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Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI)—a consistent champion of the state-based insurance system—has introduced legislation to reform the Federal Insurance Office (FIO). The House Financial Services Committee may hold a legislative hearing on the bill (H.R. 3861) as early as next week. The bill would reorient FIO as an internationally focused body (removing FIO’s authority/role with respect to domestic policy formulation) and would enhance the role of state regulators in all FIO functions. It would also constrain FIO’s personnel resources and take away some existing authorities, including, for instance, its authority to demand information from insurers and to determine whether state laws are preempted by covered agreements (with respect to the latter, assigning the FIO director a supporting role to the Treasury Secretary).

Click here for specific reforms included in the legislation, as prepared by our legal team at Steptoe & Johnson.