Each May, agents head to Capitol Hill for the Big “I” Legislative Conference
Over 20 Massachusetts independent agents and members of the MAIA went to Washington this year for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America’s annual Big “I” Legistative Conference. The annual event which was held from May 3rd-5th at the Renaissance Washington, D.C., Downtown Hotel sees more than 1,000 independent agents from across the country come together to make their voices and issues heard.
The first trip for the new MAIA President & CEO Nick Fyntrilakis
This year marked the first time that the MAIA’s delegation which led by MAIA President and CEO Nick Fyntrilakis. According to the May 11th edition of the MAIA’s The Massachusetts Agent, Mr. Fyntrilakis along with MAIA senior leadership and members of the Young Agents Committee met with various members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation as well as their staffs to discuss the many issues and legislative priorities for member agents. This year’s talking points included NFIP (Flood) re-authorization, tax reform and regulatory reform.
Massachusetts’ own Joe Kennedy III (D-Massachusetts) spoke this year
In addition to having a number of Mass. agents attend this year’s Big “I” event, Massachusetts also was represented in the roster of speakers this year. Wednesday’s Young Agent and InsurPac State Chairpersons Legislative Luncheon, saw Rep. Joe Kennedy III as the guest speaker. For those who do not know Congressman Kennedy, he represents the 4th Congressional District of Massachusetts.
While Agency Checklists was unable to attend the luncheon, the Big “I”‘s Independent Agent magazine did cover the speech. In an article entitled, “Rep. Joe Kennedy: ‘The Stories You Tell Matter“, Representative Kennedy thanked agents for coming and helping legislators like himself understand the issues facing this industry as well as the customers they serve.
“For all of you who made the trip for these couple of days, I can’t tell you how important that is,” Rep. Kennedy said. “It’s more than just a two-minute conversation about a bill or regulation that needs to be adjusted. The stories you tell matter, because that’s actually why most of us ran for this job in the first place—to try to address those problems.”
