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May 28, 2014
by Bob Pastel, Legislative Counsel to PIWA
Statewide Races. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino is the republican nominee for Governor. Mr. Astorino is a personable, bi-lingual, long shot candidate. He faces a huge campaign fund and voter enrollment disadvantage against the Democratic incumbent, Andrew Cuomo. Mr. Astorino's running mate will be Sheriff Christopher Moss from Chemung County. Sheriff Moss is the first Republican African-American nominated for lieutenant governor. Former Governor Pataki counsel, and current law partner, John Cahill (no relation to the Assembly Insurance Committee Chair) is the Republican nominee for Attorney General. Rounding off the ticket for state Comptroller is Bob Antonacci, comptroller for Onondaga County. The Democratic convention was held last week; where Governor Cuomo announced former Congresswoman Kathy Hochul would be his new running mate.
Other legislative news. Senator Ball (R-Putnam) announced he would not seek reelection this year, leaving co-majority leader Senator Skelos (R-Rockville Center) with an additional challenge to his ruling coalition with the Independent Democratic Caucus. Co-majority Leader Senator Klein (IDC-Bronx) who may face a primary from Oliver Koppell, is lining up endorsements from his community and the unions.
PIWA bill introduced in the Senate! Following PIWA's successful day on the hill earlier this year, PIWA's President Maya Cruz and Legislative Chair Wil Cote worked on legislation to help advance the interest of NYS wholesalers and their retail producer partners. PIWA worked with Dan Mahar of the Excess Line Association of New York and Senate Insurance Chair Jim Seward, who introduced S.7551. This bill would reduce the administrative burden on retail producers, and finally recognize in statute the good works of the Excess Line Association of New York. PIWA is reaching out to the retail producer community, and has already garnered support of the PIANY.
Certificate of Insurance legislation. Another bill to assist retail producers and the wholesale community is the certificate of insurance reform legislation. PIWA supported the version which was vetoed by the Governor last year. The legislation was recently amended to address the concerns raised by the Governor in his veto message. (The Governor expressed concern on the impact on State Agencies, PIWA, in its letter to the Governor had indicated that the legislation merely codified what the former Department of Insurance had been opining.) Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle introduced the measure, and Senator Seward amended his bill to address the administration's concerns, S.6545-A/A.9890. Frequently, producers are asked to issue certificates of insurance to municipalities and others that may misrepresent the actual coverage. This bill passed the Senate last week and we are hopeful that it will also pass the Assembly before the end of session.
Premium Finance- electronic notice. Senator Farley (R-Niskayuna) just introduced legislation, S.7511, which would allow for electronic notice of cancellation by premium finance companies.
Join PIWA for our 2014 Summer Symposium.
A round of golf kicks off two days of networking, dining and education.
It's all happening June 19-20, at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn.
PIWA's Summer Symposium addresses the high-risk world of cyber security: Are you ready for the next data breach?
Keynote address:
Paul Miskovich, senior vice president at Axis is the product leader for all of the cyber security, technology and errors and omissions lines. His keynote will focus on the current state of cyber security, the data breach events that are becoming more prevalent and the related insurable exposures.
Do the implications of the archaic New York state labor law leave you feeling exposed to risk? They should ….
Closing session:
Submitted for 1 NYCE credit. Marc Pillinger, Esq., gives an in depth look at the coverage and contractual implications of this law. He'll help you protect your clients and avoid common-but-costly misconceptions of key concepts within the law, including: "absolute liability," "grave injury," "horizontal vs. vertical" and "contractual indemnification."
Don't miss the discussion of these critical issues. Register now: The deadline for our discounted hotel rate is June 5, 2014.
Register now by clicking HERE