Ala., Ga., La. Commissioners Discuss Untangling the Regulatory Environment

Walter Bell

“In times of disaster the insurance industry is supposed to shine, and your industry did,” Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter A. Bell said during a Tuesday afternoon panel discussion at the Society of Insurance Research annual conference in Atlanta. The discussion on “The Regulatory Environment – Untangle So You Can Work Smarter” was moderated by Ginger Johnson, Alfa Insurance director of compensation, with panelists Georgia Commissioner John W. Oxendine and Louisiana Commissioner J. Robert Wooley.

“There are no more important issues than federal versus state regulations and proponents have dug in on both sides,” Bell explained. He said if the industry was federally regulated companies would have to pay double taxes. Bell pointed out that insurance company revenue provides a majority of the general fund income and that when companies resisted the double taxation those states would lose most of their budget.

“No one is more capable of goofing everything up than the federal government,” agreed Commissioner Oxendine. “If the State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency Act (SMART) takes effect I’ll give up politics and become a rich trial lawyer.”

He maintained that the federal government shouldn’t interfere with family life and income and that if SMART proposals take effect it will provide a field day for trial attorneys.

Commissioner Wooley said he didn’t think the U.S. Congress will pass the SMART Act anytime soon. He said that when Louisiana attempted to regulate insurance companies they began to leave the state and found out the hard way that competition is the best way to regulate it.

Keynote speaker Walter R. Bateman, retired chairman and CEO of ARM will discuss leverage executive insights in a new era Wednesday morning. His presentation willbe followed by three seminars and adjournent at noon.

Topics Legislation Louisiana