Rep. Scott Fitzgerald on May 15 reintroduced a bill to eliminate the subpoena power of the Federal Insurance Office (FIO).
The was first presented by Fitzgerald, R-Wis., to the U.S. House of Representatives in September 2023.
“FIO’s recent push to collect insurance underwriting data under the guise of climate risk is just another example of unelected bureaucrats advancing a political agenda that has no place in insurance regulation,” said Fitzgerald, in a statement.
At the start of the year, the Treasury’s FIO released a report it called the “most comprehensive data on homeowners insurance in history.” Industry trade associations called the report misleading, incomplete, and flawed.
Related: Treasury’s FIO Releases ‘Flawed’ Homeowners Insurance Report, Industry Says
FIO had sought data on climate-related risks from property/casualty insurers since an original proposal it made in October 2022. Finally, in March 2024 the FIO said it would coordinate data collection with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). But late last year NAIC was said to have terminated its data-sharing arrangement with FIO, citing concerns about the work FIO was producing.
The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), Association for Independent Agents (Big I), and the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA), supported the Insurance Data Protection Act when it was first introduced.
In a new statement, NAMIC’s Jimi Grande said FIO, created as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, is “not an enforcement agency, and not an investigator.”
“Insurance is regulated by the states, as it has been for decades,” continued Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs. “FIO was meant to provide information to members of Congress and federal policymakers when their work could have an impact on the insurance industry or consumers. This bill would make sure the office sticks to that core mission.”
Fitzgerald’s bill appears to be a first step. Other measures have been introduced to eliminate FIO entirely. As Congress mulls FIO’s future, it should, “at a bare minimum…consider reforms like removing the office’s subpoena powers,” Grande said.
Related: NAMIC, Big ‘I’ Join Call to Do Away With Federal Insurance Office | NAIC, Legislators Push to Abolish the Federal Insurance Office
APCIA added that it supports the legislation to “right size the role” of the FIO. “The legislation eliminates redundant and unnecessary data collection powers and strengthens the protections for non-public information even as it assures access to information and coordination with the primary insurance regulators at the state level,” said Sam Whitfield, APCIA’s senior vice president of federal government relations.
Topics USA
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