Flood Insurance Continuing Education and Training Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2171 To amend the Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 to require insurance agents who sell flood insurance policies under the National Flood Insurance Program to take certain continuing education courses, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 18, 2019 Mr. WICKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insur- ance Reform Act of 2004 to require insurance agents who sell flood insurance policies under the National Flood Insurance Program to take certain continuing edu- cation courses, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flood Insurance Con- 4 tinuing Education and Training Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2171.IS S2171 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2171 IS SEC. 2. CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR INSURANCE AGENTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Bunning-Bereuter-Blu- 2 menauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 (Public 3 Law 108–264; 118 Stat. 712) is amended— 4 (1) in section 201 (42 U.S.C. 4011 note)— 5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Director 6 of the’’ and inserting ‘‘Administrator of the’’; 7 and 8 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘4001’’ 9 after ‘‘U.S.C.’’; and 10 (2) by striking section 207 (42 U.S.C. 4011 11 note) and inserting the following: 12 ‘‘SEC. 207. CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 13 INSURANCE AGENTS. 14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall require each 15 insurance agent who sells flood insurance policies to, once 16 every 2 years, complete a 3-hour continuing education 17 course that— 18 ‘‘(1) is approved by the insurance commissioner 19 of each State in which the agent is licensed to sell 20 insurance, as further provided in subsection (c); and 21 ‘‘(2) focuses on issues with respect to the Pro- 22 gram. 23 ‘‘(b) FAILURE TO COMPLETE COURSE.—If an insur- 24 ance agent who sells flood insurance policies does not com- 25 plete a continuing education course required under sub- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2171.IS S2171 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2171 IS section (a), the agent, until the date on which the agent 1 completes the course in accordance with the requirements 2 of this section, may not— 3 ‘‘(1) sell flood insurance policies; or 4 ‘‘(2) perform any duties with respect to the 5 Program. 6 ‘‘(c) AGENTS LICENSED IN MULTIPLE STATES.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an insurance agent who 8 sells flood insurance policies is licensed to sell insur- 9 ance in more than 1 State— 10 ‘‘(A) the agent shall submit proof of com- 11 pletion of a continuing education course re- 12 quired under subsection (a) to the insurance 13 commissioner of each State in which the agent 14 is licensed; and 15 ‘‘(B) each insurance commissioner to 16 whom an insurance agent submits a proof of 17 completion under subparagraph (A) may deter- 18 mine whether the course to which that proof of 19 completion relates meets the minimum stand- 20 ards established by that insurance commis- 21 sioner. 22 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF DENIAL.—If an insurance 23 commissioner of a State (referred to in this para- 24 graph as the ‘rejecting commissioner’) determines 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2171.IS S2171 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2171 IS under paragraph (1)(B) that a continuing education 1 course taken in another State by an insurance agent 2 who sells flood insurance policies does not meet the 3 minimum standards established by the rejecting 4 commissioner, the insurance agent may not take any 5 action described in paragraph (1) or (2) of sub- 6 section (b) until the agent satisfies the minimum re- 7 quirements established by the rejecting commis- 8 sioner. 9 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Any reference in 10 this section to an insurance commissioner of a State shall 11 be construed as a reference to an equivalent official with 12 respect to any State in which there is no official who has 13 the title of insurance commissioner.’’. 14 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 15 The table of contents for the Bunning-Bereuter-Blu- 16 menauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 (Public 17 Law 108–264; 118 Stat. 712) is amended by striking the 18 item relating to section 207 and inserting the following: 19 ‘‘Sec. 207. Continuing education requirements for insurance agents.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2171.IS S2171 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS