[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2171 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2171

To amend the Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 
  2004 to require insurance agents who sell flood insurance policies 
 under the National Flood Insurance Program to take certain continuing 
               education courses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 18, 2019

  Mr. Wicker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 
  2004 to require insurance agents who sell flood insurance policies 
 under the National Flood Insurance Program to take certain continuing 
               education courses, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Flood Insurance Continuing Education 
and Training Act''.

SEC. 2. CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR INSURANCE AGENTS.

    (a) In General.--The Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance 
Reform Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-264; 118 Stat. 712) is amended--
            (1) in section 201 (42 U.S.C. 4011 note)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``Director of 
                the'' and inserting ``Administrator of the''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``4001'' after 
                ``U.S.C.''; and
            (2) by striking section 207 (42 U.S.C. 4011 note) and 
        inserting the following:

``SEC. 207. CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR INSURANCE AGENTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director shall require each insurance agent 
who sells flood insurance policies to, once every 2 years, complete a 
3-hour continuing education course that--
            ``(1) is approved by the insurance commissioner of each 
        State in which the agent is licensed to sell insurance, as 
        further provided in subsection (c); and
            ``(2) focuses on issues with respect to the Program.
    ``(b) Failure To Complete Course.--If an insurance agent who sells 
flood insurance policies does not complete a continuing education 
course required under subsection (a), the agent, until the date on 
which the agent completes the course in accordance with the 
requirements of this section, may not--
            ``(1) sell flood insurance policies; or
            ``(2) perform any duties with respect to the Program.
    ``(c) Agents Licensed in Multiple States.--
            ``(1) In general.--If an insurance agent who sells flood 
        insurance policies is licensed to sell insurance in more than 1 
        State--
                    ``(A) the agent shall submit proof of completion of 
                a continuing education course required under subsection 
                (a) to the insurance commissioner of each State in 
                which the agent is licensed; and
                    ``(B) each insurance commissioner to whom an 
                insurance agent submits a proof of completion under 
                subparagraph (A) may determine whether the course to 
                which that proof of completion relates meets the 
                minimum standards established by that insurance 
                commissioner.
            ``(2) Effect of denial.--If an insurance commissioner of a 
        State (referred to in this paragraph as the `rejecting 
        commissioner') determines under paragraph (1)(B) that a 
        continuing education course taken in another State by an 
        insurance agent who sells flood insurance policies does not 
        meet the minimum standards established by the rejecting 
        commissioner, the insurance agent may not take any action 
        described in paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) until the 
        agent satisfies the minimum requirements established by the 
        rejecting commissioner.
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--Any reference in this section to an 
insurance commissioner of a State shall be construed as a reference to 
an equivalent official with respect to any State in which there is no 
official who has the title of insurance commissioner.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents for 
the Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 
(Public Law 108-264; 118 Stat. 712) is amended by striking the item 
relating to section 207 and inserting the following:

``Sec. 207. Continuing education requirements for insurance agents.''.
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