Best’s News & Research Service - October 24, 2024 03:01 PM (EDT)
Tax Reforms, ‘Open-Minded’ Candidates Driving Industry PAC Contributions, Trade Groups Say
OLDWICK, N.J. //BestWire// - A desire to preserve 2017 tax reforms and support for candidates willing to learn about complex insurance issues are driving contributions to, and donations from, industry political action committees, industry trade groups said.
The insurance industry, both individuals and PACs, have given $67.9 million this cycle, as of Sept 22, according to nonpartisan election data site OpenSecrets.
As with every cycle since 1992, industry contributions from PACs and individuals favor Republican candidates. Slightly more than 56% of industry contributions support Republicans, while 42.54% go to Democrats. Republican candidates received $33.6 million and Democrat candidates received $25.2 million this cycle.
Individual contributions attributed to industry members are outpacing PAC contributions in this cycle, which is typically the case during years that include presidential races. Individuals gave $35.4 million this year, up from $30.4 million in 2022 but a far cry from 2020’s $72.5 million.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat presidential candidate, is the top recipient of industry contributions across individuals and PACs, bringing in $4.03 million as of Sept. 22. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump received $2.1 million from the industry. Republican presidential primary contenders Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ranked third and fourth in this election cycle, respectively.
As of Sept. 22, industry PACs gave $22.8 million this election cycle, according to OpenSecrets. This is closing in on the $30.3 million contributed in 2022 and 2020’s $31.9 million.
While the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America supports candidates across the political spectrum, its giving in the past few cycles has favored Republicans, Nathan Riedel, the Big I’s senior vice president, federal government affairs, said. He explained Big I’s contributions tend to support candidates that want to protect small business and favor preserving tax reforms passed in 2017.
“At least from the trade associations point of view, they’re seen increased contributions,” he said. “I think you’ll see more participation this cycle than ever before.”
The Big I’s PAC expects to increase its fundraising from approximately $2.5 million in the last cycle to $2.7 million this year, Riedel said.
Highlighting the Big I’s bifurcated donation strategy, Riedel said its PAC strongly supports Montana Democrat Sen. Jon Tester as well as Missouri Republican Rep. Jason Smith.
Of Tester, Riedel said he supported agent licensing rules favored by the industry and has worked to protect crop insurance in the Farm Bill. Tester is the second biggest recipient of industry contributions, when combining PAC and individual money, according to OpenSecrets. He has taken in $373,685 this cycle.
Support for Smith is driven by his position as chair of the House Ways and Means Committee and his work in trying to make a 199A small business deductions permanent. Preserving this 20% deduction is vital for pass-through entities, Riedel said, noting 86% of Big I member agencies identify as pass-through entities.
He said the bill, the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, has more than 190 House sponsors and support from 34 Senators, with both groups predominantly made up of Republican lawmakers.
Smith is the top recipient on insurance PAC contributions, according to OpenSecrets, receiving $252,000, as of Sept. 22. When combining PAC and individual, Smith is the second-biggest recipient of insurance industry contributions in the House. Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, was the leading industry recipient, as of Sept. 22, with $368,681 in contributions.
On the Senate side, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is the top recipient of insurance industry contributions when combining PAC and individual contributions, pulling in $471,124, according to OpenSecrets. Brown chairs the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and is a member of the chamber’s finance committee.
Florida Republican Tim Scott, ranking member on the Senate banking Committee, received the fourth-most contributions from the industry with $253,290.
Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, took in the third-most industry contributions with $284,045. Casey is on the Senate finance committee and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Supporting Congresspeople with important committee assignments is a critical function of PACs, regardless of the candidate’s political affiliation, according to Jimi Grande, senior vice president, federal and political affairs at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.
“That support isn’t necessarily saying ‘I want to help them get reelected.’ Sometimes it is helping to get you in the room to talk to them, try to explain how insurance works and what really would help their constituents and what not to do,” Grande said.
This cycle is seeing a lot of contributions as industry fundamentals are “under attack in odd ways these days,” he said. “Finding candidates that support state regulations, open competition and the basic laws of insurance, like matching risk to rate, is getting increasingly harder.”
Exacerbating this problem is the less serious crop of politicians, from both sides of the aisle, that are coming to Washington, he said. This has resulted in the act of legislating and fixing problems taking a backseat to clicks and social media content.
“Good politics and good policy don’t always go hand in glove,” Grande said. “It’s a lot easier for a politician to wag their finger and demand they bring down the price of insurance than to explain to somebody that the combination of inflation, increasing losses because of climate and the growing trend of litigation abuse is all contributing to more expensive insurance.”
NAMIC’s top legislative priorities for the year, and where its PAC support is going, are tax reform and tort reform, he said. As of Sept. 22, NAMIC had raised $668,826, with $450,000 going toward Republicans and Democrats receiving $210,826.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield was the top industry contributor, donating $3.1 million, as of Sept. 22, OpenSecrets said. Democrats received $1.9 million of that, while Republicans received $1.1 million and liberal groups accepted $17,027. American Financial Group contributed the second-most, with donations totaling $2.9 million.
Rounding out the top five groups are the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, $2.9 million; Payroll & Insurance Group, $2.8 million; and Ryan Specialty Group, $2.4 million.
Other industry groups ranking among 2024’s top contributors are the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors, $1.2 million; American Council of Life Insurers, $956,135; and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, $699,301, according to OpenSecrets data.
Attempts to gain comment from other leading contributors were unsuccessful.
(By Steve Hallo, senior associate editor, BestWire: Steve.Hallo@ambest.com)