A resolution in the Ohio House of Representatives calling for the state's congressional representatives to oppose federal legislation that would regulate insurance has been dropped.
The office of Ohio Rep. Geoff Smith, R-Columbus, confirmed Tuesday that the bill, House Concurrent Resolution 15, would not be brought to the state House floor. The decision was made after a meeting Monday between Mr. Smith and Congressman Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and one of the authors of the State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency Act.
A spokesman for Mr. Smith said he dropped the bill after meeting with Mr. Oxley, "to foster more dialogue on the issue."
The Ohio bill passed the state House insurance committee earlier this month by a vote of 14 to 1, with only Democrat John Boccieri, D-New Middletown, voting against the measure.
HCR 15 called on Ohio's congressional delegation to oppose the SMART Act. The representatives, it argues, are "more responsive to the needs of their constituents and more knowledgeable regarding the market conditions in their own states and the necessary insurance products and regulations to meet those market conditions."
The resolution also raised the issue of premium taxes, noting that, "many states derive general revenue moneys from insurance regulation," among them Ohio, which collected more than $404 million in premium taxes for 2003. Additionally, "many states, including Ohio, recently have enacted and amended state insurance laws to modernize market regulation and provide insurers with greater ability to respond to changes in market conditions," according to the resolution.
The SMART Act, it claimed, would, "threaten the power of state legislatures, governors, insurance commissioners and attorneys general to oversee, regulate and investigate the insurance industry, and impair, erode and limit the states' ability to protect the interests of their constituents...."
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