WASHINGTON, D.C., March 31, 2015—The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) today announced that Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Florida) will address the Young Agents & InsurPac State Chairpersons Legislative Luncheon at the annual Big “I” Legislative Conference.

 

The event will be held on Wednesday, April 22, at 12:00 p.m. in Washington, D.C. and will also feature the presentation of the annual InsurPac National Championship awards, Young Agent of the Year and Eagle awards.

 

“Rep. Murphy is well-known and respected for his leadership on the House Financial Services Committee,” says Charles E. Symington, Jr., Big “I” senior vice president for external and government affairs. “His dedication to small businesses and leadership on numerous legislative issues that the Big ‘I’ supports, such as sponsoring bills to increase the availability of private flood insurance, are commendable. We’re excited that he will be joining us for one of our most important events of the year to address our young agents and InsurPac leadership.”

 

Rep. Murphy was elected to the House in 2012 and represents Florida’s 18th Congressional District which includes northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties in the state’s south eastern region. He serves on the House Committee on Financial Services and the Select Committee on Intelligence. The native Floridian is also a member of the New Democrat Coalition (a group of moderate, pro-business Democrats) and co-founder of the United Solutions Caucus (a group of more than 30 like-minded members, both Democrats and Republicans, focused on finding long-term solutions to fiscal issues). Prior to being elected to the House, Rep. Murphy was a Certified Public Account (CPA) for Deloitte and Touche where he audited Fortune 500 companies. He is one of only nine CPAs in the House. Rep. Murphy earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami, graduating with degrees in both accounting and finance.

 

“Big ‘I’ young agents are the next generation of independent agency leaders and InsurPac is the largest property-casualty political action committee in the country, largely due to the leadership of our state chairs,” says Nathan Riedel, Big “I” vice president for political affairs. “These two forces are among the most influential in the independent agency system and will greatly benefit from Rep. Murphy’s insights. We look forward to continuing to increase our young agents’ engagement in the political process as they take the reins as the future of the industry.”

 

The Big “I” Legislative Conference is the insurance industry’s best-attended, most effective legislative meeting. This year’s event will take place April 22-24 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill.

 

The legislative conference is an opportunity for Big “I” members to discuss important issues with their congressional representatives. Top issues this year include health insurance reform, the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP), tax reform, agent commissions and other economic challenges facing independent insurance agents and the industry. 

 

Other highlights of the Big “I” Legislative Conference include in-depth issues briefing sessions; appearances by numerous high-profile speakers discussing important insurance and national issues confronting lawmakers as well as agents and brokers and hundreds of meetings on Capitol Hill between Big “I” agents and brokers and their elected representatives in the Congress.

 

Journalists interested in attending, please send an email to margarita.tapia@iiaba.net or call (703) 706-5473 for media registration.

 

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