-to-day regulation of insurance at the state level. It’s widely supported across the industry.”
Young said the one-stop licensing shop would be a private, nonprofit entity run by insurance commissioners and market place participants, and thereby would not create any federal regulatory power.
“[Multi-state licensing] would be completely voluntary for anyone who would like to use NARAB II,” Young said. “If you would like to go state-by-state or if any agent or broker would prefer to use the current method of becoming licensed, there would be nothing stopping them from doing that.”
Some states may not support NARAB II because they have more “stringent” licensing rules and qualifications, or comparatively complex regulations regarding producer conduct, according to Wallace.
“NARAB II would allow a producer, who is duly licensed in a less stringent and complexly regulated state, to operate in another state as long as he or she has a NARAB license,” Wallace said. “The more stringent or complex states could possibly see NARAB II as harmful to their ability to ensure that a producer who operates in that state knows and complies with their in-state rules.”
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‘One-stop shop’ for multi-state insurance agent licensing eyed in Congress via IFAwebnews.com .
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