|
To say that it has been an eventful summer and early fall this year would be an extraordinary understatement. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have forced us all to redefine our perspectives on disasters and their impacts on both humans and property.
The catastrophic effects that the people and property of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have experienced are astonishing. We feel these effects more acutely because our Annual Conference was so much fun and so successful in New Orleans just three months before Katrina struck. Our friends at LWCC have survived well, but they are over burdened with the business and personal shockwaves that have followed Katrina. They have our sincerest sympathies and our very best wishes for a complete recovery. That recovery will take a lot of work, money and time. Those of us in sister states can help in many ways: through volunteer efforts to help evacuees who are in our areas to recover and live until they can return to their homes or relocate elsewhere, and through contributions to charities to help the victims. Our personal monetary contributions can help a great deal, and I am aware of a number of AASCIF member companies who are raising funds through contributions by their employees and their companies. Please help as much as you can, within the constraints of your individual and company circumstances.
We at AASCIF want to help as well. At the request of our friends at LWCC, the AASCIF Executive Committee is actively considering how best to contribute the net proceeds from the New Orleans Annual Conference to hurricane relief. The net proceeds of the conference were a record $175,000. Not every AASCIF Annual Conference generates net proceeds. When there are net proceeds, they usually are returned to AASCIF for use in our normal ongoing activities. However, the fact that Katrina, likely the most devastating natural disaster in the history of our country, has caused such unusual hardship in the state and city that hosted our most recent Annual Conference, requires us all to make significant exceptions to our normal operating procedures. Therefore, we will work to identify one or more appropriate relief agencies to which to donate the net proceeds, in order to have a small part in helping Louisiana and New Orleans recover from this horrific experience.
Over the last few months we have had a number of very successful AASCIF committee workshops. I have been impressed with the amount and quality of planning that has gone into the workshops that I have been able to attend. The substantive topics covered at the workshops were timely and relevant to the work our companies do and to the issues we face going forward. Thank you all for your dedication and effort in putting on these workshops and making them so successful.
One issue that is earning our attention this fall is whether Congress will extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002. As you all know, that legislation was passed in November of 2002, and expires at the end of this year. AASCIF as an organization does not lobby for or against legislation. However, some of our member organizations have joined forces in an ad hoc coalition to urge the U.S. Congress to extend TRIA. We view this as an important issue for the survival and welfare of our companies in the event a catastrophic terrorist event occurs in our states. While we cannot and do not represent to Congress that we are representing AASCIF, we do explain the unique origins and features of state fund companies throughout the United States and the key role we play in assuring a market for workers’ compensation in our respective jurisdictions. We also underscore that workers’ compensation insurers were never allowed, even before TRIA, to exclude terrorism risk from coverage on their workers’ compensation insurance policies. Therefore, we try to communicate that workers’ compensation in general, and state fund companies in particular should be considered when Congress is deliberating whether and how to extend TRIA.
With the demands that Hurricane Katrina’s effects are placing upon Congress and the administration, the deliberations on TRIA extension have been delayed. It is likely that Congress will not take up the TRIA issue until mid-to-late October, so that it will be late in the year before we know what Congress finally decides to do. We will keep you advised of material developments with respect to TRIA’s extension. In the meantime, we urge you to communicate with your state’s congressional delegation on both the House and Senate sides: please urge them to extend TRIA’s coverage, which is so vital to the health and welfare of our respective organizations.
I hope you have all had a rewarding and successful year. With the success most of us have enjoyed both as companies and individuals, it is important to remember and share the benefits of that success with those less fortunate, especially the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Please remember them in your thoughts, your prayers, and your actions.
Russell R. Oliver
AASCIF President
2004 - 2005
| 
