II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Flood Insurance Con5 tinuing Education and Training Act’’. 


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•S 2171 IS

1 SEC. 2. CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR INSURANCE AGENTS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Bunning-Bereuter-Blu3 menauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 (Public 

4 Law 108–264; 118 Stat. 712) is amended— 

5 (1) in section 201 (42 U.S.C. 4011 note)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Director 

7 of the’’ and inserting ‘‘Administrator of the’’; 

8 and 

9 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘4001’’ 

10 after ‘‘U.S.C.’’; and 

11 (2) by striking section 207 (42 U.S.C. 4011 

12 note) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 207. CONTINUING EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR 

14 INSURANCE AGENTS. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall require each 

16 insurance agent who sells flood insurance policies to, once 

17 every 2 years, complete a 3-hour continuing education 

18 course that— 

19 ‘‘(1) is approved by the insurance commissioner 

20 of each State in which the agent is licensed to sell 

21 insurance, as further provided in subsection (c); and 

22 ‘‘(2) focuses on issues with respect to the Pro23 gram. 

24 ‘‘(b) FAILURE TO COMPLETE COURSE.—If an insur25 ance agent who sells flood insurance policies does not com26 plete a continuing education course required under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2171.IS S2171

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1 section (a), the agent, until the date on which the agent 

2 completes the course in accordance with the requirements 

3 of this section, may not— 

4 ‘‘(1) sell flood insurance policies; or 

5 ‘‘(2) perform any duties with respect to the 

6 Program. 

7 ‘‘(c) AGENTS LICENSED IN MULTIPLE STATES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an insurance agent who 

9 sells flood insurance policies is licensed to sell insur10 ance in more than 1 State— 

11 ‘‘(A) the agent shall submit proof of com12 pletion of a continuing education course re13 quired under subsection (a) to the insurance 

14 commissioner of each State in which the agent 

15 is licensed; and 

16 ‘‘(B) each insurance commissioner to 

17 whom an insurance agent submits a proof of 

18 completion under subparagraph (A) may deter19 mine whether the course to which that proof of 

20 completion relates meets the minimum stand21 ards established by that insurance commis22 sioner. 

23 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF DENIAL.—If an insurance 

24 commissioner of a State (referred to in this para25 graph as the ‘rejecting commissioner’) determines 


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1 under paragraph (1)(B) that a continuing education 

2 course taken in another State by an insurance agent 

3 who sells flood insurance policies does not meet the 

4 minimum standards established by the rejecting 

5 commissioner, the insurance agent may not take any 

6 action described in paragraph (1) or (2) of sub7 section (b) until the agent satisfies the minimum re8 quirements established by the rejecting commis9 sioner. 

10 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Any reference in 

11 this section to an insurance commissioner of a State shall 

12 be construed as a reference to an equivalent official with 

13 respect to any State in which there is no official who has 

14 the title of insurance commissioner.’’. 

15 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

16 The table of contents for the Bunning-Bereuter-Blu17 menauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004 (Public 

18 Law 108–264; 118 Stat. 712) is amended by striking the 

19 item relating to section 207 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 207. Continuing education requirements for insurance agents.’’. 

Æ 


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