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Committee hears bill to allow CE credit for association participation for insurance producers
Summary
The House Insurance Committee heard testimony on House Bill 4,178, which would let licensed insurance producers receive limited continuing-education credit for active participation in professional associations; the Department of Insurance and Financial Services would oversee approval and the bill excludes ethics hours.
The House Insurance Committee heard testimony on House Bill 4,178, which would allow licensed insurance producers to count some active participation in professional associations toward their state continuing-education (CE) requirements, proponents told the committee.
Proponents said the proposal would recognize time producers spend organizing and teaching at association events. "What this bill is doing is allowing producers, insurance solicitors, to use the efforts that they put into local organizations such as NAFA, use some of that time as credit towards their continuing education," Chuck May of NAFA Michigan told the committee.
Committee members and witnesses outlined how the proposal would work in practice and why supporters say it would benefit consumers. Under current licensing rules discussed at the hearing, insurance producers must obtain roughly 24 hours of CE every two years to maintain a license, including three hours of ethics training. The bill would not allow association participation to count toward the ethics hours, witnesses said. "This won't be counting towards their ethics training," May said.
May and other supporters said the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) would retain oversight of CE approval. "The bill does provide oversight in granting these hours," a NAFA Michigan witness said. "DIFS is in charge of CE credits. So the criteria in which this will be used will be monitored by DIFS." Committee members pressed for clarification on how participation would be verified; proponents said active, documented participation — such as helping to plan courses or serving on committees that produce approved CE content — would be required rather than mere membership or attendance.
Representative Carter, the committee's minority vice chair and a licensed producer, said she supported the bill and described the workload of producing CE programs at national and interstate association meetings. Representative Tisdale asked whether association meetings would need specific approved courses or whether participation alone would qualify; the committee was told that DIFS approval and active participation would be the controlling standards.
Committee members and witnesses noted that a number of other states have adopted similar provisions; May said 15 states had already implemented comparable rules. No committee vote on HB 4,178 was recorded during the hearing.
Votes at a glance: later in the same meeting the committee voted to report three bills with recommendation. House Bill 4,207 was reported on a roll call (10-0). House Bill 4,208 was reported with a 10-0 roll call. House Bill 4,179 was reported with a 10-0 roll call. The motions to report were made by Representatives Leitner (HB 4,207), Fitzgerald (HB 4,208) and Posthumus (HB 4,179) and were carried by unanimous recorded votes noted by the clerk.
The committee also approved the minutes from its March 19 meeting by unanimous consent earlier in the session.
