<div class="xtend"><a id="pl.1.1"></a><var>1.1</var>A resolution<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>memorializing the Congress of the United States to oppose enactment of legislation of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>the substance and tenor of S. 40/H.R. 3200 -- the National Insurance Act of 2007 -- <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>proposed optional federal charter legislation.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>WHEREAS, the current financial crisis facing the United States and the world is causing <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>Congress and the Administration to review the current regulatory structure presently in force <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>with the object of revising it; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var>WHEREAS, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Comptroller of the Currency, <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal regulatory institutions failed their <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>responsibility, causing great harm to the financial system of the United States; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>WHEREAS, the prime example of the failure of the federal regulatory institutions to <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>exercise their responsibility is AIG; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>WHEREAS, the failure of AIG has been caused by the actions and activities of its holding <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>company, the regulation of which is the sole responsibility of the federal government; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>WHEREAS, the regulation of AIG's insurance company subsidiaries has been the <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>responsibility of the state regulators who have fulfilled their responsibilities, which is <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>demonstrated by the fact that none of the approximately 170 insurance subsidiaries has failed; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>WHEREAS, regulation, oversight, and consumer protection have traditionally and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>historically been powers reserved to state governments under the McCarran-Ferguson Act of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>1945; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.21"></a><var>1.21</var>WHEREAS, state legislatures are more responsive to the needs of their constituents and the <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.22"></a><var>1.22</var>need for insurance products and regulation to meet their state's unique market demands; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>WHEREAS, many states, including Minnesota, have recently enacted and amended state <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>insurance laws to modernize market regulation and provide insurers with greater ability to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>respond to changes in market conditions; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>WHEREAS, state legislatures, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), and the National Conference of <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>State Legislators (NCSL) continue to address uniformity issues between states by the adoption <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.7"></a><var>2.7</var>of model laws that address market conduct, product approval, agent and company licensing, <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.8"></a><var>2.8</var>and rate deregulation; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.9"></a><var>2.9</var>WHEREAS, new federal legislation to create a national insurance charter is expected to be <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.10"></a><var>2.10</var>introduced in 2009 that will have the potential to fundamentally alter the role of state governments <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.11"></a><var>2.11</var>in the insurance industry, thereby creating an unwieldy and unnecessary federal bureaucracy <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.12"></a><var>2.12</var>proposed without consumer and constituent demand; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.13"></a><var>2.13</var>WHEREAS, such initiatives as S. 40/H.R. 3200 -- the National Insurance Act of 2007 -- <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.14"></a><var>2.14</var>proposed optional federal charter legislation may bifurcate insurance regulation and result in a <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.15"></a><var>2.15</var>labyrinth of federal and state directives that would promote ambiguity and confusion among <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.16"></a><var>2.16</var>consumers; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.17"></a><var>2.17</var>WHEREAS, bills such as S. 40/H.R. 3200 would allow insurance companies choosing a <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.18"></a><var>2.18</var>federal charter to avoid state insurance regulatory oversight and evade important state consumer <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.19"></a><var>2.19</var>protections; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.20"></a><var>2.20</var>WHEREAS, the mechanism that would have been set up under S. 40/H.R. 3200 cannot <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.21"></a><var>2.21</var>respond to the unique insurance market dynamics and local constituent concerns present in each <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.22"></a><var>2.22</var>of the 50 states as state regulation does; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.23"></a><var>2.23</var>WHEREAS, bills such as S. 40/H.R. 3200 have the potential to compromise state guaranty <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.24"></a><var>2.24</var>fund coverage, and employers could end up absorbing losses otherwise covered by these safety <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.25"></a><var>2.25</var>nets for businesses affected by insolvencies; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.26"></a><var>2.26</var>WHEREAS, bills such as S. 40/H.R. 3200 would ultimately impose the costs of a new and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.27"></a><var>2.27</var>needless federal bureaucracy upon businesses and the public; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.28"></a><var>2.28</var>WHEREAS, many state governments derive general revenue dollars from the regulation <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.29"></a><var>2.29</var>of the business of insurance, including nearly $14 billion in premium taxes and $2.7 billion in <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.30"></a><var>2.30</var>fees and assessments generated in 2006 -- of which the state of Minnesota generated over $348 <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.31"></a><var>2.31</var>million; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.1"></a><var>3.1</var>WHEREAS, bills such as S. 40/H.R. 3200 threaten the loss of state revenues from <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.2"></a><var>3.2</var>insurance fees and assessments, thereby putting at risk the funding of a wide array of essential <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.3"></a><var>3.3</var>state services; NOW, THEREFORE, <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.4"></a><var>3.4</var>BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it joins the National <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.5"></a><var>3.5</var>Conference of Insurance Legislators in expressing its strong opposition to creation of a federal <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.6"></a><var>3.6</var>insurance charter as proposed in S. 40/H.R. 3200 and any other such federal legislation that <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.7"></a><var>3.7</var>would threaten the power of state legislatures, governors, insurance commissioners, and attorneys <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.8"></a><var>3.8</var>general to oversee, regulate, and investigate the business of insurance, and to protect consumers. <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.9"></a><var>3.9</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.10"></a><var>3.10</var>directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President and the Secretary of <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.11"></a><var>3.11</var>the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.12"></a><var>3.12</var>the chair and members of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.13"></a><var>3.13</var>Affairs, the chair and members of the United States House of Representatives Committee on <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.14"></a><var>3.14</var>Financial Services, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.<br />
         		
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