The Republican majority in Congress is officially in panic mode, scrambling to salvage their sinking legislative agenda while covering their you-know-what before facing angry voters this November. You wouldn't expect insurance regulatory reform to get much attention in Washington with the American public going bonkers about soaring gas prices, the war in Iraq and illegal immigration. Yet in the midst of all the major issues being fumbled on Capitol Hill, the House sprung a tiny leak about its so-called SMART initiative.

NU learned that staff members on the House Financial Services Committee are busy rewriting a streamlined version of regulatory reform, which would set federal standards for state insurance commissioners.

The timing is no accident. The flurry of activity to redraft the proposed State Modernization and Regulatory Transparency Act comes shortly after two members of the Senate Banking Committee got in on the act by introducing optional federal charter legislation last month.