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Matthew Rohrbach, the deputy speaker in the House of Delegates, said state officials will benefit from outside advice about the finances of the Public Employees Insurance Agency.
Lawmakers got a first glance of that advice yesterday but have not yet decided what recommendations to act upon.
“Now I think we were going to try to distill it down to what we can do to improve PEIA. We want a quality plan for our employees, and we want a plan that is fiscally sound,” Rohrbach said on MetroNews Talkline.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation and Gov. Patrick Morrisey have all responded on social media to the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on the campus of Utah Valley University Wednesday.
Kirk, 31, was assassinated just a few minutes after he began an outdoor rally before approximately 3,000 students and others. Police said the shot came from the roof of a campus building. It was a targeted killing, police said.
Kirk suffered a gunshot wound to the neck. He died a short time later.
As of early Thursday morning, there have no arrests.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito originally posted on X Wednesday afternoon, “An absolutely horrific moment.”
WHEELING, W.Va. –Gov. Patrick Morrisey says the state’s first comprehensive energy policy will help West Virginia achieve energy dominance.
Morrisey appeared at the West Virginia Educational Forum and Tour at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling on Wednesday evening to announce the state’s new energy policy and outline its key components.
During his speech, he focused on PJM, the nation’s largest Regional Transmission Organization, which coordinates the generation and flow of electricity to 13 states and 67 million people, from Chicago to New Jersey to New York.
He said he was told that by 2045, peak load within PJM territory is expected to increase by 70 gigawatts, and by 2030, approximately 40 gigawatts of PJM’s generating capacity could be retired.
Morrisey said that’s why he created this 25-year plan, to help West Virginia get in front of that and ensure we can help.
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Last month, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) introduced the “Independent Broker Relief and Oversight of Knowingly Egregious and Repetitive Sales Tactics in Medicare Enrollment Act of 2025” (Independent BROKERS TIME Act).
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) joined Sen. Rounds as a co-sponsor and the bill, S. 2625, has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee to await further action.
This bipartisan bill directs the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary to update regulations for independent agents, brokers and third-party marketing organizations (TPMOs) under Medicare Parts C and D.
The Big “I” continues to communicate with members of Congress about the valuable role that licensed and certified independent agents and brokers play as they work directly with Medicare beneficiaries. Throughout the year, the Big “I” and other interested agent and broker trade associations will participate in meetings with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to discuss issues agents are facing, as well as potential solutions.
| | To book your room, please call 304.269.8882 or email Courtney Weaver at Stonewall Resort at cwheatley@stonewallresort.com. | |
You decided to try out the new artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that everyone’s talking about. You upload two policy documents and ask it to summarize the key differences for your client—something that normally takes your staff 30 minutes or more.
The tool delivers a clean, well-written summary in seconds. There’s just one problem: It compared the current policy to one that was canceled a year ago. The wrong document was attached to the client file. It wasn’t labeled correctly. And now, you’re back to double-checking everything manually.
When I asked LibertyGPT—Liberty Mutual’s internal version of ChatGPT—about what leadership skills are necessary in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), it came back with items like digital literacy, change management and data governance.
All of these are important capabilities for leaders to have and to build within their teams. But when I think about the fundamental shift in technology we’re witnessing today, I can’t help but think about the shift we should also be undergoing as leaders.
At a time when it’s easier than ever to have AI analyze data, organize your day or write an email for you, it’s also easier to lose the human touch—that spark of connection that ignites curiosity, enables collaboration and makes people feel secure.
Everyone gets jazzed about customer branding. But it really begins with the brand inside your four walls: your culture. Brand and culture are intertwined; you can’t strengthen one without strengthening the other.
Imagine the continuum of an infinity symbol. Brand and culture flow from each side of the loop to the other. In the middle is the “x.” That is where core values live, because they should be shared on the inside and outside of the organization.
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Last week, Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), who serves as chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin) reintroduced the “Business of Insurance Regulatory Reform Act.”
The bill clarifies the jurisdiction granted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and affirms that state insurance regulators are best positioned to oversee insurers and safeguard the interests of consumers.
An agent has a high-net worth customer in Pennsylvania who has a secondary home in Oregon. The customer would like to leave one of his vehicles garaged at the secondary home to use when he visits. The vehicle would be available for use throughout the year by local family members.
Mounting costs from nuclear verdicts are a significant challenge to the trucking industry and insurers. Trucking companies across the U.S. faced $165 million in nuclear verdicts—jury awards over $10 million—in 2023. These verdicts accelerated in size in the 2000s and have continued to skyrocket, becoming “thermonuclear verdicts,” which are verdicts greater than $100 million. The number of thermonuclear verdicts increased to a record high of 49 in 2024, compared to 27 in 2023, according to Marathon Strategies.
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Agency Nation Meets Susie BonnerVice President of Marketing and Communications at the Big "I" independentagent.com. With a focus on innovation and storytelling, Susie drives campaigns that elevate the Big "I" mission and empower state associations and industry partners. She leads strategic initiatives across branding, digital platforms, public relations and member engagement, supporting a national network of independent insurance agents.
Based in Virginia, she’s a proud wife and mom of two boys. Susie is passionate about creativity, community impact and making complex ideas easier to understand. Tr
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Angela Ripley, president of VW Brown Insurance in Columbia, Maryland, brings two decades of agency leadership, eight acquisitions and a passion for mentorship and inclusion to the role of Big “I” chair.
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From One Generation to the Next: Navigating Agency Succession Planning
On this episode of Agency Nation Radio, Peter van Aartrijk, executive vice president at Aartrijk is joined by Lee Gaudette, president of Gaudette Insurance, and his son, Peter Gaudette, commercial insurance advisor at Gaudette Insurance, and Keith Mangini, Vice President and Commercial Team Leader at InsurBanc.
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BIG I WV LEADERSHIP
Suzette Raines Ashley, President
Ashley Insurance Agency, LLC
Chris Parker, Vice President
Ferrell & Hill Insurance Agency
Anthony Deal, Treasurer
Insurance Centers
Chad Nuzum, Immediate Past President
Hood Insurance Group, LLC
Terri Dodrill, State National Director
McGriff Insurance Services
Brady Campbell, Young Agents Chair
Mountain State Insurance Agency
Traci Nelson, Chief Executive Officer
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DIRECTORS
Michael Winter
Bray & Oakley Insurance Agency
Beth Bailey
Bill Bailey Insurance Agency
Mike Cvechko
Cvechko Insurance Services
Charlie Robinson
Assured Partners dba Insurance Systems
Nick Dyer
Blueridge Risk Partners
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As we move into the fall season, this is always an important time of year for clients of independent insurance agents. Families are back into school routines, businesses are closing out their third quarter, and many are beginning to think about year-end planning. It’s the perfect opportunity to review your insurance policies, make updates to coverage, and ensure your protection reflects any changes in your life, family, or business.
The insurance industry continues to experience rapid changes—whether it’s shifts in underwriting practices, updates in federal and state regulations, or the growing emphasis on cyber protection for both individuals and businesses. Independent agents play a critical role in helping clients navigate these issues with personal attention and expertise.
Looking ahead, I’m excited that soon we’ll gather for the Big I West Virginia Annual Convention at Stonewall Resort. We have an outstanding program lined up, with sessions that will provide valuable insight into today’s marketplace, great networking opportunities, and, of course, some fun along the way. It’s always one of my favorite times of the year—when we can come together to learn, share, and strengthen the relationships that make our association so strong.
I look forward to seeing each of you there and to building on the momentum of this year as we head into the final quarter of 2025.
Suzette Raines Ashley
President
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