Outcome On Federal Law Gratifying To NAPSLO Committee, Board

For Maria Berthoud, who has worked as a Washington lobbyist for 20 years, the passage of the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA) has special significance. The NRRA, which was signed into law as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act in late July, is only the fourth insurance bill she has seen move from start to finish in almost two decades on Capitol Hill.

“It is rare to get something done in Congress,” she said, ranking the passage of NRRA with HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), Gramm-Leach-Bliley, and TRIA (the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act)–the other three historic laws passed during the 20-year time period.

NAPSLO hired B&D Consulting in 2005, Ms. Berthoud said, going on to detail the following evolution that included four years of House action–Congressional hearings, then moving through the judiciary committee and up to the House floor where it passed three times, and then several Senate hearings of NAPSLO’s legislative principals until becoming the law of the land. NAPSLO and its industry’s partners were successful in passing NRRA through Congress four times–three times as a standalone bill in the House, and ultimately by both houses as part of the federal financial services reform legislation that has become the Dodd-Frank law.