 |
IIAN's Bob Hoppe Honored With National Big "I" Burns Award
During the national Legislative Conference on May 8 in Washington D.C., IIABA honored IIAN Legislative Committee Chairman Bob Hoppe, CPCU, AFIS of Columbus with the 2018 Barney Burns Award for his outstanding work for InsurPac and his tireless promotion of the importance of political activism at both the state and federal level. Bob has guided IIAN to to three consecutive InsurPac Eagle awards for 2016, 2017, and 2018, has served on the InsurPac Board of Trustees for three years, and has served as IIAN Legislative committee chairman for ten years. Congratulations, Bob - and thank you for making political activism a part of your daily life, not just a once-a-year visit to Washington D.C.!
|
|
Tax Relief For Independent Agents - Has Your Agency Benefited?
|
|
 |
| How Tax Relief Helps Independent Agents |
|
Your Big "I" Capitol Hill team lobbied tirelessly over the past year, to make sure independent insurance agencies were eligible for the 2017 federal 20% deduction on pass-through businesses (sub-chapter S corporations, partnerships and sole proprietorship's), through the end of 2025.
Now that tax season has ended, IIABA wants to learn more about how the law and regulations affected your agency - whether organized as a Corp or pass through.
Please take a moment to answer this brief five-question survey -
click here.
|
|
|
IIAN Members Lobby Congress - IIABA Legislative Conference
On May 8 and 9, 13 IIAN members and staff joined hundreds of agents from all 50 states at the national IIABA Legislative Conference in Washington D.C. Led by IIAN President Sandra Ryks and Legislative Committee Co-Chairs Bob Hoppe and Ritch Nelson, IIAN's representatives held a series of meetings with Nebraska's Congressional delegation to lobby on behalf of agents -- meeting personally with Senators Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse, and Representatives Adrian Smith and Jeff Fortenberry, and with key aides for Representatives Jeff Fortenberry and Don Bacon.
We asked our elected officials to:
Crop Insurance: support the Federal Crop Insurance Program and oppose rate increases, a reduction in eligibility, or weaken agent delivery of the program.
Flood Insurance: reauthorize the NFIP before it expires on May 31, allow private flood insurance to satisfy NFIP's continuous coverage and mandatory purchase requirements, and support the role of agents and private sector delivery of the product.
Terrorism Insurance:
reauthorize the Terrorism reinsurance program, set to expire December, 2020.
Tax Reform: extend the new 20% deduction on income for pass through entities, to ensure that all insurance agencies can take advantage of the cuts beyond 2025.
Regulatory Reform: support restricting/eliminating the Federal Insurance Office, and speed up the implementation of NARAB, which will make it easier for agencies to get licensed in multiple states.
Health Care: support the full repeal of the "Cadillac tax", and oppose any efforts to enact a single payer system.
And for the third year in a row, IIAN achieved national InsurPac "Eagle" status, coming in fifth in the nation both in average dollars raised per member agency and total contributed by past state presidents, in 2018 - and helped InsurPac raise a record $1,131,739. The 2018 Eagle award was presented to Nebraska InsurPac chairman Vincent Christensen of St. Paul, on May 8 at the conference.
Pictured are: Colten Zmarzla, Lincoln; Bob Hoppe, Columbus; Adam Backer, Omaha; Sen. Ben Sasse; John Deardorff, Omaha; Sandra Ryks, LaVista; and Ritch Nelson, Ft. Calhoun.
Also attending: Todd Anderson, York; Peggy McDonald, Trenton; Vince Christensen, St. Paul; Zak Morken, Ogallala; Justin Tollman, Crawford; and Carol McClelland, Lincoln. Conference attendees were addressed by top Congressional leaders including House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.).
Read more.
|
|
2019 Unicameral Session Virtually Over
IIAN Workers Compensation Independent Contractor Bill Passes
On May 30 Senators return from a long Memorial Day break for the last two days of the 2019 Unicameral session, which is scheduled to adjourn for the year on Friday, May 31.
During this year's "long session", IIAN's Legislative committee, co-chaired by
Bob Hoppe
of Columbus and
Ritch Nelson
of Fort Calhoun,
actively watched 32 bills impacting insurance agents, consumers, or the industry.
In a victory for IIAN
members, insurance carriers, and hiring parties,
LB 139,
IIAN's bill to address the problem of individual independent construction contractors who do not cover themselves for workers compensation,
passed its "final reading" on March 15, and was signed by Governor Ricketts.
The new law will become effective around August 31, 2019.
Read more about LB 139
-
IIAN will have additional information available this summer, after the Department of Labor finalizes the new construction contractor registration requirement.
IIAN supported
LB 116,
which also passed on March 15; it authorizes electronic delivery of insurance policies and billing information to insureds - IIAN worked during the session to include an amendment protecting agents. IIAN
also supported LB 370
, which would double Nebraska's minimum auto liability limits; the bill was heard on February 19 by the Banking, Commerce & Insurance Committee, which took no action to advance it.
IIAN opposed
LB 672 regarding named driver insurance policies, which was also not advanced for floor debate.
Click here
to see Jim Cavanaugh's Unicameral Update for the past week.
|
|
|
MEMBER BENEFIT HIGHLIGHTS
|
|
|
|
Free Member Cyber Resources For Your Agency
All 50 states now have data breach laws in place, and several states including Massachusetts have recently amended their statutes. This means agency owners must understand the varying regulations in each of the states in which you write business.
How do you tackle this?
Within our ACT Agency Cyber Guide 2.0 we have many resources, free to all Big 'I' agents. One resource in particular that we link to can help explain each state's statutes; the Mintz Matrix.
This matrix details each state's statute, the state's definition of a breach, who is covered, how quickly businesses are required to notify customers of a breach, and potential penalties.
This is just one of many resources within our
Agency Cyber Guide 2.0
, and our Guide itself is one of many cyber resources offered by the
Big 'I'.
Take advantage of all your member benefits!
Free Coalition Cyber Webinar - June 19, 1-2 p.m. CDT
Will it happen to me? Find out why every insurance agency should carry cyber insurance. Join us for the Big "I"/Coalition Cyber Webinar to explore exposures to your insurance agency, cyber coverages available, insurance agency claim examples, changes in carrier contract cyber related requirements and how Big "I" members can access Coalition and the plethora of resources available. Register here.
|
|
|
Conference Limited To First 200 Registrants - You Can Attend For Free!
Join young agents from all over the Midwest and your company partners
Make Connections - Personal Branding with Talent Rebellion - Work-Life Balance On-site Escape Rooms - Have Fun!
|
|
|
IIAN PARTNER OF THE MONTH
|
|
|
Their support enables IIAN to present affordable, high-quality member programs.
And welcome to IIAN's newest Industry Partner!
Don't see your company's name on the list?
Click here to discover t he benefits of being a Industry Partner.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
