Aug 15, 2016

Government Affairs Committee gets down to business in Red Bank

The attire may have been business casual but the PIANJ Government Affairs Committee was all business when it met last week in Red Bank to discuss legislative and regulatory issues. 

Government Affairs Committee Chairman Thomas Wilkens led the committee in a review of new legislation that had been introduced since the last time the committee met. The committee discussed legislation dealing with ride hailing, limo insurance, guaranteed asset protection waivers, auto insurance underwriting guidelines and auto insurance fraud. The committee also discussed some recent changes to a bill that would require employers to provide paid sick time off to their employees. The bill was amended to exclude employers with nine or fewer employees.

The committee next tackled some regulatory issues including an on-going issue with fees on personal-lines surplus-lines policies as well as the Department of Banking and Insurance's recently released digital I.D. card regulation. The regulation is open for public comment and PIANJ will submit official comment.

Chairman Wilkens informed the committee that DOBI Commissioner Richard J. Badolato had officially been sworn in. The committee discussed the meeting with DOBI that took place during the PIANJ/PIANY Conference in June. Those who attended felt that overall the meeting was positive.

The committee also discussed the recent Department of Labor overtime regulation and how it would impact PIANJ members. Staff will be presenting two webinars on the topic to assist PIANJ members. In addition, the committee also discussed the Federal Insurance Office's report on auto insurance affordability and PIA National's Advocacy month. 

The last issue addressed by the committee was certificates of insurance. PIANJ has been receiving many calls on the new law, in particular on how to comply with the law. In response, PIANJ will be presenting a webinar answering many of the questions it has received. PIANJ is encouraging all members to submit any questions they may have.