WASHINGTON, D.C., March 18 - National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) will address a joint gathering of young agents and state InsurPac chairmen April 2 during the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s (IIABA) National Legislative Conference.
The 27th annual IIABA legislative meeting—the insurance industry’s largest and most effective legislative gathering—will take place April 2-4 at The Capital Hilton in downtown Washington, D.C. Reynolds will speak during the eighth annual Young Agents-State InsurPac Chairmen’s Luncheon the first day of the conference.
“We are very pleased to have Chairman Reynolds as the speaker for our young agents and state InsurPac chairmen,” says IIABA CEO Robert A. Rusbuldt. “As a key figure in the House Republican leadership team, the Chairman will relay to our rising young professionals the importance of grassroots involvement in the political and legislative processes. Young agents are the future of our industry and Chairman Reynolds will reinforce in their minds that the future of the agency system is in their hands and that they must build the contacts on Capitol Hill now that will safeguard that future.”
“There is no one better positioned to impress on our state InsurPac chairmen the importance of agent and broker participation in InsurPac than Chairman Reynolds,” adds Maria L. Berthoud, IIABA senior vice president of federal government affairs. “He will explain to them the increased importance of InsurPac and all political action committees (PACs) in the world of campaigns for elective office following abolition of soft money in politics.”
Reynolds, a former licensed insurance broker and IIABA member, is one of the fastest-rising stars in the Republican leadership. In just his third term in the House of Representatives, Reynolds was elected by his peers as chairman of the NRCC, which supports the election of Republicans to the House through direct financial contributions to candidates and Republican Party organizations; technical and research assistance to Republican candidates and Party organizations; voter registration, education and turnout programs; and other Party-building activities. Reynolds is one of only eight elected House GOP leaders.
Before coming to Congress in 1999, Reynolds held a number of elected posts in western New York state as well as the state Assembly. He began his political career in 1974 as a member of the Concord, N.Y. town board, serving in that post until 1982. Reynolds was a member of the Erie County Legislature from 1982 to 1988, and was elected Republican Leader by his colleagues. In 1988, he was elected to the Assembly and rose to the post of Assembly Republican Leader in 1995.
InsurPac, IIABA’s political action committee, is the largest property-casualty insurance industry PAC in the country. By pooling the voluntary and individual financial contributions of thousands of independent agents and brokers, InsurPac helps elect candidates and re-elect members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate who share IIABA’s business philosophy.
The National Legislative Conference will bring hundreds of independent insurance agents and brokers to the nation’s capital during the critical early months of the much-anticipated 108th Congress. Lawmakers will be debating numerous issues shaping the future of the independent agency system and the insurance industry as a whole, including insurance regulatory modernization, tort reform and privacy issues.
Highlights of the conference will include an in-depth issues briefing session; the annual IIABA Congressional Reception; appearances by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Sen. John Breaux (D-La.), who will be discussing important insurance and national issues confronting lawmakers and agents in Washington, D.C.; and hundreds of meetings on Capitol Hill between IIABA agents and brokers and their elected representatives.
IIABA offers all young agents a special registration rate of $100. Visit www.independentagent.com to register online. For more information, contact Nathan Riedel (InsurPac) at nathan.riedel@iiaba.net or Leslie Mularski (Young Agents) at leslie.mularski@iiaba.net. Both can be reached at (800) 221-7917.
Founded in 1896, IIABA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life and health—as well as employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.
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