Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

Our guest, Mark Prysock, RIMS General Counsel & VP of External Affairs, is here to tell us about the RIMS Legislative Summit 2025, in Washington D.C. on March 19th and 20th. Mark shares the top five RIMS legislative priorities, what they mean, and how they impact the risk management profession. These include the need to regulate private third-party legislation funding, data privacy, and cyber security, the National Flood Insurance Program, non-profit tax reform, and the Investing in Tomorrow's Workforce Act, liberalizing College 529s to allow using them for certifications. Listen for details on the RIMS Legislative Summit 2025, why you should attend, and what you can expect from it.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:15] Public registration is open for RISKWORLD 2025! RIMS wants you to Engage Today and Embrace Tomorrow in Chicago from May 4th through May 7th. Register at RIMS.org/RISKWORLD and the link in this episode's show notes.

[:33] About this episode. We will be joined by RIMS General Counsel and Vice President for External Affairs, Mark Prysock to discuss RIMS's legislative priorities and the RIMS Legislative Summit..

[:59] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! RIMS will partner with Purima once again on March 5th and 6th to deliver a virtual RIMS-CRMP Prep Course. Links to these courses can be found through the Certification page of RIMS.org and this episode's show notes.

[1:18] Virtual Workshops! On February 26th and 27th, Elise Farnham of Illumine Consulting will lead "Applying and Integrating ERM". "Managing Data for ERM" will be hosted by Pat Saporito. That course starts on March 12th, 2025.

[1:44] A link to the full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode's show notes.

[1:55] RISKWORLD registration is open. Take advantage of our Super Savings Rate by February 28th. Register at RIMS.org/RISKWORLD.

[2:07] Speaking of RISKWORLD, next week, we will have one of the main stage keynotes, Holly Ransom, join us. Be sure to subscribe to RIMScast to make sure you get that episode as it comes out!

[2:19] Today's episode is all about RIMS's legislative priorities and how those priorities will be addressed at the RIMS Legislative Summit 2025, March 19th and 20th in Washington, D.C. You can learn more about it at RIMS.org/advocacy.

[2:37] One of my favorite RIMS colleagues is here to discuss all things legislation. Mark Prysock is our General Counsel and Vice President for External Affairs.

[2:48] Mark is the point person for the RIMS Legislative Summit 2025, helping to ensure that our priorities at RIMS are communicated on behalf of our members to representatives in Congress.

[3:02] Mark is going to join me today to discuss the top five RIMS legislative priorities in a little bit more detail, provide some additional perspective, and discuss the agenda a little bit, which will be finalized soon.

[3:19] Interview! Mark Prysock, welcome back to RIMScast!

[3:26] The RIMS Legislative Summit 2025 will be held on March 19th and 20th in Washington, D.C. This is a different time of year to host the summit. It was formerly held in September or October, depending on whether it was an election year.

[3:56] Mark says the event was shifted to March because Congress, in general, seems to be fatigued by the end of the year. By September or October, it seemed that Congress was pretty much done with what they planned to get done for the year already.

[4:13] RIMS thought it would make sense to meet with them in the first quarter of the year rather than the last quarter and see if they can't get more engagement or interest in RIMS's issues. Mark is excited about this change to March for the Summit. Congress will be newly in session.

[4:41] The Summit participants will be meeting some new committee chairs and ranking members for the first time. This is going to be a great shift for the RIMS Legislative Summit.

[5:02] This year will be a little different because there is going to be a significant tax bill passed. In 2017 there was a large package of temporary tax cuts which are set to expire this year. No one in Congress wants those tax cuts to expire and hit the American people with a tax hike.

[5:27] To extend those tax cuts, Congress has to find other ways to generate tax revenue. So there will probably be a big tax bill this year. This is a good time to engage with the broader association community and members of Congress on these issues.

[6:05] Mark says the Congressional Budget Office will rate how much of an impact, positively or negatively, a bill is going to have on the government's finances. Eight years was the maximum they could push out these tax cuts without the government going over the tax cliff.

[6:30] These temporary tax cuts are set to expire in September. Congress will need to do something about that.

[6:39] The top five RIMS legislative priorities are listed on the RIMS.org site. Please see the link in this episode's show notes. Justin and RIMS CEO Gary LaBranche discussed these legislative priorities in a recent RIMScast episode.

[7:07] The top five legislative priorities, in no particular order, include third-party litigation funding. This issue is gaining a lot of traction in Washington. Mark defines third-party litigation funding as private investors backing civil litigation with significant sums of money.

[7:39] There are currently no disclosure requirements. It can be a national security risk when foreign agents fund litigation here in the United States. Funders are often in a position to take control of litigation. They often get paid before the claimants and there is little regulation.

[8:23] On both sides of the aisle, there's a feeling that Congress needs to adopt, at least, some disclosure requirements so the courts and arguably, the other parties to the lawsuit are aware of who is backing this litigation.

[8:43] RIMS is particularly concerned about the national security threat. There could be bad players from around the world funding litigation against American businesses. This concern seems to be gaining traction in the House and the Senate.

[9:08] RIMS is very happy to be actively involved in a broader group that's working on this issue.

[9:27] The Plaintiffs Bar loves third-party litigation funding because it can make filing and pursuing lawsuits extremely profitable. They may not embrace limits on it.

[10:10] Another legislative priority is data privacy and cyber security. RIMS is interested in having Congress pass a uniform data privacy law. Right now, there's a patchwork of state laws that your company needs to know if it operates in multiple jurisdictions. It's not an easy thing to do.

[10:45] The last session of Congress came close to passing a Uniform Data Privacy Bill. That bill had a couple of significant flaws. It created carve-outs for the laws of favored states such as California, New York, and Massachusetts.

[11:24] It also created a private right of action so individuals could sue companies for failing to comply with this law. The outcome of those cases would be on a state-by-state basis. Over time, this would lead to a patchwork of state laws.

[11:48] RIMS is hoping to get a better version of the unified standard bill passed this session.

[11:53] RIMS is looking for a reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), currently part of the Continuing Resolution funding the federal government. It's "must pass" legislation. Few serious lawmakers would consider it good to shut down the government.

[12:25] The Continuing Resolution gets renewed regularly. The NFIP, rolled up into it, also gets renewed regularly. It's hard to make structural enhancements to a program that is part of the Continuing Resolution. The CR is often passed at the last minute; it's hard to change it.

[13:21] Non-profit Tax Reform is a new issue. It's in a tax bill being considered to generate revenue to cover extending the expiring tax cuts. Tax-exempt organizations pay taxes on unrelated business income, which is a foggy area. Many organizations don't pay any tax.

[13:54] There is a movement to reconsider non-profit tax exemptions. The idea is that the corporate tax rate, currently 21%, should be levied against all non-donation revenue that associations and non-profit organizations generate.

[14:10] For RIMS, that would include event revenue, sponsorships, royalties, membership dues, and any other non-donation revenue. It's a significant deal.

[14:29] Mark sees two drivers to this idea. The first is, that Congress does need to find a big pot of money to make sure the government doesn't go off this tax cliff. The second is an intellectual argument that it's time to take another look at why we're not taxing these organizations more.

[14:52] It's a significant issue for RIMS and the association community at large because of the financial hit they could all take. Mark believes it will be considered by Congress relatively early this year.

[15:05] Justin adds a statement that "RIMS has joined the steering committee of ASAE's Community Impact Coalition to protect the non-profit community and educate Congress on the societal benefits of the tax-exempt sector."

[15:21] ASAE is the American Society of Association Executives. It's an association for association people. Justin met some of the ASAE executives at an NYSAE event last year. They are all in alignment on this issue.

[15:43] Plug Time! RIMS Webinars! HUB International continues its Ready for Tomorrow Series with RIMS. On February 20th, they will host "Ready for the Unexpected? Strategies for Property Valuation, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity in 2025".

[16:03] On March 13th, our friends from Global Risk Consultants will return to discuss "How to Make Your Property Insurance Submission AI-Ready".

[16:13] On a unique day and time, March 26th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, members of the RIMS Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council will extend the dialog that began in the recent RIMS Executive Report "Understanding Interconnected Risks".

[16:31] More webinars will be announced soon and added to the RIMS.org/webinars page. Go there to register. Registration is complimentary for RIMS members.

[16:43] Nominations are also open for the Donald M. Stuart Award which recognizes excellence in risk management in Canada. Links are in this episode's show notes.

[16:54] The First of (hopefully) Many RIMS Texas Regional Conferences will be held in San Antonio from August 4th through 6th, 2025. The Risk Management Roundup in San Antonio is set to unite the Texas RIMS Chapters and welcome risk professionals from around the world.

[17:13] You can join as a speaker. The Conference Planning Committee is interested in submissions that explore technology and cyber risk, workforce protection and advancement, energy and sustainability, extreme weather, construction, restaurant, retail, hospitality, and more.

[17:35] The deadline to submit your proposal is Monday, February 24th. The link to the event and the submission process is in this episode's show notes. Go check it out!

[17:47] Let's Return to My Interview with RIMS General Counsel & VP of External Affairs, Mark Prysock!

[17:58] The fifth RIMS top legislative priority is the Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act. That has emerged in the last year or so, about 529 Savings Plans. In the last Congress, there was strong bi-partisan, bi-cameral support to pass this legislation.

[18:15] This bill would allow College 529 plans to be used to pay for certification programs, like the RIMS-CRMP. There's a strong coalition, led by ASAE, that emerged last year to get this legislation moving.

[19:06] This bill would benefit association members in two ways: Members with 529 plans could use them for certifications, and many associations have certification programs that would benefit if 529 dollars were used to pay for them.

[19:34] Will all five priorities be addressed on Capitol Hill during the Summit? Mark will prep RIMS members to go forward and talk about all five issues. It's possible that some of the issues will not have surfaced enough for RIMS members to spend a lot of time discussing them.

[19:50] If no House or Senate bill has been introduced on the issue, it would be premature to try to have a conversation about it with a Congressional staffer or a member of Congress. On the other hand, an issue may already have been settled and wouldn't be a priority to discuss.

[20:23] Mark is moving forward with the idea that there will probably be five issues, but practically speaking, it may work out to be three.

[20:39] The agenda for the Legislative Summit is on the RIMS Advocacy page. Click on the Register Now button to see it.

[20:58] Mark gives an overview of what to expect at the RIMS Legislative Summit 2025. Wednesday, March 19th, is Education Day, a crash course in legislation. U.S. Chamber lobbyists, members of the administration, members from Capitol Hill, and Mark will talk on these issues.

[21:24] The idea is to make sure RIMS members are well-briefed before they go to the Hill. They will understand the key talking points and will have the key talking points in hand. It's very important to know what the "ask" is; what we are asking the members of Congress to do.

[21:46] By the end of the day, the RIMS member will be prepped. On Wednesday evening there will be a nice reception.

[21:56] Thursday, March 20th, is the day the RIMS members go to the Hill, meet with Congressional Staff, maybe meet with members of Congress, and talk about the RIMS legislative priorities.

[22:38] Something Mark is working on and hopes to finalize and announce soon is a private tour of the U.S. Capitol Building on Tuesday, for those who arrive early enough. Tours are normally led by current or former members of Congress. The tours are entertaining and memorable.

[23:09] Mark is a former Congressional staffer. He enjoyed working on Capitol Hill. He spent a lot of time sitting across the table from people like the RIMS members. He emphasizes that Congressional staff are more interested in hearing from you (constituents) than from lobbyists.

[24:11] Don't in any way be intimidated by the thought of going up to Capitol Hill and lobbying. The staff do want to hear from you!

[24:24] Mark and his experience help put the RIMS attendees at a little bit of an advantage in putting things in a way that will get through to the staffers and be heard. He speaks the language!

[24:52] Mark, it has been a pleasure to see you. One thing I want to mention: Only U.S. RIMS members and individuals who are representing U.S.-based entities of RIMS can attend the RIMS Legislative Summit! You don't have to live in the U.S. to be an attendee.

[25:16] Mark is looking for a keynote speaker to speak to the RIMS Legislative Summit 2025 at the reception on Wednesday the 19th. Stay tuned!

[25:56] Special thanks again to RIMS General Counsel and Vice President of External Affairs, Mark Prysock. Learn more about RIMS advocacy efforts at RIMS.org/Advocacy. If you go there, you'll find the registration page for the RIMS Legislative Summit on March 19th and 20th, 2025.

[26:18] More announcements about the summit will be made here on RIMScast as they are released. Also on the RIMS Advocacy page, check out the RISKPAC, the RIMS Political Action Committee, the Chapter Advocacy Ambassador program, and more.

[26:33] More RIMS Plugs! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in our show notes.

[27:01] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information.

[27:19] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information.

[27:37] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[27:53] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[28:07] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org.

[28:15] Thank you all for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!