WASHINGTON--If Sen. Joe Biden, D- Delaware, is elected vice president, it would set off a domino effect making Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee next year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said yesterday.
Such a change could help the cause of insurance industry sectors supporting an optional federal charter for insurers because Sen. Johnson is a primary sponsor of Senate OFC legislation.
Sen. Johnson and Sen. John Sununu, R., N.H., are primary sponsors of S. 40, "The National Insurance Act of 2007," a bill that would give insurers the option of choosing between a state charter and a federal charter.
Sen. Johnson is running for re-election despite suffering a near-fatal brain hemorrhage in December 2006, just after the Democrats regained control of Congress. He did not return to the Senate for almost a year and still has difficulty speaking.
Steve Jarding, manager of Sen. Johnson's re-election campaign, today confirmed from South Dakota what Sen. Reid told reporters.
"We have had a number of calls from reporters telling us what Sen. Reid said," Mr. Jarding said.
Under the scenario, the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would open up because Sen. Biden, if elected vice president on a Barack Obama ticket, would leave his Senate post, and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the current banking chairman, has indicated for a number of years his interest in leaving that slot to become chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
Mr. Jarding and several insurance as well as banking lobbyists privately confirmed that Sen. Dodd has long had an interest in heading the Foreign Relations Committee.
He has headed the Senate Banking Committee since Democrats regained control of Congress in January 2007. Sen. Dodd has voiced support for an OFC for life insurers, reiterating those comments as recently as a July 29 hearing on insurance regulatory issues. But he has voiced some concerns about a similar option for property-casualty insurers.
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