The NAIFA Advantage: Working with State Associations

NAIFA’s advocacy is enhanced by the coordination and cooperation that exists between NAIFA’s state associations and NAIFA-National.

Advocacy on critical federal issues is an important part of both NAIFA’s mission and the value proposition that NAIFA offers to its members. And while congressional activity gets most of the headlines and is often the lead story on the nightly news, we need to always remember that insurance is still primarily regulated by the states. With literally thousands of bills dealing with insurance and investment issues being introduced in the states every year, what happens in state capitols and at state insurance departments has a direct impact on our members’ day-today lives and livelihoods.

With a state association, members and advocacy representation in every state, the NAIFA federation is extremely well-positioned to respond to state legislative and regulatory challenges. This “NAIFA Advantage” on state advocacy is enhanced by the coordination and cooperation between NAIFA’s state associations and NAIFA national on state advocacy issues.

Regardless of whether an issue arises at the state or federal level, NAIFA’s individual members — and their political contacts, PAC contributions and outreach to lawmakers — are the bedrock reason for NAIFA’s many advocacy successes. However, there is often a degree of confusion among the membership regarding “who does what” when it comes to state advocacy.

State-level advocacy

Unlike NAIFA’s federal advocacy program, where strategy and tactics are developed and coordinated through NAIFA’s national office, when it comes to state-level advocacy our state associations take the lead. Among other things, it is the state association that decides what issues to engage on, whether to submit statements and/or testify at hearings, if and when to conduct grass-roots campaigns and what other groups to work with.

The reason for this is fairly simple — our members and state association staff who are “on the ground” in a particular state know the political and legislative landscape better than anyone else. And state legislators and regulators want to hear from — and learn from — their constituents rather than from someone who lives 1,000 miles away.

NAIFA’s national office, through its state Government Relations staff, provides valuable backup and support for the advocacy activities of our state associations. The types of support that NAIFA provides to our state associations on state-level advocacy include bill analysis and drafting assistance, help in developing policy and position statements, and coverage of national legislator and regulator organizations such as the NAIC and NCOIL.

NAIFA also provides education and information regarding national trends and developments, data on how other states have dealt with specific issues, help in developing effective strategies and tactics for promoting the state association’s position on specific issues, as well as assistance in building effective coalitions of like-minded groups.

Additional support for our states

To supplement the types of assistance outlined above, NAIFA has also developed two new tools that will further the federation’s goal of having our state associations be the most effective possible advocates for their members’ interests.

First, NAIFA has developed and provided state associations with a State Advocacy Planning Guide, which is designed to assist state associations in organizing, planning, and operating a state advocacy program that is efficient and effective and keeps members informed and politically engaged. The State Advocacy Planning Guide covers topics such as how to host a state Day on the Hill, how to activate grassroots, how to develop and document relationships with key legislators and regulators, and many other topics.

Update on the NAIFA Capital 50 Fund Program

In addition to this guide, for the past year, NAIFA has been developing the NAIFA Capital 50 Fund Program, and we are excited that this program will soon be moving from the development stage to actual program implementation.

The Capital 50 Fund Program is a new NAIFA initiative in which strategic partners will invest resources in NAIFA’s state-advocacy efforts as a means to leverage NAIFA’s structure as a federation to improve our ability to positively influence state-level legislative and regulatory activity on issues of importance to NAIFA and its members.

This new program will allow state associations that meet certain prerequisite requirements to apply for financial grants that will be used to improve the effectiveness of the state association’s overall state-advocacy program, rather than to advocate with respect to specific issues. Possible appropriate uses for program grants include improving the effectiveness of a state association’s Day on the Hill event, upgrading a state association’s system for developing and documenting relationships with legislators and regulators, enhancing the state association’s ability to become aware of, and evaluate legislative and regulatory proposals, and to improve the association’s ability to activate its grass roots system.

Working together, with each partner doing what it does the best, NAIFA and our state associations are highly effective advocates for our members’ interests in the states.

Gary Sanders is counsel and VP, NAIFA Government Relations. Contact him at gsanders@naifa.org.

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Working together, NAIFA and our state associations are highly effective advocates for our members’ interests in the states.

By Brian Greenberg, Eszylfie Taylor and Sandro Forte, DipPFS