WASHINGTON, April 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The bipartisan "Ensuring Access
to Risk Management Act of 2024," which would reinstate an inflation
adjustment for crop insurance agents, was introduced this week in
the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), with Reps.
Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Tracey
Mann (R-KS) as original cosponsors. The proposal is backed
by the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents
(PIA).
The bill seeks to provide relief for crop insurance agents who
have had their commissions effectively cut for the past several
years, ever since the USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) abruptly
stopped providing an inflation adjustment to crop agent
compensation in 2016. The legislation would require the RMA to
reinstate an annual inflation adjustment and provide for specialty
crop relief.
Background: The 2011 Standard Reinsurance Agreement
(SRA), which is the contract between the federal government and
crop insurers, establishes a cap on the administrative and
operating (A&O) expense subsidy, a pool of funds from which
crop insurers pay agent commissions. Then, beginning in 2016,
the RMA stopped making annual adjustments to the total A&O
subsidy cap for inflation, leaving the cap fixed in 2015 dollars, where it remains today. These
actions resulted in effective cuts to crop insurance agent
commissions, during a historically challenging time for agents.
In late 2022, PIA and its allies successfully advocated for
the inclusion of language in an appropriations package, which was
ultimately signed into law, stating Congress' belief that the RMA
has the legal authority to reinstate the inflation adjustment
without renegotiating the SRA. Despite this explicit Congressional
declaration, the RMA insists that it does not have the legal
authority to reinstate the inflation adjustment and has declined to
act. As a result, this bill was developed to address the issue
directly.
"For years, crop agents have been compensated less and less
every year, with many experiencing substantial financial hardship,
all because of this disagreement between the RMA and Congress about
the scope of the RMA's authority," said Jon
Gentile, PIA's Chief Public Affairs and Advocacy
Officer.
"The RMA's decision to stop adjusting A&O for inflation
devastated crop agents and agencies. Jobs have been lost, small
business growth has been impaired, and local community investments
have, in many cases, disappeared. If Congress does not provide crop
agents with inflation adjustment relief, they are likely to be
forced out of the industry, until many farmers no longer have
access to knowledgeable agents and their risk management expertise.
PIA thanks Reps. Scott, Panetta, and Mann for their support of crop
insurance agents and their leadership on this important issue,"
Gentile said.
PIA is also working on a Senate companion bill. PIA will
advocate for the Ensuring Access to Risk Management Act's
passage.
Founded in 1931, PIA is a national trade association that
represents member insurance agents and their employees who sell and
service all kinds of insurance but specialize in coverage of
automobiles, homes, and businesses. PIA's web address
is www.pianational.org.
This press release is online at:
https://www.pianational.org/detail-pages/news/2024/04/17/pia-backed-bill-to-reinstate-crop-inflation-adjustment-introduced-in-house
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pia-backed-bill-to-reinstate-crop-inflation-adjustment-introduced-in-house-302120102.html
SOURCE National Association of Professional Insurance Agents