Chair: Sen. Rodney Ellis (TX)

1st Vice Chair: Rep. Wayne Ford (IA)

2nd Vice Chair: Vacant

Policy Staff: Reginald Abreu

 

Committee Members	State
Rep. John F. Knight Jr.	AL
Rep. Earl Hilliard, Jr.	AL
Rep. Perry E. Thurston, Jr.	FL
Rep. Virgil Fludd	GA
Rep. Howard A. Mosby	GA
Sen. Mattie Hunter	IL
Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith	MI
Sen. Ulysses Currie	MD
Del. Catherine Pugh	MD
Del. Adrienne Jones	MD
Sen. Nathaniel McFadden	MD
Del. Barbara A. Robinson	MD
Rep. Reecy Dickson	MS
Rep. Earle Banks	MS
Sen. Jackie Winters	OR
Rep. W. Curtis Thomas	PA
Rep. Gilda Cobb Hunter	SC
Rep. Jason M. Fields	WI

 

MISSION STATEMENT

This committee develops policies that promote consumer protection and insure the safety and solvency of insurers. It reviews and addresses matters related to the regulation of corporations and financial institutions and examines bank policies and corporate practices that affect the financial stability and economic development of the African American community (examples include availability of small business loans, affordable mortgage loans, and community reinvestment).

 

HEADLINES

“Obama Unveils Plan for Troubled Housing Market”
“Why Saving is Killing the Economy”

 

REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Nine State Regulatory Flexibility Bills Considered in State Capitols

The 2007 state legislative sessions have started off with a strong push to create a friendlier regulatory environment for small business. Regulatory flexibility requires agencies to look at the economic impact of a proposed rule on small business and to consider less burdensome alternatives that still accomplish their regulatory goals. While every state has some form of administrative procedure law that governs the agency rulemaking process, many do not require regulatory flexibility for small businesses, or the systems in place need to be strengthened.

This year eight states have introduced regulatory flexibility legislation: Arkansas (SB 55), Connecticut (SB 1179), Hawaii (SB 188), Illinois (HB 302), Mississippi (HB 1229), Montana (SB 148), Tennessee (SB 55), and Washington (HB 1525). One bill carried over from last year: New Jersey (A 2327, SB 1335). Since the Office of Advocacy began its state initiative in 2002, a total of 35 state legislatures have considered regulatory flexibility legislation, and 19 states have implemented regulatory flexibility via legislation or executive order.

In addition, the office’s regional advocates have been busy in the state capitals:

* On February 14, Region VI Advocate Eric Munson testified on SB 55 before the Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development Committee of the Arkansas House of Representatives. On February 20, the Arkansas legislature passed SB 55 and sent it to Governor Bebee’s Desk.
* On February 9, Region X Advocate Connie Marshall testified on HB 1525 before the State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee of the Washington State House of Representatives.
* On February 16, Region I Advocate Steve Adams testified on SB 1179 before the Connecticut General Assembly’s Joint Standing Committee on Commerce.

To learn more about Advocacy’s state regulatory flexibility model legislation initiative and to stay informed of the latest developments visit: http://sba.gov/ADVO/laws/law_modeleg.html

 

LEGISLATION

A bill to establish a bipartisan commission on insurance reform

Congress finds the following:

(1) Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, which struck the United States in 2005, caused over $200 billion in total economic losses, including insured and uninsured losses.

(2) Although private sector insurance is currently available to spread some catastrophe-related losses throughout the Nation and internationally, most experts believe there will be significant insurance and reinsurance shortages, resulting in dramatic rate increases for consumers and businesses, and the unavailability of catastrophe insurance.

(3) The Federal Government has provided and will continue to provide billions of dollars and resources to pay for losses from catastrophes, including hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, tornados, and other disasters, at huge costs to American taxpayers.

(4) The Federal Government has a critical interest in ensuring appropriate and fiscally responsible risk management of catastrophes. Mortgages require reliable property insurance, and the unavailability of reliable property insurance would make most real estate transactions impossible. In addition, the public health, safety, and welfare demand that structures damaged or destroyed in a catastrophe be reconstructed as soon as possible. Therefore, the inability of the private sector insurance and reinsurance markets to maintain sufficient capacity to enable Americans to obtain property insurance coverage in the private sector endangers the national economy and the public health, safety, and welfare.

(5) Multiple proposals have been introduced in the United States Congress over the past decade to address catastrophic risk insurance, including the creation of a national catastrophic reinsurance fund and the revision of the Federal tax code to allow insurers to use tax-deferred catastrophe funds, yet Congress has failed to act on any of these proposals.

(6) To the extent the United States faces high risks from catastrophe exposure, essential technical information on financial structures and innovations in the catastrophe insurance market is needed.

(7) The most efficient and effective approach to assessing the catastrophe insurance problem in the public policy context is to establish a bipartisan commission of experts to study the management of catastrophic disaster risk, and to require such commission to timely report its recommendations to Congress so that Congress can quickly craft a solution to protect the American people.

For the rest of the bill visit here.

 

RESOURCES AND HELPFUL LINKS

Small Businesses
The United States Small Business Administration aids, counsels, assists and protects the interests of small businesses and helps families and businesses recover from national disasters.

From starting a business and applying for loans to finding a business lender and investors, you can find the information at GovLoans.gov, your gateway to Federal loan information, brought to you through a partnership between Federal agencies and GovBenefits.gov, the official government benefits web site.

US Department of Commerce

The historic mission of the Department is “to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce” of the United States. This has evolved, as a result of legislative and administrative additions, to encompass broadly the responsibility to foster, serve, and promote the Nation’s economic development and technological advancement.

Black Enterprise

Founded in 1968 by Earl G. Graves, Sr., serves to seek out, analyze and disseminate information that is helpful to, and provides a forum for the ideas, ambitions and expressions of African American business people.

CNN Money

CNN/Money.com, founded in October 2001 and located at www.money.com, is one of the Internet's leading sources for breaking business news, personal finance features, commentary and planning tools. Working with the editors of MONEY magazine and CNN's Business News Division, CNN/Money.com delivers all the day's pressing financial stories and goes beyond the headlines to show how they affect individuals' financial well-being.