Podcasts about insurance committee

Maggie Edwards gathers organizers and participants from the conference held Auburn to get their take on the conference.Find out more about our sponsor, Alabama Ag Credit, and also about Alabama Farmers Federation.Want to support Alfa Health Plans legislation? Contact members of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. 

Maggie Edwards sits down with Sidney and Sheryl McKathan. The McKathans live in Andalusia, Ala. and sell honey and strawberries on their U-pick operation.Find out more about our sponsor, Alabama Ag Credit, and also about Alabama Farmers Federation.Want to support Alfa Health Plans legislation? Contact members of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. 

In this podcast episode, CA Nick Kastanes, Chair of the Retirement and Insurance Committee and ALPA Benefits Specialist, Retirement and Insurance Department Michelle Fredenrich discuss the intricacies of long-term disability (LTD) benefits for Frontier pilots. Key topics include different LTD coverage options, the 90-day elimination period before benefits start, filling the gap with short-term disability, and other state programs. The conversation covers the core LTD plan and the implications of imputed income, as well as the specifics of LTD buy-up options, which extend coverage and increase maximum monthly benefits. They emphasize the importance of understanding the 'own occupation' and 'any occupation' definitions within the policy, detailing their effects on benefit eligibility and potential income offsets. Additionally, they discuss the return-to-work incentives and the impact of pre-disability earnings on benefit calculations. Recent LTD statistics are reviewed, revealing the reasons for claim closures and underscoring that no pilots have been removed due to high-income potential in alternate occupations. The episode concludes with a discussion on proposed contract improvements and the ongoing efforts by ALPA to enhance pilots' benefit packages.   SUBSCRIBE   Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram   Hosted by Captain Jason DuVernay

On this episode, Laura discusses profit sharing with Scott Bowles from the Retirement & Insurance Committee. They talk about some of the election options found on the Profit Sharing Election page on DeltaNet.   Resources:  Engage: The Podcast for Delta Pilots E43:Profit Sharing On this special edition episode of Engage, Captain Rich Wheeler, Chairman of the Negotiating Committee, and Captain Eric Criswell, former Chairman of the Negotiating Committee and current MEC Master Chairman, talk about profit sharing. From its origin and roots to this year's profit sharing payout, Rich, Eric, and Ryan Argenta discuss how profit sharing was negotiated by pilots in 1996; how it has changed over the years and the need to preserve this negotiated benefit that pilots and all employees now enjoy; how profit sharing is contractually calculated using PTIX and specific formulas; and how pilots can view their earnings and ensure their 2023 profit sharing payout is accurate. Happy Profit Sharing Day! (Recorded January 23, 2024).   Disclaimer: ALPA does not give financial advice. We recommend that pilots first discuss with your financial advisor to determine what is best for themselves.    HSA deferral options are not available to those pilots who participate in the DPMP health plan.

Join us on the latest episode of Five by Five as we dive deep into important changes in your 401k plan for 2025. With expert guidance from Nick Kastanes Chair of our Retirement and Insurance Committee, we unravel the complexities of Secure 2.0, enhanced catch-up contributions, and the nuances of Traditional vs. Roth investment options including a new option to roll over to Roth.  Discover how these changes impact your retirement plan and learn how to make the most of your benefits.   SUBSCRIBE   Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram   Hosted by Captain Jason DuVernay

In this episode, Communications Committee Chair Capt. Chris Hughes talks to Retirement & Insurance Committee members Capt. Scott Bowles and Capt. John Doherty about this year's open enrollment and changes to some of the benefits offered. Scott and John also discuss the benefits of the GVUL plan, which pilots can enroll in during the open enrollment process. 

Following his participation on the Insurance Committee session panel at Nareit's REITwise 2024: Law, Accounting and Finance Conference, Tim Crowley, Alliant Management & Professional Solutions, provided a recap of the key takeaways from his panel discussion, as well as the conference as a whole. Tim discusses the current D&O insurance market for publicly traded equity REITs, trends and outlooks for securities class action filings and the new SEC disclosure requirements for environmental impact.

On this special Women's History Month edition of Agency Nation, host Avery Moore, President ECI Insurance in Edmonton, Oklahoma, and a member the Big “I” national Young Agents Committee, leads a discussion with remarkable leaders who've carved their own paths in the independent agency system. Joining the conversation are Michelle Middleton, president of Berkley Mid-Atlantic Insurance Group; Patience Noah, Principal/Owner of Patience Noah Insurance in Framingham, Massachusetts; and Jamie Bowden, personal lines agency growth coach at Agents United and chair of Utah Insurance Agents' Women in Insurance Committee. Together, they share their origin stories, challenges and the lessons learned along the way. From starting agencies right out of college to navigating leadership roles in established companies, these women reveal the grit and grace it takes to succeed in a male-dominated industry. Dive into candid conversations about the complexities of agency ownership, the importance of mentorship, and the unfiltered realities of work-life balance. Hear firsthand how these leaders embrace vulnerability, face their fears and find empowerment in taking bold, sometimes uncomfortable steps toward growth. "Success is easy—it's the fear of failure that gets really hard," says Middleton. “It keeps you from trying. And that's where we've got to be able to feel more confident to just jump off and know that you're going to work really hard.” “And if we start to fail, you're going to pivot and change something, embodying a lot of courage to do something different,” she adds. Whether you're a seasoned professional or aspiring to step into leadership, tune in for insights, inspiration and a sense of community for women aiming to make their mark in the insurance industry and beyond. Agency Nation Radio is where insurance professionals turn on the mic and share unscripted stories about leadership, technology, marketing, success, and failure—stories that helped make them the professionals they are today. From main street USA to the pages of Independent Agent magazine—we've got the stories you want to hear. For more, catch Agency Nation Radio on your favorite streaming platform or visit https://www.iamagazine.com/podcasts.

Connecticut's Insurance Committee didn't pass any bills this year. Suffolk's DA will investigate an allegation against the former county executive's administration. The future of a free school meal program in Connecticut is uncertain. Nassau County mourns the loss of an NYPD officer killed on duty last night. And how to safely view the upcoming solar eclipse in our region.

How will the insurance bills that passed in the recently completed 2024 Florida legislative session compliment past marketplace reforms?   Is a property insurance market marred by carrier insolvencies in recent years and ongoing double-digit rate increases starting to stabilize? Former Florida Deputy Insurance Commissioner Lisa Miller talks with two legislators about the new laws expected to impact Florida's property insurance and real estate markets, reinsurance prices, condominium affordability, and their joint belief in bipartisanship for finding workable policy solutions. Show Notes Florida State Representative Tom Fabricio (R-Miami Lakes) sits on the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee and Chairs the House Ethics, Elections & Open Government Subcommittee.  He is a former insurance defense attorney whose practice now focuses on commercial and real estate litigation, including real estate transactions.  Florida State Senator Nick DiCeglie (R-St. Petersburg) is Vice Chair of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, and a former Chair of the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee.  He is President and CEO of Hope Villages of America, a Tampa Bay area nonprofit organization addressing hunger, homelessness, and domestic violence.Both lawmakers discussed their motivation for entering the Florida Legislature and their vision for Florida's homeowners insurance marketplace and by extension, the state economy.  Topics included the admitted insurance market (those companies whose rates and policy forms are approved by state regulators) and the surplus lines companies (those whose rates and forms are largely unregulated, and who often insure risks admitted companies don't), along with reinsurance companies, who provide catastrophe insurance for insurance companies.  Among the bills and issues discussed on the podcast with host Lisa Miller:  HB 1503 authorizes surplus lines insurance companies to take out policies (“takeouts”) from the legislatively-created and state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corporation's non-homesteaded residential properties, such as second homes, among other risks.  “I think surplus lines are important (for) it allows other free market competition,” said Rep. Fabricio.  “Because ultimately, with Citizens having a population of over 1.2 million to close to 1.3 million policies, we need to depopulate Citizens.  We need to bring Citizens down to a number under a million policies, where Citizens will be truly our carrier of last resort,” he said. HB 1029 applies the popular My Safe Florida Home homeowners program to condominium complexes and individual condo unit owners in an initial pilot program.  The program offers a $2 to $1 match to incentivize homeowners to harden their homes from future hurricanes.  “Anytime that we can mitigate losses in the state, it's going to go a long way in contributing to that healthy insurance market,” said Sen. DiCeglie, who sponsored the Senate companion bill.  “In my district alone, we have thousands of condominium associations and those folks are looking for relief as well.  Recent condominium reforms requiring them to put more money in reserves, so that they're making the necessary repairs and upkeep of the condominiums (together with).... (For full Show Notes, visit https://lisamillerassociates.com/episode-48-2024-legislative-roundup/ ) 

Jury deliberations are set to begin today in the trial of Michelle Troconis. The trial has been going on for weeks and it looks at Troconis who has been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence and hindering the prosecution in connection to the disappearance and death of Jennifer Farber Dulos back in May 2019. What will the jury decide? And what happens next in the case? We got perspective from our legal expert, Attorney Bill Bloss. (NOTE: Atty Bloss is NOT involved in the Troconis case and the Dulos case) (0:00) Happening today in the state capital: a public hearing regarding health insurance costs. As you are probably experiencing, affording health care coverage continues to be a real challenge. Senate Republicans believe they have a commonsense bill to provide a lot of relief to Connecticut residents. Ranking Senator on the Insurance Committee, Tony Hwang, explains the bill and why we are in this situation in Connecticut. (16:54) Julie on the Job: A new report highlights that employers overwhelmingly care most about YOUR skill set. But how do we communicate our skills in the best way during an interview? Julie Bauke gave us advice. (33:38) This is the time of year that more and more Americans struggle with the feeling of failure. Why does that happen and how do we cope with those intrusive thoughts? Counselor, Julius Dudics shared insight and mechanisms to overcome the fear of failing. (46:23) Image Credit: Getty Images

On this week's episode of The DeCesare Group Podcast Jim State Representative Michael Lee Meredith will give us a preview of the 2024 session of the Kentucky General Assembly. Representative Meredith was elected in 2011 and he Chairs the Banking and Insurance Committee. Michael Lee is an experienced legislator and a dedicated public servant. With a strong commitment to his community, Meredith has been a tireless advocate for issues that matter most to the people of Kentucky. His extensive background in legislative matters and a passion for effective governance make him a key figure in shaping the state's policies. For more information on the Kentucky General Assembly visit https://legislature.ky.govFor information about The DeCesare Group's 25% off standard social media package contact Jim at jim@thedecesaregroup.com

On this episode of Engage, back with the Retirement & Insurance Committee gurus, Chair Captain Scott Bowles and Vice-Chair First Officer John Doherty, along with very special guest Sontia Green, Senior Benefits Specialist at the Delta MEC. This time the team discusses new healthcare insurance options for Delta pilots including updates to the Delta Pilots Medical Plan (DPMP), the completely new Delta Pilots High-Deductible Health Plan (DPHDHP), a new DPMP Dental option for all pilots regardless of which health plan they elect, plus updates and changes to the Delta Air Lines-provided coverages through United Health Care (UHC). Open enrollment opens November 1 through November 17, 2023, in which pilots must take action to select their desired healthcare and medical coverages.  (Recorded October 25, 2023)    Resources:  Delta MEC Retirement & Insurance: 1-800-USA-ALPA  Open Enrollment HQ: Plans, Options, and Comparison Tool  Retirement & Insurance Handbook  Know Your HSA 

Delta pilots now have a new contractual life insurance option, which can save them tax dollars now and opens a wide variety of investment options while offering benefits to pass along to families and beneficiaries. In a conversation with Jonathan Roman, MetLife's GVUL administrator, the Engage team, along with Retirement & Insurance Committee members Scott Bowles and John Doherty, sift through the details of the GVUL compared to our current term policy provided by Delta. Highlights include an updated death benefit provided to Delta pilots and paid for by the Company, significantly reduced imputed income for pilots of all ages, tax-free and tax-deferred investment options which pilots can withdraw for any reason at any time, and the ability to take the GVUL policy with you in retirement.   Pilot action is required!  The GVUL will be offered during Delta's open enrollment period, November 1-17, 2023. Pilots must first select the GVUL option during the open enrollment period and then enroll with MetLife through an emailed link. Pilots who wish to remain on the current term policy need not take any action. Active pilots may opt-in and enroll during subsequent year open enrollment periods. That is, if you miss the two-step process deadline this year or decide to wait, you can enroll next year and in the future during the open enrollment period.  For more information, please go to https://www.metlife.com/gvul/DeltaAirLines/  Jonathan Roman will also present the GVUL benefits during WebEx sessions on the dates below. Click here to attend remotely.    Date  10/26/2023 - 10:00 am ET  10/30/2023 - 7:00 pm ET  11/7/2023 - 9:00 am ET  11/16/2023 - 2:00 pm ET  12/5/2023 - 10:00 am ET  12/7/2023 - 2:00 pm ET 

Dr. Tom Oliverson serves as a State Representative in the Texas Legislature. He joined Rep. Crenshaw to cover some of the major political battles happening in the latest legislative session. They talk about why the legislature banned transgender therapies for minors, the debate between the State House and Senate over property tax reform, the latest on efforts to pass school choice, and the pros and cons of term limits. The conversation ends with a critique of a cottage political industry in Texas, and across the country, which is monetizing conservative outrage without doing anything to actually win elections. Dr. Tom Oliverson is an anesthesiologist and State Representative for Texas' 130th State House District. He is the Chairman of the Insurance Committee in the Texas House of Representatives. Follow him on Twitter @TomOliverson

Merril Gilbert, Co-founder & CEO, TraceTrustMerril Gilbert is the co-founder and CEO of TraceTrust. After 25 years of experience counseling startups from concept to table or shelf in food and beverage, Merril joined the cannabis industry in 2015. Since then, she has guided innovators, disruptors, and refiners in bringing their ideas to life. Merril is a provocative thought leader in the future of food and cannabis consumable innovations. Her ability to bring together strategic, operational management and vision for daily operations establishes standards for safety, accuracy, credibility, and profitability. Merril is on the NCIA Risk Management and Insurance Committee, an Arcview member, founding member of Women Employed in Cannabis, advisor at MISTA, and board member at Slow Money NorCal, where she has spent the past five years mentoring entrepreneurs.https://www.linkedin.com/company/tracetrust/https://www.linkedin.com/in/merril-gilbert/

We are currently witnessing a huge tension in the Republican party. MAGA, and before that its predecessor, the Tea Party, are challenging the establishment wing of the party. All of this at a time when the next Presidential election should be a shoe in for the Republican candidate against a weak and doddery Biden, but have the Democrats gone too far in their destruction of the American Dream? Is there a way back using policy and the political system? Bob McEwen, who served five terms as a Congressman and is the Executive Director of Council for National Policy shares his insights on all this and more. Bob McEwen is Senior Advisor with the nationally recognized law firm of Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald. As such he maintains offices in Cincinnati and Washington, DC. An Ohio native, Bob McEwen represented Ohio in the United States House of Representatives for six terms. Prior to his Congressional service, he operated a successful Ohio Real Estate and Development firm as well as serving three terms in the Ohio General Assembly as the Senior Republican on the Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee. Rep. McEwen served as Chairman of the Environmental Affairs task force of the United States delegation to the European Parliament. McEwen was selected by the Democratic leadership of the U.S. Congress as the chief spokesman for the United States in discussions with European Green Party and other Environmental Organizations. In 2005, McEwen and two others, Members of Congress, hosted the third conference of Balkan Prime Ministers for the purpose of facilitating dialogue and reconciliation in that troubled region of the world. On August 23, 1989, Congressman McEwen and United States Senator Robert Dole participated as United States observers in Warsaw, Poland to the first ever Parliamentary election of a non-Communist leader of a Soviet bloc country. Hours later, the new Prime Minister, in his first official act, received the Congressman and Senator prior to meeting with the Soviet representatives of the regime that had occupied that nation for fifty years. This action was the spark that encouraged the collapse of Soviet dominated governments throughout Eastern Europe culminating in the destruction of the Berlin Wall ten weeks later. Senator Dole and Rep. McEwen met the following day with the President and U.S. National Security team in Kennebunkport, Maine to fashion the United States response and position in support of Warsaw Pact nations seeking to break away from Soviet domination. Representative McEwen served as an official United States observer in Moscow during both the 1991 Soviet Coup attempt and to the Kremlin in January of 1992 when the Soviet Union was dissolved. Mr. McEwen was elected by his colleagues to the two most coveted positions in the U. S. Congress; the Select Committee on Intelligence which oversees all of our nation's secrets, and the powerful House Committee on Rules which has jurisdiction over all legislation in the Congress. As one of only four Republicans on the thirteen member Rules Committee, Mr. McEwen managed nearly one-third of all legislation on the House floor for the Republican side of the Congressional aisle. McEwen legislation approved by the Congress included the National Strategy Act that realigned the chain of command during times of hostilities, directly from the Theater Commander to the National Command Authority in Washington. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and General Norman Schwarzkopf have credited this change with playing a major role in the success of Operation Desert Storm. He was selected by Administration and Congressional leaders to floor manage such critical national security legislation as the B-2 bomber authorization, the nuclear freeze debate, and to give the closing arguments before the vote to authorize military action by the United States in Desert Storm. Mr. McEwen has often been selected as negotiator to bring resolution to Senate/House conference committee impasses on dozens of pieces of legislation, particularly affecting Public Works, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and International Relations. Connect with Bob... WEBSITE: https://bobmcewen.com/ TWITTER http://www.twitter.com/bobmcewen/ FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bob-McEwen/211135982248187 Council for National Policy... WEBSITE: https://cfnp.org/ Interview recorded 15.5.23 *Special thanks to Bosch Fawstin for recording our intro/outro on this podcast. Check out his art https://theboschfawstinstore.blogspot.com/ and follow him on GETTR https://gettr.com/user/BoschFawstin and Twitter https://twitter.com/TheBoschFawstin?s=20  To sign up for our weekly email, find our social media, podcasts, video, livestreaming platforms and more... https://heartsofoak.org/connect/ Please subscribe, like and share! Transcript (Hearts of Oak) Hello, Hearts of Oak, and welcome to another interview coming up in a moment with Bob McEwen. Bob McEwen is the executive director of Council for National Policy and I had the privilege of meeting him whenever I was over there stateside at their conference in February. He's also was elected five times as member of Congress for Ohio and anyone who has won five elections deserves to be listened to. So we discuss a whole range of issues. his time as congressman, what that was like, what it means to be a conservative and a Republican in the US, those have always been the same thing but seem to be separate in many ways and we discussed that separation. And then looking at the clash between, I guess, the establishment and a more conservative orientated group in the Republican Party, the Tea Party and now Trump, and what that means. With the Democrats being so reckless, is there a way back using policies and legislation? And then we end up, of course, with the upcoming elections. And I ask Bob for his thoughts on that and where we may be 18 months on during that. So I know you'll enjoy listening to Bob as much as I do speaking with him and giving his insight on all these range of policies. And hello, Hearts of Oak. It is wonderful to have an individual who was elected to Congress at the age of 30 in 1980, won re-election five times there. And I've seen him described as a textbook Republican, opposed to abortion, gun control, high taxes, and as the Executive Director of Council for National Policy. Bob McEwen, it's wonderful to have you with us. (Bob McEwen) Peter, it's my pleasure. Thank you so much. Not at all. And the website there, Council for National Policy, is on the screen. And Counter for National Policy stands for Limited Government, Traditional Values, and Strong Concerted Defence, which which is conservative values, which we all hold dear to. If I could be ask you about yourself, your time as a congressman, that nonstop, I guess, political campaign. We don't understand that in the UK, because we have every five years, where I know you did every two years. But maybe you can let us know what made you so successful? You won time and time again. Maybe just let us into what made you successful standing for Congress. Well, you're exactly right. The United States, it's only 240 years ago, but that was a real transition into the idea that individuals would decide, set the course of their policy. We didn't have a template. We set up three tiers. We set up an individually elected leader or president, individually elected members of Congress accountable to no one else but the voters. We had a turnover every 24 months, the House of Representatives, everyone is up for re-election, And then we had an independent judiciary. That morphed into the parliamentary system, where most of the democracies of the world, when they choose a majority in the parliament, that's the person that then chooses the prime minister. So there's a coordination there. So it's really hard for people to fully grasp as to how is currently the situation. We have a Democrat president, independently elected. And yet the majority of the House of Representatives is Republican. We have a Republican speaker, and they're the ones that pass the laws. It creates for a dynamic tension, and it was designed for that purpose. The US Constitution was designed for one reason, one, only one, only one, that was to prevent tyranny, period, end of discussion. It wasn't there to be efficient. It wasn't to have a strong anything. It was there to prevent tyranny, so that even when Franklin Roosevelt could carry all but two states in an overwhelming landslide, and that he wanted to add members to the Supreme Court. He couldn't do it because the Congress stood. There's an independent tension there that prevents tyranny and that allowed freedom, and that's why this little 4% of the population of the world, more books, plays, symphonies, copyrights, inventions, and the rest of the other 96% combined. Not because those people are smarter or because they work harder. But because they're freer and the degree to which freedom accelerates is when prosperity accelerates, when you impose socialism and take away freedom you can make any place when I was young the richest city in the world was a place called Detroit Michigan and they elected some socialists that said we can put a stop to this and so currently Detroit Michigan is the poorest most corrupt city north of the Rio Grande in all of North America so it's the freedom that creates the wealth not the geography, it's the ideas. And our political system was designed for that purpose, that people would constantly have input, that the second a person thought they are entitled to it, they had to stand for re-election. So every January, a member of Congress either files for re-election or gets sworn into office, one or the other. Well, I want to get more into US politics, but I saw that you're just back from Hungary, CPAC in Hungary. I was trying to go myself, and in the end, it didn't happen. But maybe you want to just touch on that, kind of that sets in the context our European audience before we move over to the US. But what was that like over in Hungary at CPAC? Well, first of all, Peter, under the free enterprise system, the only way that I can achieve wealth, the only way that people can voluntarily reach in their pocket and hand money to me is if I do something for them that is greater, that is more beneficial than the money they have in their hand. And so we, we stay awake nights, dreaming up ways how to do something good for a person, such that they'll slam on their brakes and pull in and say, you're going to wash my car and clean the carpet and watch the windows and throughout the day. I'd much rather have that than have this $10 bill. I'd much rather have that parachute than $60. And so therefore, the freedom and creation comes from free people. So for the Soviet Union controlled two thirds of all the land mass on the planet, but they couldn't make a hairdryer, they couldn't make an automobile, they couldn't make a washing machine. They had to go steal from the ideas, so they made their airplanes look like the airplanes were created by the free people, and et cetera, et cetera. So in the idea of conservatism, that is to preserve and protect the freedom that allows for abundance. Now I said there are two ways to get money from a person. One of them is that I figure out ways to bless them, so they say, oh that, that, that, that app on my phone. Oh, I'd like to have for 99 cents, I can have that app. Well, the person that dreams that up, doesn't hope that a million people down and become a millionaire. So that's why over virtually all of the apps come from only free countries. The other ones have to steal because socialism does what? Socialism redistributes. Now that's a fancy term for stealing. So when you walk into a store and you grab things off the shelf, put them in your pocket and walk out, you are redistributing them. You redistribute them from the shelf of the owner into your pocket. Now, have you created any wealth? No, no. Have you redistributed? Yes, because the degree to which you benefit is the degree to which the other person is diminished. And under socialism, that's why they're always poor. And the more socialism that you have, the greater the poverty you have because you're stealing from the productive, therefore they're disincentivized to produce because they don't get the reward. And you reward people who didn't produce it, And why should they produce when they get it for free? And so you go into a country like Venezuela or Rhodesia or all these great abundant countries and you turn them into absolute hell holes because of a thing called socialism. Socialism and in the scriptures it was referred to as covetousness. Covetousness is when I wanna take something that someone else has. Stealing is when I actually take it. Covet is when I want to take it. And so the Ten Commandments that were put on the walls of all of our classrooms for all these years, it said we didn't have to have magnetometers because people didn't bring guns to work, because we said we shouldn't kill. And we didn't have to have locks on their bicycles because we said thou shalt not steal. But then we had the prosperity because number 10 is on every wall, thou shalt not covet. I don't want to win. So my wife, when we travel around, people often say, you know, I've been to America, I've been to America. And she would often ask them, What is the thing that startled you or surprised you or was the most surprising about America? The answer that comes back more than anything else is, well, in America, you don't have walls around your property. You don't know where your backyard stops and where the neighbour starts. Well, the reason for that is because we didn't covet. Now, when you go into Latin America, you not only have walls around everybody's property, you have cut glass over top of the property because you covet. In America, when you saw a beautiful home, you didn't say, I want to take that house. You would say, someday I want to have a home like that. Or a nice car. We were in one of the nicest countries in Central America. I was waiting to go to dinner with the attorney general. And we were standing outside, our wives went in to eat, and he just kept talking and talking, not going in the restaurant. I got frustrated. What's going on here, Wanegger? And finally, a person appeared, and he handed him some money, and we went in to eat. Well, what happened was he hired a person to watch his car while we were at the restaurant. Now that is a result of covetousness. Now when Moses was having a hard time, Jethro, his father-in-law, came to him and he said, you know, Moses, God and I've been talking here and we think you've got in over your head and you have to divide these people up into federal, state, and local government. You need to have thousands, hundreds, and tens. And Moses, here's three things you need to look for. Three things. That is, there's only two choices. Either man thinks he's God or he recognizes God. Number one is those that fear God. And I'll just tell you, you don't want to marry a person who thinks they're God. You don't want to go into business with a person who thinks they're God. And you don't want to elect a person who thinks they're God. I said Moses, those that fear God. Number two, lovers of truth. Okay, what does that mean? That means a free enterprise system in which you sign a contract and you keep your word. You look a guy in the eye and you shake your hand you honour it. If you're dishonest, if you're the Middle East, if you're much of Asia, if you're a place you have to have contracts that are six inches thick in order to go to the grocery store because that they're going to lie and cheat at every opportunity. He said therefore you want those people who fear God, lovers of truth, and, Moses, get this straight, haters of socialism. That is, if this guy's going to want what somebody else has, you don't want a person like that in power. He used the term covetousness in Exodus 18, 21. It says, fear God, lovers of truth, hating covetousness. And so the purpose of the conservative political action committee is to support conservative values, which respect private ownership, as opposed to socialism, which promises that, you know, if a thief comes and takes something, we say that that guy's bad, he's a thief. If he runs for office and he gets a mob to come and take it, that's called socialism. And so if you vote for me, you don't have to go in and steal your car insurance. I'll just, we'll just make the car insurance do it, etc. So the political action committee. The opportune conservatives get together periodically and all these folks and all all these various issues, encourage one another. And this most recent one was in Budapest. And that was an opportunity because the prime minister there is fighting the tides of socialism in Europe. And he welcomed us with opened arms. We were pleased and happy to be there. I love Budapest. I've been there many, many times. It is a beautiful city and a country that strives for freedom looking after its own identity. But you mentioned socialism and I know you have travelled over to Eastern Europe before during the fall of communism and that's something which you've been passionate about, freedom for those in Eastern Europe and Russia. Tell us about those trips, why would an American go all the way over there to speak on freedom? Well, it's the constant fight. There's a desire to control other people, and under free enterprise, you can be honoured by inventing something, or creating something, or writing something, or building something. That's why in free countries, we honour those people. Under socialist countries, the only way that you get power is that you take it. When you do that, you have to control people. For example, in the Baltics, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, periodically, they would go through and they would just take the largest farmers, people that were successful, and they would ship them off to Siberia, or they would disappear in one way or another. There's this constant lack of freedom. That is that you're at the mercy of what the state decides to do. That's a horrible thing, and that's a fight that is there all the time. We are experiencing right now at this moment, and it ebbs and flows, in the 1930s, it swept almost completely encompassed Europe, as you know, the National Socialist Party went all the way from the Atlantic Ocean, all the way to the Soviet border. It took Americans and Canadians and Brits and Australians landing at Normandy to begin to punch that back. Now we have this competition, always, as Anne Rand says, that you can vote socialism in, but you have to fight, shoot your way out. And so what we see is this constant effort to have, when people get their choice, when they have a freedom, they have the opportunity. They always choose freedom. But that's why totalitarians, and we are sympathetic to them, we have come through a time of the last 40 years of tremendous, tremendous explosion of growth and prosperity. And now we see it trying again. They always have a new idea. Sometimes it was racism. Other times it was religion. And now it's environment. And so the reason that I have to tell you what kind of house to live in, and how far you can travel and what kind of car you can drive and what kind of is is not because I'm a communist and you're not or because I'm a Nazi and you're not it's because I'm an environmentalist and you must do what I say. There's always an excuse for why people want to control other people and that gets back to a concept spiritual as to whether or not people should be allowed to do that and that's why when you abandon God, the God part then it's just a a matter of the most powerful against the weakest. When you do the God part, that is that every person has a unique skill and talent and creation because of Almighty God, that makes it such that you do not have a right as a group to come in and tell people what to do. So that's why Moses was correct when he had God first, then the freedom of the political system, and then the economic system of not coveting. Absolutely, a relationship with God gives everyone value an equal purpose and merit and gives that responsibility. And Peter, without God, people will literally tell you that the rocks and stones and the weeds are more important. The bugs take priority. Now, you only do that, if you tell me that, see, if you tell me every, the fork in the road, the fork in the road for every political decision comes from this question. If you believe that man created God. Or you believe that God created man. And when I sit there and listen to you tell me how I should eat bugs because you think I should, because you don't want me to produce the oil, the gas that's there in abundance, then I can also tell you where you stand on God. You think that you're God. You do not believe in God. You believe that you're the supreme and you're going to dictate to other people. So our freedom is dependent upon that. And I love the libertarians, they're wonderful people, but they think that it's innate in people to do what's right. History has shown us that that's not correct, that there is a godly standard that we must abide by. As you do that, there's abundance and peace and prosperity. The degree to which you abandon it is which you have death, destruction, and poverty. With that clash we are now seeing, what does it mean to be a conservative, and I guess a Republican, in the US? Is it different now than during your time in Congress? Well, I probably, and that's a very good question. I haven't given it that much thought and so as I as I analyse it I tend to think not, There's always this desire for people to control other folks. Yeah, this socialist is national socialism It's this Union of Socialist Republics and the USSR and if see the same thing in China There's always this idea that I'm going to control what you can see and what you and if you don't agree with me then I'll shut you off, I'll burn your books. Only the left burns books. Only the left, you know, we don't fear. And let me just explain why that is, Peter. If you and I are in, if I walk into the room where you are, and I say that room is 25 feet wide, and somebody else says, I think it's 20, I think it's, another guy says, I think it's 30, I think it's 29, we can all sit there and we say, oh, isn't that wonderful? We can all debate it, and we can write white papers, and we can sit around the faculty lounge and talk about it, and everybody's content until someone comes in and measures it. And when they measure it, here's what the measurement does. The measurement is the truth and it reveals error. So a person comes in and measures it and find out it's only 18 feet wide. That means that everybody in the room knows what I said was wrong. And here's the person that said it was 25, the person said it was 30, the person said it was 32. They all hate the person who said it was 18, because that's truth. Error hates truth. Now, conservatives don't fear. We have the truth, so therefore we can let a thousand liberal speakers come and speak. We don't care, but they can't let one. They can't let one conservative get up and speak, because the truth will reveal the error. Let me just hit it again. Let's suppose that you're prosecuting a fellow for stealing an automatic teller machine out of the bank drive-in. And so you're in the court and the defence counsel says, why, he wouldn't do such a thing, why he loves his mother and he was off having dinner with his sister and here's the receipts from the restaurant. You don't care what she says because when you're finished, you're going to show the security camera of him driving his pickup up to the ATM. You see him put the chain around the ATM. You see his face on the camera as you lean over the camera and the fingerprints and the truth will overcome the error such that, here's the point, the only way they can succeed is to prevent the presentation of truth. Your Honour, I object. Your Honour, I object. I object because the truth will overcome the error. That's why they have to shout. That's why they have to burn books. That's why they have to cancel people. That's why they have to deny them access to TikTok. That's why they have to tell that Donald Trump can't speak on television. Because the truth overcomes the error. Therefore, they have to band together. And in the course of this, has that changed? It's always been that way, but I'm increasingly optimistic that people are beginning to see it. And the thing is that truth always wins, because the whack-a-mole, you just can't whack it enough times. And you might succeed for a while. And, you know, Adolf could have his book burning sessions all across Europe, but eventually it comes through. And then he had the Soviet Union, but eventually with technology, people could see the truth. And so now, what the Chinese have done is they've begun to infiltrate the various communication systems so that they can shut off people from Twitter and they can shut off people from Facebook but they constantly have to go down and shut down truth because truth overcomes error. We and conservatives, we do not fear that. You say anything you want to say because when you're finished work, all you have to say is, here's the measurement, it's 18 feet, here it is. And truth eventually wins, and that's why I'm optimistic about the future. But I repeat, there's always and always will be a battle. Well, on truth, it's a question that's been in my mind over the last three years. What is truth? When Pilate asked Jesus. I think traditionally, if you look back in history, generations have been able to understand that and answer that. And we now live in a society where actually people don't know what truth is. Truth is subjective, it's no longer objective. How does it, and we are having the same battle in the UK, in Europe, as I know you're having in the US on that. Where does the conservative movement, the Republican Party, how does it fit into that confusion and chaos, I guess, of what is truth, what is right and wrong. And that is the question of the age, that absolutely it is, and that's why God told Moses, the first thing is settle that, because there's only two definitions of truth. One is what I think is true, and the other is what God says is true. Those are the only two options. And so those that don't want to do what God says, then they talk about my truth. And my truth says that a man is a woman. And the absurdity of that is naturally overwhelming, such that in the first chapter of Romans, when they folks went after, they set themselves up as God, and they said, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And so Paul said, no, we need to get back to God. We need, there has to be a standard. So I am privileged to be a part of the Turning Point USA, and Charlie Kirk went around to these college campuses where these indoctrination things were going on from all the professors, and he would just set up a card table and share truth. And of course, that's very distressing because truth overcomes error. And so as people began to see the truth, and they began to read and discuss and talk about the fact that socialism has never worked. And if socialism worked, by now it would have found a spot where it did. And so when they can see it doesn't work. The next thing, Peter, here's the interesting thing. When they began to think with truth economically, then they began to think truth politically, and then they began to ask questions spiritually, because it's a value system. It's a God made us and we have rights, and all of those things are anathema to socialism. And so now, all across America, and now starting around the world, in high schools elsewhere, are starting these Turning Point USA faith, because there were so many young people asking about these spiritual, that the woke churches, the woke effort had gotten into the pulpits by saying that we don't want to offend anyone. Well, you know, if Jesus Christ could have gone around without offending a person, he probably would have tried it. The idea that truth offends, it's not the person that offends, truth. And evil will be offended by truth. And so what we've seen is that there is this great uprising of folks that it begins to follow across the board, of a worldview, and it gets back to that first one, Either I'm God. Or he's God. And every one of us face that decision at some time in our lifetime. I love being at Counter for National Policy in February and listening to the conversation, I think with James Lindsay and Charlie Kirk. That was a phenomenal insight. But tell us, because Counter for National Policy is maybe a more traditional conservative group. You've got Turning Point and what they're doing with American Fest, and I watched at their conference in December or targeting or going after the younger vote, the younger group. It's interesting to see those alliances, because it's not either or. It's groups working with certain areas of society, others working with others. Tell us about that kind of connection, because as I said, I was blown away by that conversation with Charlie and James. Well, what happened was that the conservative movement in America was successful once in 1964 in nominating a nominee for president, and then it was overwhelmingly stomped. The Republican leadership said, I cannot support this person, and so Barry Goldwater was tremendously defeated. When Ronald Reagan made another attempt, then they felt that they were going to try to do the same thing. That is, the liberals of both parties would team up to prevent him from restoring, because he was anti-communist. And deep down inside, the communists had penetrated most of these folks, just as you see the Chinese penetrating Africa and elsewhere. And so in the beginning of the first year of the Reagan administration, a handful of folks got together to help get him to get elected and said, what we need to do is you don't have to change what you're doing if you're a national defence group, or if you're an agriculture group, or if you're a pro-life group, or if you're an education group. But periodically we should get together and say what can we agree upon. And they formed a group called the Council for National Policy, and it meets three times a year. I emphasize that one of the things that gets people's attention is that we don't do anything. But it's like the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce doesn't sell shoes, and doesn't sell cars, and doesn't sell houses, but it has people that do. That's what CMP does. It has people that do everything, even though CMP does nothing. What we do is we bring people together to encourage one another and what happens when, for example, the CRT, the critical race theory, there were many people that didn't realize that that was rather significant. I thought that was just a left-wing racist policy in college campuses. And when we began to probe deeper, we found out that they had penetrated the seminaries of most of the major religions and to begin to teach, to supplant the scriptures with race in many of our pulpits, and then the educational books as well, and across the board in the military, until now we have a head of the U.S. Military that says the number one threat to America is not the the Chinese threat and the nuclear threat, the number one threat is white nationalism. Now you would think how in the world, you could ask any kid on the street corner watching the guns shooting, what's the number one threat? Number one. Nevertheless, CMP was able to bring that to the fore to say, see how CRT has aggressed. Now we have the same thing with the government and environment, ESG society, where they're trying to give ratings to corporations who fit their global agenda. Of course, the global agenda is not slavery. They don't say that. That's rather people would be repulsed at that. They say climate, and everybody's in favour of climate. Therefore, if you do these ESG, if you do these certain things, if you spend money with, communist groups in China and oppose freedom folks in Hungary or the US, then you get this higher rate and ostensibly, it's because it had to do with the environment. That's where CMP brings people together for the educational purposes. Why? Because truth overcomes error. We let everybody present, but we see that truth wins and that's what we're up to at the moment and delighted about it. I love bumping into so many of my guests who I'd seen virtually. And then I met in the flesh, in the person. So that was one of my highlights coming away from CNP. But maybe I'll ask you about the kind of tension in the Republican Party with the clash of, I guess, a more establishment grouping and a more conservative-oriented grouping, which is the Tea Party and now Trump. In the UK, we don't really have that. We have the so-called Conservative Party resting on old laurels. We don't really have that agitator making them think of what actually it is to be conservative, but you have that in the US. Maybe let us know a little bit more about that, because it's always good to be reminded, I think, of what you're there for and what your principles are. Well, this might not be 100% correct, but part of it, I think, has to do with the fact that when people are really concerned about something that doesn't fit in, they can form their own party. If they just suddenly, one day, they're fine, but six months later, Brexit takes over the whole country because policies. Now, in America, we have a thing called the Electoral College, which says this, no one can become president, no one can become the leader of the country if they don't carry half of the country. Now, that provision meant such that you have a two-party system, because the second you have a third party or a fourth party, you're out of the ballgame. That electoral college has kept a two-party system. Now, you say, well, what's the point of bringing that up? Well, that's because then you have the tensions at the edges. When a Brexit comes along in America, it has to fit into one of the two parties, and the party begins to move in one direction or another. That's simply the way it works, quite frankly, I think it's ingenious, it's wonderful. I think it's virtually divine inspired, because the poor folks under the parliamentary system in Israel or in Italy, it was 60 governments in 48 years and things, I don't have the full affection for that. The poor folks in Israel, I've gone for four years was virtually, they finally righted it recently. In America, you have to have a 50%, which means that when you have these tensions, you're always going to have these tensions, that there's always be at the margin, what is the new issue? Those that want to sit on their laurels can sit there, but they will constantly be in competition with the new idea. It seems to have worked well and will continue to, but I repeat, it's because you cannot have, you can sell a party in a parliamentary system that might get only seven or eight votes in the parliament and you can't sell that in America because brother if you can't win, we're not interested in hearing from you. I love it. Can I ask you about legislation, obviously your time on Capitol Hill in Congress and I kind of look at what the Democrats are doing being so reckless in so many ways. And I wonder, is there a way back using policies and legislation? Oh, yes, there always is. The Democrat Party tends to be more socialist. What is a socialist? A socialist is a person that says, if you vote for me, I will take what that person has and give it to you. That's just all there is to it. Now, when you do that, you destroy things. When they take over New York, they turn it into a mess. Periodically, fortunately, Giuliani and Bloomberg came back and put it back on the rails. Twelve years ago, it was the safest, cleanest, largest city in the world. Of course, they bring in the Democrats and immediately they do, I'm going to tax those people, we're going to steal from the productive, we're going to run them out, and it's back into the hellhole that it was 20 years ago. Socialism only fails every time. The Democrats, well, they run for office trying to do that. You question periodically that they'll destroy the economy and then you have to go back and reproduce and build things. We just hope that they don't do any permanent harm, but as you know, freedom, when Donald Donald Trump became president the the entire nation was energy independent within 18 months see freedom works. Okay, and of course when when when Biden came in we were dependent within five months Because he shut down all the pipelines and increased it and shut down the drilling and things, So it doesn't take long to screw things up. It usually takes longer to try to repair them, But nevertheless they can be repaired. So Margaret Thatcher came in the country was just in a mess It was the IMF had taken over control of the pound sterling, everybody felt that Britain was finished. When she left 11 years later, had the fourth largest economy on the planet. Freedom works every time, socialism fails every day. Yeah, strong leadership is essential. I'm intrigued watching over in the States, the different US states that actually want freedom and the ones that don't. The transfer going back and forward. I think I'm talking to a friend who lived in Florida, and he said, actually, house prices are off the scale. You can't even rent a car anymore. The huge demand, similar in Texas. There seems to be a migration of people going from states that you're punished for your freedom moving towards those states that actually, they want their freedom. It seems to be a bigger and bigger divide happening in the US from those who actually want freedom and those who want to be subjugated. Well, that's the specialness of the federalist system, that we have individual states and they can do their own policies. I would just take Florida, for example, in that Florida is just bursting at the seams in every area, and surpluses in the budgets in the city councils and people are happy and everything, they're expanding and building. It's just a wonderful place, but the governor only won by 30,000 votes, 30,000. The fellow that he beat was as loony as you wouldn't trust him to run a lemonade stand. He's a thug, literally, he's in jail now, I believe. Had he won instead of DeSantis, then he would have said, socialists always want control. So they're going to tell you that you have to have to take this jab and you have to cover your mouth and you have to cover your paper, toilet paper on your nose is going to keep you safe and put up the plastic and put it and they would have shut down the churches. Now it didn't shut down, shut down the Planned Parenthood headquarters and didn't shut down the gay bars, but shut down the churches and all the things that they, and that's what they do in California. That's what they do in New York. And so what do you see? You see New York and California in a state of collapse, and you see the free states, the Republican states, they're prospering. I just saw today that to rent a U-Haul to go from Los Angeles to Dallas is 10 times what it costs to rent a U-Haul to go from Dallas to Los Angeles. Everybody that they'll pay you to take them to California because everybody there is leaving And then you can't get your hands on one. So it, like I say, freedom works. Will Democrats wake up, because I remember when I was in California for the first time, in April last year, and then I went again in June, I realized why I didn't really want to go to the West Coast. But you had people talking who lived just outside LA, and they said, well, this is why we live outside. But the crime and the destruction of the cities actually moves and spreads. And I wonder, will Democrat voters actually get it sometime? Well, let's pray that they do. I mean, they do this intentionally. When Giuliani became mayor, there were these people that would come out, they're called squeegee people, and they would come and sprinkle dust on your windshield and sprinkle water on it, and then they'd hold their hand out. If you gave them some money, then they would wash your window, and otherwise, you had dirt on your window, or they key you when you drove off. He said, we're not going to do that. I want those people arrested. The second they step off the sidewalk, they're jaywalking, we're going to arrest them, and we're going to fingerprint and mugshot them, and find out who, here's the principle. Here's the principle that Democrats seem to not grasp. That is a lawbreaker, is a lawbreaker, period. They want to focus on the big law. No, no. It's only a handful of people that do this. And so the very first guy that they took for doing that, he had 25 warrants. He went away forever. Why? Because he's a lawbreaker. He's a thief. And so the next thing that they did was Giuliani said, we're not going to have people, or jumping the turnstile to get on the subway. If you jump the turnstile and you don't pay, then you're going to be arrested. And what do you do when you're arrested? You're going to get a fingerprint and a mugshot. And so they did that. The very first day they saw the first guy they caught, they had fingerprints of five murders. Now they had the five fingerprints were clear. They didn't know who they belonged to. But when they mugshot and fingerprinted this guy, they found that the guy who voted jumping the turnstile was a murderer and they put him away. And so when you look at what happened, that crime didn't diminish, crime collapsed. Because when you take the one to 3% of the troublemakers and you put them behind bars where they can't behave, that the rest of the people can prosper. Now what happened when de Blasio came in, when the new Democrat came in, first Democrat mayor in 16 years? They said, look how clean and nice and everything is, let's just screw it up as fast as possible. So what he said was, we are not going to enforce the law. Get this, we're not going to enforce the law for those jumping the turnstile. That means that every thug can go in there and can sleep on the subway 24 hours a day. He can rob the people when they come on. They don't have to get on. Now people don't want to ride the subway, the places of mess, where you have the fights. They said, we want to do more than that. We want to allow people to urinate on the sidewalk and to defecate in the middle of the street and to sleep. So then we will not arrest them for doing that. And so now you walk up and down the streets, you see it covered with people that are just hanging out doing those. And they said, oh, furthermore, people should be allowed to steal. And so as long as they don't steal more than 1,000 at a whack, as long as they take 950, we'll allow them to do that. And so now when you go into some of the stores, they're all boarded up, or they're empty, or they're behind bars. You have to have someone come to open it up. Now, your question was, will they see it? People voted for that. People voted in New York 4 to 1, 4 to 1, 80% voted to do that. They voted for these incompetent folks. So I'm probably not as good a politician as I should be, because it just doesn't make any sense to me. Could I end off just with asking you about Sleepy Joe and the elections coming up, and I had the privilege of being on the front row at CMP and listening to Governor Ron DeSantis, and I love what he's doing in Florida. I also love what Donald Trump has done as a wrecking ball in tearing up the whole system and doing things differently. But when you look as someone who, has their finger on the pulse, what are your thoughts of how the next, I don't know, is it 18 months will transpire? What are your thoughts as you look into that? We don't have any of those big figures in the UK, so that's why it's intriguing looking over to the US. Well, Now, the difficulty we face is when you're on the left, you never say, look what a great job I did in education. Didn't we do a wonderful job in cleaning up the streets, and oh, aren't people so nice and safe now? Look at how efficiently we handled the border. And didn't we do a marvellous job in bringing the price of gasoline down to 28% of what it was 10 years ago. They can't point to anything. So what they do is they scream, he's a racist, he's a bigot, he's a murderer, he's a he's a and all they do is just vomit on anyone who wants to get into office. And one of the reasons that I am so strongly in favour of of Donald Trump at this point is because almost anybody else has, does not have the rhinoceros hide to stand against the abuse that they will shovel at anyone because they said McCain was a maverick and he listened to people and he worked across the aisle until he got nominated. Second he got nominated, the New York Times ran articles just like they did against Kavanaugh of these women that claimed that they had affairs with him and when they checked it out they weren't even close. They were just making this stuff up just like they're doing doing with Trump, with this woman that claims she couldn't even tell in the court, she couldn't tell within three years of when this events took place. Within three years. So they're going to do that to people. And Donald Trump has the backbone for the benefit of our country and for freedom to take it. And as we've seen, he can bring peace and prosperity. People don't remember that prior to 2016, this entire world was in the hands of the Chinese. We were doing everything that they asked. We were giving them every privilege. The President of the United States signed waivers so that the chips in our military equipment and in our fighter jets would come from China. They were able to control everything. We were sleepwalking over a cliff. One man. Donald Trump came along and said hey, this isn't the brightest thing in the world, He went to the Mercedes and says you can't build an, you can't build a car without their approval what kind you Germans are stronger than that and in the entire world began to break out of a stupor and those people who had put all of their money New York and Silicon Valley all of their money in China, became furious because those factories began with the withdrawal the stock market in China went down 47 percent, half of its wealth was diminished. In the United States, the stock went up 55 percent. America began to grow and prosper and those that hate freedom in America were furious and they were and they continue to be. But I don't think the world's going to go back to sleep and all we need is a person strong enough to do it and we can go back to peace so the countries aren't overrunning each other as they are in Ukraine, where we go back to peace again where there's stability, and we have a strong surgence of freedom, which I anticipate we're going to have shortly. Well, Bob, it is an honour speaking with you, someone who has their finger on the pulse and is involved in such an influential organization like the CNP, so I appreciate your time today and sharing your thoughts. Well, it was indeed an honour to be with you as always, and we're honoured to have you whenever you can be with us, Peter. All the best.

Dr. Allen graduated with a B.A. in Psychology with honors from Stanford University. She attended Oregon Health and Science University for medical school where she also earned a Masters of Public Health in biostatistics and epidemiology. She completed psychiatry residency at the Harvard Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program, a joint program between Brigham and Women's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Massachusetts Mental Health Center. She served as Chief Resident of the psychiatry consult service at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She then went on to complete a 2-year fellowship in Neuropsychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She has participated in research on sleep and memory consolidation, quality of life in multiple sclerosis, efficacy of different TMS protocols, EEG biomarkers of TMS response, the RECOVER VNS trial, and other projects. She has authored several papers.Her practice is Seattle Neuropsychiatric Treatment Center, the oldest and largest provider of TMS, ECT, VNS, and esketamine in the Pacific Northwest. She is one of three Partners and serves as the Director of Neuropsychiatry and Research. She is the Site Principal Investigator for multiple clinical trials.She does multiple educational talks every year on neuromodulation, including nationally (Clinical TMS Society) and locally (UW medical events, Washington State Psychological Association). She is the site Director of Education at SeattleNTC and teaches psychiatrists-in-training from three residency programs.Dr. Allen has had multiple leadership positions, including President of the Washington State Psychiatric Association 2020-21, and President of the Clinical TMS Society (an international organization with 1000+ members) 2023-24. She has had several other roles with the Clinical TMS Society, including serving on the Board of Directors, as the Treasurer, Co-Chair of the Insurance Committee, and Vice President. She was presented with a service award from the CTMSS in 2021. She has testified in front of the Washington State legislature on multiple occasions.www.seattlentc.com

On today's episode of the Rancho Cordova Podcast, we are delighted to speak to newly elected California State Senator Roger Niello (R) representing the 6th District.  On today's show, we discuss his plans as a newly elected State Senator, and many of the policies he ran on, and we got to know Roger Niello along the way.    Senator Niello has an impressive resume spanning a 25-year career as a CPA for large corporations but also his time working in his family's successful automobile dealership business which now owns an impressive, 11 dealerships in and around the Sacramento region.     Senator Niello spent many years as a Sacramento County Supervisor and as an elected member of the California Assembly where he played a key role in passing several major legislations.    Roger Niello has been a Sacramento resident for most of his life, having graduated from Encina High School in Arden. After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his Master's Degree from the University of California at Los Angeles, Roger began his career as a Certified Public Accountant. In 1974, Roger joined his family business, the Niello Auto Group, and spent the next 25 years running retail automobile dealerships with his family partners. He served as corporate Chief Financial Officer and was president and general manager of several of the group's franchises. While involved in the retail auto business, Roger was recognized for his service in the industry as an American International Automobile Dealer Association All-Star Dealer and the Central Valley New Car Dealer Association Dealer of the Year.   Roger was elected to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, in a special election in 1999 and in 2004 was elected to the California State Assembly and re-elected twice. During his six years in the Assembly, Roger served on the Transportation Committee, Banking and Finance Committee, Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee; Business, Professions and Consumer Protection Committee, Insurance Committee, Budget Committee, Joint Legislative Audit Committee, Joint Committee on Emergency Services and Homeland Security, and the Select Committee on Foster Care. After his time in the Assembly concluded, Roger accepted an appointment as President and CEO of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce. Roger was elected to represent Placer and Sacramento counties in the State Senate in 2022. Throughout his career, Roger has been a dedicated community and civic volunteer, including service as President of the Golden State Voter Participation, Chair of the Sacramento Valley Lincoln Club Board, Co-Chair of the California Civic Learning Partnership in Sacramento County, member of the University of California Center Sacramento Advisory Board, the Dignity Health Sacramento Service Area Hospital Community Board, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council Board, and Sacramento Rotary. In February 2011, Roger was named the University of California Center Sacramento Governance Fellow, the first to serve in that position. Roger, and his wife, Mary, reside in Fair Oaks. They have five adult children and six grandchildren. You can visit Senator Niello Senate website at  https://sr06.senate.ca.gov/    

In this episode of Engage, host First Officer Ryan Argenta sits down with Scott Bowles, John Doherty, and Dan Fusco, the experts of the Retirement & Insurance Committee to discuss a variety of topics including 401(k) contributions, ROTH conversions and recent changes to ROTH conversions for Company contributions, how you no longer have to "race" the Company to max out your 401(k), potential tax implications of multiple retirement income sources, PBGC, Market-Based Cash Balance Plan (MBCBP) benefits and tax implications, ALPA-sponsored insurance programs, and other R&I nuggets. The Fine Print: This podcast does not constitute an official position or advice of the Air Line Pilots Association or the Delta Master Executive Council. The information provided in this podcast does not, and is not, intended to constitute legal advice, tax advice, or financial planning expertise. All information and content presented are for general informational purposes only. (Recorded October 5 and December 7, 2022)

Many people rely on insurance professionals to navigate the complicated waters of protecting their businesses, and there are a lot of different types of insurance that a cannabis company should consider. We start with the basics here of the types of insurance that almost any cannabis company should immediately secure. We also dive into more nuanced insurance types that people may not think about immediately. We always think of the phrase “acts of god” which is sometimes covered in insurance, which is interesting to see in an insurance policy. Matthew Johnson serves as QuadScore's Vice President of Risk Services. QuadScore has grown to become one of the largest cannabis insurers over a short four years, with a specialty in covering the considerable assets of North America's multi-state operators and publicly traded companies. At QuadScore, Matthew's role is to manage risks for America's premier cannabis operators, helping protect businesses from preventable claimsDavid Rahn with S2S Insurance is a highly specialized insurance professional with deep cannabis industry knowledge and experience. As an All-Lines Insurance Broker with strong analytical skills, he performs detailed risk assessments for both start-up and established cannabis companies, and develops customized strategies and solutions designed to minimize risks, safeguard and grow their business.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

My fantastic guest for this conversation is Johnny Timpson OBE. Johnny has got loads of experience driving change at a very high level. He has more than 40 years of insurance and banking sector leadership, and business development experience. He is also the principal of Johnny Timpson Consulting and non-executive chair of specialist military insurance brokerage, Absolute Military and the founding chair of the Access to Insurance working group, an additional TISA Consumer Protection Committee. Additionally, he's a Financial Inclusion Commissioner and a member of the Financial Services Consumer Panel, the Prime Minister's Champion Group for Dementia communities, the BIBA Access to Insurance Committee, the Building Resilient Households Group, the Institutes of Faculty Actuaries Mental Health Working Group, and gain the group for Autism Insurance Investment and Neurodiversity. You can boost company productivity, avoid PR disasters, and build a thriving workplace that attracts the best talent by watching our webinar!

In Part 1 we covered Cannabis Consumption Lounges, what purpose they serve, as well as how the business models compare and contrast to other industries. We began to dip our toes into the liabilities and risks associated and how consumption lounges can protect themselves from something going wrong, or what to do if and when something does go wrong. We pick back up there with Jodi Green and Matt Grimes, as well as What else comes to mind about the risks associated with cannabis consumption lounges and more!Jodi Green is a business attorney in Miller Nash LLP's Los Angeles office, focusing on cannabis and policyholder insurance recovery. Jodi is a member of NCIA's Risk Management and Insurance Committee and was named by Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” in insurance coverage for five consecutive years. Miller Nash's 140-member law firm has nearly 30 attorneys practicing in its nationally-recognized cannabis group alone. Miller Nash's cannabis team serves cannabis companies operating in all industry verticals by providing advice in all legal practice areas, from corporate formation to employment, insurance coverage and litigation, and everything in between. Matt Grimes is the principal of The Grimes Law Group. He sits on the Risk Management and Insurance Committee (“RMIC”) of the National Cannabis Industry Association (since 2019), currently serves as the webinar content Chairperson for the RMIC, is a Vice Chair of the American Bar Association's Cannabis Law & Policy Committee (since 2021), is a member of the International Cannabis Bar Association, and is involved with several state cannabis industry associations and advocacy groups.For more NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice go to CannabisRadio.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Sen. Tony Hwang discusses 20% health insurance rate hike hearing. Tony is ranking Republican Senator on the legislature's Insurance Committee. 

The Rise of Cannabis Consumption Lounges: Risk and Opportunities Mathew Grimes (The Grimes Law Group), Jodi Green (Miller Nash) NCIA's Risk Management and Insurance Committee.Cannabis consumption lounges, we start by talking about what they are, how they work, why they exist, and why we need or want them? We compare a business model like this to something else that already exists in the alcohol industry, Bars. Also for fine cigars, there are special cigar lounges. So we talk about how this is similar, and how is it different. We also dive into if our guests have had any experience with a consumption lounge yet.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Learn more about robbery, theft, and other crime risks in cannabis with Kevin Mullins, Vice President, 3SI & Doug Esposito of AssuredPartners, members of NCIA's Risk Management and Insurance Committee today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice on Cannabis Radio. With the recent increases in theft and robberies in cannabis dispensaries, the NCIA's Risk Management and Insurance Committee is hosting this podcast to discuss how these crimes are affecting the industry and best practices to mitigate the risks. Exclusion from the banking system and high-value product inventory for canna-businesses tempt criminals looking for an easy and lucrative way to steal or rob. Because of the expansion in the industry, cannabis is a likely target for criminals and drives the need for risk mitigation solutions that consider the likelihood of crime and how to best prevent it.In this podcast, we bring together leading experts in cannabis insurance and security risk. The episode provides insight on issues facing the industry as well as best practices and regulatory standards to combat rising crime risks.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, our Retirement and Insurance Chair provides a review of 2022 benefit changes, 401K updates and more.

Today we give Colorado a Yasss Queen! They are stepping up for the trans healthcare services, and we have Rep. Brianna Titone, to tell us more! Also, why you should not take aspiring, sound baths and how to get past money issues in a relationship. Let's go there!  Special guests:  Colorado State Rep. Brianna Titone - Health and Insurance Committee, Energy and Environment Committee, Vice Chair, Joint Technology Committee.  Dr. Chien-Wen Tseng - Member of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, as well as a family physician and research director at the University of Hawaii John A Burns School of Medicine Dr. Helen Lavretsky - Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, Director of Integrative Psychiatry Program Adam Kol - The Couples Financial Coach. He helps couples who love each other make sure the money conversation doesn't get in the way and also hosts the Couples Financial Coach Podcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Standards in Cannabis Food Manufacturing And Merril Gilbert And Rhiannon Woo today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice with Bethany Moore only on Cannabis Radio. Merril Gilbert is the Co-founder and CEO of TraceTrust TraceTrust is a nationwide cannabis and hemp manufacturing compliance company advocating for safe consumer experiences through HACCP training and Good Manufacturing Process (GMP) Certifications. Merril has 25 years of experience working in the food and beverage industry and has been working in cannabis for over 6 years. Merril is the past chair of the NCIA Education Committee and a current member of the Risk Management and Insurance Committee. Rhiannon is the Co-founder and Chief Science Officer of TraceTrust. She is a sought-out leader in Food Safety development and protocol and is an expert in Good Agricultural Practices, Good Harvesting Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, HACCP, and the Food Safety Modernization Act. She is the Secretary of NCIA's Hemp Committee.

In this episode of our podcast, we talk with Retirement & Insurance (R&I) Chair Captain Kevin Biggins who discusses his background and union experience, the makeup of the R&I Committee...

Wendi Thomas is a longtime Northampton Township resident, experienced business executive and dedicated public servant who served her community as a school board director for the Council Rock School District prior to being elected to the state House of Representatives in 2018 for the 178th District. In 2020, she was elected to her second term.   She serves on the Insurance Committee, the Children and Youth Committee, the Aging and Older Adult Services Committee, and the Professional Licensure Committee.   Thomas began serving her community as a volunteer in her local parent-teacher organizations that led to her being named to the Council Rock School Board where she was re-elected three times. While on the school board, she was chosen as president and vice president, and served as the chair of the Finance and Academic Standards committees. She serves on the Children and Youth Committee, the Aging and Older Adult Services Committee, the Professional Licensure Committee, the Local Government Committee, and the Insurance Committee. Wendi also serves on The Pennsylvania Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial (America250PA). This commission comprises current and past leaders of Pennsylvania, private citizens, and industry leaders, celebrating the rich history and diversity of the state. To learn more, please visit: https://www.america250pa.org/the-commission Thomas's work on the school board was enhanced by her extensive business experience. Before joining the board, Thomas worked for a small start-up company in the health care industry that ultimately grew into a national firm. While at Healthcare Advocate of Plymouth Meeting, Thomas rose from Account Manager to Senior Vice President.   Prior to joining Healthcare Advocate in 2005, Thomas worked as a project manager at Axis Inc. from 2001 to 2005, and as a district manager at Aetna, from 1987 to 2000.   Wendi has been married to her husband, John—known as J.T.-- for 30 years. They met in their senior year at Gettysburg College. They have lived in Northampton Township for 26 years and are the parents of three children: John III, Justin and Stephanie, all graduates of Council Rock High School. 

Becca Jean talks about testifying before a congressional committee in an effort to pass HB 1588 which would require insurance companies to cover the cost of cold capping in the state of Texas, making it an affordable option for women wanting to preserve their hair, their dignity and anonymity, through chemo. Track the bill's progress here: https://capitol.texas.gov/billlookup/BillStages.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=HB1588. You can help by contacting the Insurance Committee (512) 463-0788 and telling them you support HB 1588.

Good Morning, Colorado, you’re listening to the Daily Sun-Up. It’s Tuesday April 27th, and even though there’s a lot of turmoil right now we’re feeling lucky to start the day with you.   Today - Gross Reservoir continues to be the subject of court rulings. So, what’s the latest on the fight over expanding?   But before we begin, let’s go back in time with some Colorado history adapted from historian Derek R Everett’s book “Colorado Day by Day”:   Today, we take you back to April 27th, 1917 when an explosion in the Hastings Mine killed 121 miners. It earned the site the dubious distinction of Colorado’s worst industrial disaster. An investigation later determined that an illegal use of matches to light a lamp had caused the blast. Work in the mine resumed later that year, but it closed for good in 1923.   Now, our feature story.   Owned by Denver Water but located in Boulder County, Gross Reservoir supplies water from both sides of the Continental Divide to Front Range residents. But the reservoir has been anything but smooth sailing and continues to be the subject of court rulings. Reporter Michael Booth talks with Lucy Haggard about the latest update on the fight over expanding the reservoir.   To read more about Gross Reservoir, go to coloradosun.com.   And Before we go, here are a few stories that you should know about today:   U.S. Census Bureau data released Monday confirmed that Colorado will receive an eighth congressional seat. The state’s population increased almost 15% in 2020, roughly double that of the national increase. An independent commission is tasked with redrawing the state’s districts, but the detailed data necessary for that task likely won’t be available until September. Multiple groups across the state are asking that communities with similar interests, such as agriculture, get grouped together in the newly redrawn map. https://coloradosun.com/2021/04/26/colorado-8th-congressional-seat/    A long-awaited bill in the statehouse to decrease health care costs will no longer include a public insurance option. House Bill 1232 will instead require private insurers to offer a highly regulated, standardized plan. Providers won’t be required to accept the plans under certain conditions, including if their provider network reflects the diversity of consumers. The bill’s changes will happen through an amendment, which will be considered in the House Health and Insurance Committee on Tuesday. https://coloradosun.com/2021/04/26/colorado-public-option-health-care-bill-update/    A majority of Coloradans feel the state has an affordable housing problem, and they want the government to fix it. A new poll from Magellan Strategies reflects the frustrations of a hyper housing market for renters and owners alike, especially along the Front Range. Researchers found the coronavirus pandemic has also had a significant impact on changing public opinion. Support for affordable housing policy differed along political party lines, with the most support among Democrats, then independents, and the least support among Republicans.   For more information on all of these stories, visit our website, www.coloradosun.com. And don’t forget to tune in again tomorrow.   The Colorado Sun is non-partisan and completely independent. We're always dedicated to telling the in-depth stories we need today more than ever. And The Sun is supported by readers and listeners like you.   Right now, you can head to ColoradoSun.com and become a member. Starting at $5 per month for a basic membership and if you bump it up to $20 per month, you’ll get access to our exclusive politics and outdoors newsletters. Thanks for starting your morning with us and don’t forget to tune in again tomorrow. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week HB 21-1232, the Colorado Public Option, is in front of the House Health and Insurance Committee.  Today we discuss the policy with Katherine Mulready, the Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for the Colorado Hospital Association, and Chris Brown, the Vice President of Policy and Research at the Common Sense Institute. Join us as we unpack this complex and dangerous policy proposal. 

Federal legalization: How Close Are We? with Rocco Petrilli and Tamala McBath. Tamala is the Executive Director of the NCRMA, National Cannabis Risk Management Association as the Chief Execution Officer, and Rocco Petrilli, Chairman of the National Cannabis Risk Management Association (NCRMA) Both are Members of NCIA’s Risk Management and Insurance Committee. Now that we are past the inauguration of the Biden-Harris Administration, past the election, and we have a friendlier Congress ahead of us, the idea of federal legalization seems even closer, within reach. With legalization around the corner, we talk about their thoughts on the potential legal ramifications to the industry. Currently, companies operate at the state level, and can’t just cross state lines and open another business. It’s an entirely different licensing process in each state, and there are certainly differences. With the prospect of an “umbrella legalization” in America, that could change the legal landscape in how businesses operate. We all discuss if businesses have more or less legal exposure post-legalization. That and much more on federal legalization: How Close Are We? with RMIC, Rocco Petrilli, and Tamala McBath today on NCIA's Cannabis Industry Voice. 

On this episode of On the Job With PORAC, PORAC President Brian Marvel and Vice President Damon Kurtz invite in Assemblymember Jim Cooper to hear updates on California legislation and his support for our state's law enforcement.   Assemblymember Jim Cooper's biography: Assemblymember Jim Cooper proudly represents California’s 9th Assembly district, which includes the cities of Sacramento, Elk Grove, Galt, and Lodi. Cooper currently serves on several committees, including: Public Employees Retirement and Social Security Committee, Governmental Organization Committee, and Insurance Committee. Cooper also serves as Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration and the Assembly Select Committee on Community Law Enforcement Relations and Responsibilities. Cooper has also served as the Assistant Majority Leader and Assistant Majority Whip under then Speaker of the Assembly Toni Atkins. Assemblymember Cooper has an extensive background in law enforcement and local government. Before joining the Assembly in 2014, Cooper served as a Captain in the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department for 30 years and spent 15 years as Elk Grove’s founding mayor and councilmember. He established solid governing values, balanced the city’s budget, and built a city from the ground up. Cooper has earned numerous awards, including the Bronze Star for Bravery for actions during the 1991 “Good Guys” hostage crisis. He also spent three years working as the Department’s spokesperson and spent nearly a decade working as an undercover narcotics officer and gang detective –investigating illegal activity to fight drug trafficking in Northern California. Community service is a significant part of Assemblymember Cooper’s life. He has served on the boards of the Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Sacramento Children’s Receiving Home. Cooper grew up in Sacramento and is a graduate of the West Point Leadership Academy and FBI National Academy. He earned a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Saint Mary’s College. Click Here to learn more about Assemblymember Jim Cooper.

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Joe Bruno served as the State Representative for the towns of Raymond and Windham for 5 Legislative Sessions. He was a member of the Health and Human Services Committee, the Banking and Insurance Committee and the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee. He was elected House Republican Leader for two terms. He is the owner of Community Pharmacies, LP a nine store independent chain located throughout Maine. He was previously a Director of the Waldron Group of Companies. As Director, Joe served as CEO of Community Pharmacies before purchasing the company in September 2010. He has served as CEO of Goold Health Systems and Sable Oaks golf course in his capacity as a Director. After his departure from state politics, Joe was elected four terms to the Town of Raymond, Board of Selectmen and served as its parliamentarian and Chairperson. Joe serves as Town Meeting Moderator. He was appointed by Governor John Baldacci to serve on the Dirigo Health Board of Directors and was unanimously confirmed by the State Senate. He was appointed by Governor Paul LePage to Chair the Dirigo Health Board of Trustees in January 2011 and reappointed in September 2011where he guided it to its completion. Governor LePage also appointed him to the Maine Board of Pharmacy, where he serves as President. Governor LePage appointed him Chair of the Health Insurance Exchange Advisory Committee where recommendations to implement the Affordable Care Act were presented to the Governor and the Legislature. He also served on the Cumberland County Civic Center Board of Trustees and served as Chair of the Sports Committee. He served as chair of the Building Committee and chaired the committee providing oversight to the construction and renovation of the Cumberland County Civic Center. He served on a Streamlining Commission in 2011 to find $25 million in savings to balance the state budget. The Attorney General and Governor asked Joe to serve as Chair of the Prescription Drug Abuse Task Force to find a solution of the many issues dealing with prescription drug abuse and disposal. Every Friday morning he can be heard doing political commentary on WLOB Radio. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, is a corporator for Gorham Savings Bank, and previously on the Board of Connections for Kids. Joe is a graduate of the College of Pharmacy at Northeastern University with a Certificate in Nuclear Pharmacy and holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern Maine. He is a licensed pharmacist in Maine and was Pharmacist of the Year for Laverdiere's in 1990. He has worked both as a pharmacist and as a development manager with two large retail pharmacy chains. In 2012, Joe received the distinguished Bowl of Hygeia award from the Maine Pharmacy Association in recognition of his contributions to pharmacy and his community service. In 2015 he received the alumnus of the year from Northeastern University. He served as Chairman of the Optometry Study Panel, a past President of the Maine Community Drugstore Coalition and served as Chair for the Quality Improvement Council for the Augusta Mental Health Institute. Joe has been a featured speaker at many local, state and national conferences.

Assemblyman Jim Cooper shares his thoughts regarding calls for change in law enforcement and he speaks about the state budget, water and environmental issues in the Legislature.   Asm. Cooper is Chair of the Budget Subcommittee on State Administration and he serves on the Insurance Committee, Governmental Organization Committee and the Public Employees Retirement and Social Security Committee. Prior to becoming a member of the State Legislature, Assemblyman Cooper served as a captain in the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and served as Elk Grove's founding mayor and as a council member.

Recorded April 15, 2020. In this episode, Dr. O’Connell is joined by Senator Bill Dodd, who represents California’s 3rd District. They discuss the current state of affairs as well as what the government is doing to help certain groups and industries.Questions from this episode include:How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the economy in the area you serve?What is being done currently to support the small businesses in your area and what advice do you have for small business owners to help them weather this storm?Do you have thoughts about how and when to begin reopening the economy?What are your thoughts about how this pandemic is affecting students and what can be done to ensure they are receiving the education they deserve? Your host is Dr. Ted O’Connell, family physician, educator, and author of numerous textbooks and peer-reviewed articles. He holds academic appointments at UCSF, UC Davis, and Drexel University's medical schools and also founded the Kaiser Permanente Napa-Solano Community Medicine and Global Health Fellowship, the first program in the U.S. to formally combine both community medicine and global health. Follow Ted on Instagram (@tedoconnellmd) and Twitter (@tedoconnell)! Senator Bill Dodd was elected in 2016 to represent California’s 3rd Senate District, Sen. Bill Dodd is a fifth-generation Californian and lifelong resident of the district, where he grew up on a small family farm in Napa County. The district includes all of Napa and Solano counties and portions of Contra Costa, Sacramento, Sonoma and Yolo counties. Sen. Dodd serves as the chair of the Governmental Organization Committee and is a member of the Transportation Committee, the Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee and the Insurance Committee. He is co-chair of the Senate Select Committee on California’s Wine Industry and the Legislative Delta Caucus.  His work in the Senate has spanned many topics – from improving public education to protecting seniors and the environment. He is one of the Legislature's most prolific legislators, authoring 67 laws in the last 5 years. As a senator representing wildfire-torn Napa and Sonoma counties, he co-chaired the 2018 conference committee on wildfire safety and prevention and authored numerous bills that were signed into law to protect Californians from future infernos and accompanying utility rate hikes. Prior to his election to the Senate, Sen. Dodd represented the 4th Assembly District. In the Assembly, he worked to help small businesses, protect the environment, and support seniors and working families. He advanced a balanced, sustainable budget that invests in our education system from preschool through higher education. He helped establish the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, promote career technical education, and create the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument – preserving over 330,000 acres of the California Coast Ranges in Napa, Yolo, Solano, Lake, Colusa, Glenn and Mendocino counties. Submit Your Questions for the Podcast Send an email to info@arslonga.media or check out covidpodcast.com What Can You Do? You can help spread commonsense about COVID-19 by supporting this podcast. Hit subscribe, leave a positive review, and share it with your friends especially on social media. We can each do our part to ensure that scientifically accurate information about the pandemic spreads faster than rumors or fears. Remember to be vigilant, but remain calm. For the most trusted and real time information on COVID-19 and the coronavirus pandemic, both the CDC and WHO have dedicated web pages to keep the public informed. The information presented in this podcast is intended for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Producers: Madison Linden and Christopher Breitigan. Executive Producer: Patrick C. Beeman, MD Special thank you to Iminotech for supporting credible information about Covid-19.

The Florida Legislature begins its 2020 session this Tuesday, January 14 amid growing concern about the state's property insurance market.  Two carriers have failed in recent months.  Others are seeking rate increases of up to 30% to stem rising reinsurance and litigation costs.  Future financial ratings downgrades on some Florida domestic insurance companies are also likely.There are other insurance issues facing lawmakers as well, including automobile Assignment of Benefits (AOB) reform, bad faith, ongoing Hurricane Michael recovery, and a proposed change to the state building code.  There are also big ticket issues, such as education, the environment, and transportation, as part of a proposed $91.4 billion budget.Host Lisa Miller, a former deputy insurance commissioner, talks with Jim Saunders, Executive Editor of the News Service of Florida for a preview on what to expect this session.Show NotesProperty Insurance Market – Saunders and Miller discussed the significance of rising reinsurance costs on the homeowners insurance market.  One domestic carrier, Edison Insurance of Boca Raton, is seeking a 21.8% statewide average rate increase in its homeowners multi-peril line.  Growing operating losses by some companies prompted state Senator Jeff Brandes (R-Pinellas) to describe Florida's property insurance market as “rapidly declining” and as the most underreported issue going into the 2020 state legislative session.“This is something we really need to get up to speed on because it's not just a business issue, it affects me, you, and everybody else who owns a home if nothing else,” Saunders told Miller.  He noted there are political ramifications of property insurance that are “far different” in South Florida than they are in inland and northern Florida.Automobile AOB Reform - The ongoing effort to reform growing AOB abuse in automobile windshield repair and replacements got off to a shaky start in the committee weeks leading to the session.“I tend to think that it's a very live issue still,” said Saunders, despite the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee voting it down in December 2019.  “It's not going to be a death-knell” to the reform efforts this session he said, noting the House has been very aggressive with AOB issues in the past. Host Miller said it's an issue needing to be addressed.  She shared a recent automobile AOB case involving a $64 windshield replacement.  The insurance company paid the standard $60 fee, but the $4 difference is now the subject of a lawsuit.  “It's insane, make no mistake,” Miller said.Litigation & Bad Faith Reform – Saunders and Miller discussed the potential of Bad Faith law reform passing this session and the Governor's reference to “factories of lawsuits” which are impeding the state's economic development and prosperity. “I didn't get the sense Senate President Bill Galvano has much appetite at all for tort issues during a recent interview,” said Saunders, but “I don't doubt the Governor and Florida House would be amenable to it.”Miller and Saunders also discussed the changing composition of the Florida Supreme Court in the past year and the expectation it will produce more favorable rulings for business and insurance interests.  “The old court was not friendly to insurance companies, as a diplomatic way to put it,” said Saunders.Miller brought up another property insurance company with a recent 28% rate increase request that attributed about 60% of that rate hike to growing legal expenses and fees.“One of the driving forces of those fees is the fee multiplier, approved by the previous state Supreme Court in 2017.  You see a judgment for $10,000 but you'll see a fee award for $150,000 to $200,000, sometimes $300,000,” Miller said.  She predicted double-digit rate requests will continue and eventually reach the point where the legislature will respond.Hurricane Michael - The surprising amount of damage from the October 2018 Category 5 hurricane that still exist today in Panama City and especially in outlying rural areas was also discussed on the podcast.  There are bills filed this session seeking additional financial relief to communities to help rebuild damaged infrastructure, including schools.“I'm not sure how much traction any of the Michael issues will get this year because there's a lot of demands on the state budget this year.  And if you listen to some of the folks out in the Panhandle, they're kind of worried that they've just been forgotten,” said Saunders, noting it was despite efforts by Panhandle legislators to keep up the pressure for more state aid.Building Code - There's also a bill that would mandate the Florida Building Code require that the entire envelope of certain buildings being constructed or rebuilt be impact resistant and constructed with high wind-resistant construction materials, together with meeting testing criteria.The differing wind standards of the Panhandle versus other areas of the state has been under debate again since Hurricane Michael. (See Episode 21 – Is Florida's Building Code Protecting All of Us?  and Episode 22 – Why the Panhandle Wasn't Hurricane Strong for Michael).  Saunders and Miller discussed whether the legislature has the appetite to change the building code this session.“Although more recent building using current codes survived Michael's winds, older buildings built under older code often didn't,” said Saunders, who called the state building code “a complicated animal” to change.“It's politically difficult, but it's also technically very difficult, so whether that's going to become a priority for legislative leadership to really dig into this year, I'm not sure,” he said.Host Miller agreed.  “I think they have so many competing interests and they just think the building commission is going to take care of it or the builders are going to take care of it, and so they can just move on to something else,” she said.Saunders and Miller also discussed the big ticket issues facing the legislature this session.  They include the Governor's requested $900 million in spending for teacher raises and bonuses, $635 million for Everglades' restoration and other water resources, increases in transportation and prison spending, criminal justice reform, and strategic tax cuts.Links and Resources Mentioned in this EpisodeNews Service of Florida2020 Bill Watch (Lisa Miller & Associates)Lisa Miller & Associates Assignment of Benefits (AOB) webpageHome insurer seeks $30 a month average statewide price hike (Sun-Sentinel, December 30, 2019)Florida Homeowners Insurance Market Update (Federal Association for Insurance Reform, January 6, 2020)More Than a Dozen Florida Insurers Facing Ratings Downgrades (Insurance Journal, January 9, 2020)Viewer Discretion Advised (LMA Newsletter of January 6, 2020)Three New Justices Seated on Florida Supreme Court (LMA Newsletter of February 4, 2019)** The Listener Call-In Line for your recorded questions and comments to air in future episodes is 850-388-8002 or you may send email to LisaMiller@LisaMillerAssociates.com **The Florida Insurance Roundup from Lisa Miller & Associates, brings you the latest developments in Property & Casualty, Healthcare, Workers' Compensation, and Surplus Lines insurance from around the Sunshine State.  Based in the state capital of Tallahassee, Lisa Miller & Associates provides its clients with focused, intelligent, and cost conscious solutions to their business development, government consulting, and public relations needs.  On the web at www.LisaMillerAssociates.com or call 850-222-1041.  Your questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome!  Date of Recording 1/8/2020. Email via info@LisaMillerAssociates.com   Composer: www.TeleDirections.com  © Copyright 2017-2020 Lisa Miller & Associates, All Rights Reserved

The Florida Legislature convenes its 2019 session next Tuesday, March 5.  The big insurance issue: the growing cost of property insurance claims litigation.  But there are also bills that would change Florida's no-fault auto insurance and more than 200 bills funding much-needed Hurricane Michael relief to the 14 Panhandle counties still struggling with debris cleanup and recovery.But there are other issues of interest lawmakers are addressing, including whether to allow smokeable medical marijuana and how to address ongoing water quality issues.  Host Lisa Miller, a former deputy insurance commissioner, talks with Jim Saunders, Executive Editor of the News Service of Florida for a preview on what to expect this session.Show Notes: Calling efforts at Assignment of Benefits (AOB) reform “the main event” for insurance interests before the Florida legislature this year, Jim Saunders of the News Service of Florida said the key component is attorney fees in claims disputes.  He and host Lisa Miller discussed the behind-the-scenes effort by leaders of the Florida Senate's Banking and Insurance Committee and the Judiciary Committee to rework the current bill (SB 122).  The bill seeks to limit one-way attorney fees to named insureds and beneficiaries only – not contractors and their attorneys operating under an AOB agreement with the insured (policyholder).  A revised bill is expected as soon as this coming week (March 4, 2019).Another major issue this session is Hurricane Michael relief and recovery funding.   Saunders called Michael a “wildcard issue” in the AOB reform debate.  Hundreds of millions of dollars of appropriations bills have been filed to provide help to the 14 mostly rural Panhandle counties impacted by the October 10, 2018 Category 4 hurricane.   That includes Florida's devastated timber industry, whose losses are estimated at $1.3 billion.Other topics discussed include medical marijuana and bills that would allow patients to use a smokeable form of it, as well as refined regulation on its production; algae blooms and water quality in Florida; and efforts to further encourage the testing and use of automated vehicles in the Sunshine State.  Saunders also provided details of Governor DeSantis' major transportation plan, geared in part to increase highway capacity for evacuations of residents in future hurricanes and other disasters.Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:Lisa Miller & Associates Assignment of Benefits (AOB) webpageNews Service of FloridaBill Watch of February 18, 2019 (LMA Newsletter)AOB Reform bill  SB 122 is scheduled to be discussed on Monday, March 4, 2019 during the 3:30 pm ET meeting of the Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.  To watch the meeting live or later, click on The Florida Channel and search by date and committee.Hurricane Michael Coverage & Photos (LMA Newsletter)** The Listener Call-In Line for your recorded questions and comments to air in future episodes is 850-388-8002 or you may send email to LisaMiller@LisaMillerAssociates.com **The Florida Insurance Roundup from Lisa Miller & Associates, brings you the latest developments in Property & Casualty, Healthcare, Workers' Compensation, and Surplus Lines insurance from around the Sunshine State.  Based in the state capital of Tallahassee, Lisa Miller & Associates provides its clients with focused, intelligent, and cost conscious solutions to their business development, government consulting, and public relations needs.  On the web at www.LisaMillerAssociates.com or call 850-222-1041.  Your questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome!  Date of Recording 2/27/19. Email via info@LisaMillerAssociates.com   Composer: www.TeleDirections.com  © Copyright 2017-2019 Lisa Miller & Associates, All Rights Reserved

January 30, 2018 Snow showers early and cloudy later with high temperatures near 40 degrees. CHRISTIE JOINS ABC AS CONTRIBUTOR, APPEARS ON ‘GOOD MORNING AMERICA’ Former Gov. Chris Christie made his debut as an ABC News contributor this morning with an appearance on “Good Morning America” in which he talked about the abrupt departure of the deputy director of the FBI and what he expects to hear in tonight’s State of the Union address. FRELINGHUYSEN SAYS HE WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a 12-term Republican congressman from Harding Township, announced on Monday that he will not seek re-election, Politico.com reports. Frelinghuysen, chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is the second Republican congressman from New Jersey to announce his retirement, joining Frank LoBiondo, who made his announcement in November. NJ DEMOCRATS INVITE ‘DREAMERS’ TO STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS Elizabeth Vilchis, an undocumented immigrant who was brought to the United States when she was 7 years old, will be Sen. Cory Booker’s guest for the State of the Union address tonight, The Record writes. Vilchis, of Ridgefield Park, is one of three New Jersey residents covered by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy who will be in the gallery for President Donald Trump’s speech. MURPHY TO NAME KEVIN CORBETT TO HEAD TROUBLED NJ TRANSIT In a move that a number of news organizations reported a week ago, Gov. Phil Murphy will introduce Kevin Corbett today as his choice to head NJ Transit, The New York Times writes. Corbett is an executive at Aecom, a global construction and engineering firm. NJ LAWMAKERS TAKING UP ISSUE OF OUT-OF-NETWORK HEALTH CARE COSTS The Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee listened to comments from groups representing patients, business interests, physicians, hospitals, and insurance providers as the issue of high out-of-network health care costs gained renewed prominence in Trenton, NJ Spotlight reports. Meanwhile, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, which all have operations in New Jersey, announced today that they would form an independent health care company to serve their employees in the United States, The New York Times reports.

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Dr. Mark Green is a conservative Christian, veteran, father, husband and businessman. As the Tennessee State Senator for District 22, Mark serves as the Vice-Chair of the Senate Commerce and Insurance Committee as well as a member of the Agriculture and Natural Resources, and The State and Local Government committees… Mark is the president/CEO of Align MD, an emergency department staffing company, which provides leadership and staffing to emergency departments and hospitalist services in thirty hospitals in six states. Mark founded Align MD Foundation, which provides healthcare to under-served populations throughout the world, and operates a free medical clinic in his hometown. Currently Mark serves on the Board of Directors for American Physician Partners, and the Rural Physician Partners Company PLLC. He is a member of the Executive Board of the Middle Tennessee Boy Scouts of America, as well as a Board Member of Soldiers and Families Embraced and Reboot for Recovery, two not-for-profit organizations focused on caring for soldiers and their families as they return with the unseen scars of war. Mark came to Tennessee as an army special operation flight surgeon assigned to the 160th Special Ops Aviation Regiment. There he planned and flew on some of the war on terror's most covert operations. His most memorable mission was the capture of Saddam Hussein. Dr. Green interviewed Saddam for six hours on the night of his capture and wrote a book detailing the interview and his service with our military's “Jedi Nights,” as he calls them. During this time Mark was selected as the Army Aviation Association Flight Surgeon of the year. His military awards include the Bronze Star, The Air Medal, The Air Medal with “V” device for valor under heavy enemy fire, and numerous other medals for service. He also was awarded the Combat Medical Badge, the US Army Ranger Tab, and Expert Infantryman's Badge.

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Casey Tyler Smith, Investment Advisor Representative President – Principal Casey earned a Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in Finance from Berry College, Rome, Georgia. Unhappy with the traditional brokerage product pushing agenda, Casey became a Registered Investment Advisor and formed a fee only financial services firm in June 2001, which later became Wiser Wealth Management, Inc Casey serves on the board of the Laona M. Kitchen Foundation, the Planned Giving Council of Berry College, The Berry College Campbell School of Business Executive Advisory Committee, the Berry Student Run Enterprises Advisory Board, Berry College Board of Visitors and Atlantic Southeast Airlines Airline Pilots Association (ASA ALPA) Retirement and Insurance Committee as a “401k Specialist.” Casey is a retired airline Captain and still enjoys flying and golf. He and his family live near the Marietta Square and attend the Church of The Apostles (apostles.org) in Atlanta. Casey is a member of Marietta Country Club. Casey can be contacted via email at casey@wiserinvestor.com

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Meeting recorded on Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Meeting recorded on Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Meeting recorded on Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Meeting recorded on Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Sworn into office on January 20, 2009 for his second term as Pennsylvania’s 50th elected Auditor General, Jack Wagner brings 25 years of public service to his role as the Commonwealth’s independent fiscal watchdog. Wagner identified job retention and growth, fiscal responsibility, public safety and reform of the government as his administration’s top priorities. “Improving the performance of government so that it improves the quality of life for all Pennsylvanians is my mission,” Wagner said. Before he was elected Auditor General, Jack Wagner had represented Allegheny County as a State Senator since May, 1994. He served in the leadership of the State Senate and as the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. He also served on the Appropriations; Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness; Rules and Executive Nominations; and Policy Committees. Wagner was a member of the Pittsburgh City Council for 10 years, representing all city neighborhoods. He was born and reared in the Beechview neighborhood. He was Pittsburgh City Council's President from 1990-93. After graduating from South Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Wagner was employed by Duquesne Light Company in various capacities, and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for five years. While employed by Duquesne Light Company, Wagner enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served from 1966 to 1968. Wagner received a Purple Heart and other military commendations while serving in the Vietnam War in 1967. Following his military service, Wagner graduated from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Safety Management in 1974. While a studentat IUP, Wagner worked as a paramedic with Citizens Ambulance Service. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from IUP for service to the community and the University in 1994. He serves on the boards of the Senator John Heinz History Center, the Obediah Cole Foundation for Prostate Cancer, the Veterans Leadership Program, the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Sharing and Caring, Inc., and World War II Veterans of Allegheny County Memorial Fund, Inc. He is a member of the American Society of Safety Engineers, German American National Congress, Italian Sons and Daughters of America, Knights of Equity, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Lions Club, Elks Club, and Moose Club. Wagner also belongs to the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans Institute, and Veterans Political Action Committee. He received the Veteran of the Year award from the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program and the Outstanding Legislator Award from the Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars. He also received the Clarion Young Democrats John Shropshire Award. In the fall of 2008, Wagner was awarded with a life-time, honorary membership to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Wagner is a member of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Beechview, where he lives with his wife, Nancy, and children, Luke and Sara. Jack is a bad golfer.