IIANJ Watchdog - May
16, 2003
IIANJ Witnesses a Unanimous Vote in the Assembly
in Favor of NJ Automobile Insurance Reform
Victory! After almost 2 hours of debate on the chamber floor last evening, IIANJ members witnessed a unanimous Assembly vote in favor of S-63, the New Jersey Automobile Insurance Choice and Competition Act. The Governor is expected to sign the bill within the next few weeks.
IIANJ, as a member of the Coalition for Auto Insurance Competition (CAIC), has spent over 18 months on this issue. IIANJ representatives and staff have had weekly - and sometimes daily - meetings over that time, meeting with every legislator, the Governor's staff, the DOBI, and other industry people. IIANJ was a very important part of this coalition and as a result your association has gained invaluable respect from the rest of the industry, the legislature, and government officials. During the 1 hour and 45 minutes of debate on the bill, nearly every legislator mentioned the flood of phone calls, faxes, letters and e-mails they received in support of this legislation. That was due, in large part, to the IIANJ member agents who have volunteered their time to work on this critical initiative. IIANJ would like to thank everyone who attended meetings with legislators, the Trenton rally, and those who called and wrote letters to their representatives.
IIANJ past president, Jeanne M. Heisler, has tirelessly represented the association in working with the Coalition to develop the bill and educate the members of our legislature. Jeanne met with legislators to encourage support for the bill right up until the Assembly session started yesterday afternoon. "This is the first step in significant automobile insurance reform in this state in many years," Ms. Heisler stated. "This bill is focused on regulatory reform to encourage insurance companies to want to come back to New Jersey and write policies for our consumers."
IIANJ
Chairman Denise Ronan cautions that our work is not done.
The next step will be to convince
companies to write automobile insurance in NJ, and IIANJ will continue to work
with CAIC and the DOBI on regulations that will allow reform to begin. A
huge victory has been won with the passage of this legislation, and independent
agents can now look ahead to a better insurance environment in
New Jersey.
Keep your eyes
out for information from the IIANJ Government Affairs Committee regarding
additional legislation concerning automobile insurance reform.
S-1991 & S-2385: Denise Ronan also attended the Senate Commerce committee meeting yesterday. IIANJ supported S-1991 which deregulates the forms used in the surplus lines market, making products available faster to consumers and agents. The committee also passed S-2385 out of committee. IIANJ has some concerns with a last minute amendment and will be reviewing the amendment and responding accordingly.
Independent Insurance Agents of New Jersey
PO Box 3230
Trenton, NJ 08619
609-597-4333
