Regulatory Roundup: California Looks to Alabama for P&C Example

State-by-state variations of laws, compliance protocols, industry transparency, and general regulatory culture can lend one the impression that keeping up with industry changes is a little bit like herding cats. So, what better way to wrangle some of the more localized insurance news than in a Regulatory Roundup?

On an ongoing basis, in no particular order or rank, we’re wrestling the various regulatory changes, compliance actions, and commissioner decisions into our roundup. As a disclaimer: There’s a lot going on at any given time in these here United States, so this isn’t a comprehensive picture of state-level action by any means. Think of it, instead, as a sampler platter of regulation. 

Also important to note: If we’re recapping interpretations of legal decisions, this is some armchair insurance speculation and not at all legal advice. If you need legal advice, get a lawyer. 

Iowa new background check, fingerprinting process live in June 2025

Iowa has tweaked the licensing process for individuals. The changes go live June 1, 2025, and include the state’s newly integrated fingerprint and background scan.

Moving forward from June, any resident producer applicant must submit fingerprints and acquiesce to the state and federal background check, as must any nonresident applicant who’s adding a line of authority and who hasn’t undergone a similar process in their own state. Anyone whose license was suspended or revoked will also undergo a check before renewal, reissue, or reinstatement.

The state is using Fieldprint to conduct the fingerprinting, so would-be resident producers will need to hightail it over to a live Fieldprint office to get their fingerprints taken. 

North Dakota legislative updates  

North Dakota has updated the state’s legislation to reflect changing verbiage and fees. 

Insurance company appointments are now $25, up from $10, public adjuster business entities now pay $100 to first set up shop and $25 for renewals (used to be $150 and $50, respectively), and the fee to file an annual statement for a life settlement broker is up to $100 from $25. 

The commissioner now will remind producers of their license renewal requirements 90 instead of 60 days in advance. Public adjusters and surety companies now can terminate their bonds with as little as 30 days’ notice instead of 60. 

The “Life and annuity” line of authority is now simply a “Life” line of authority. And the state has changed verbiage from phrases like “certificate of authority” and “certificate of registration” to simply be “license.”

California looks to Alabama for P&C solutions

In California’s work to shore up the state property and casualty market, they’re looking for innovative ways the state and private insurers can work together. Alabama Insurance Commissioner Mark Fowler joined the California State Assembly in early May to discuss the ways his state has addressed their hurricane season woes.

Fowler testified alongside California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara about the Strengthen Alabama Homes grant model to the Insurance Committee of the Assembly before they considered a similar program, the California Safe Homes Act. The program has dispensed $86 million in home-hardening efforts and risk mitigation across the state. 

“Natural disasters, be they windstorms, earthquakes, or wildfires, will come no matter what we do. This program is really all about effectively addressing insurance access and affordability and market stability, and giving the people of our respective states, from Alabama to California, the opportunity to build stronger, recover quicker, and live safer,” Fowler testified.

The bill to create California’s own risk-mitigation program passed through the committee on a unanimous vote. 

“Alabama has been a leader in risk mitigation and home hardening and their work over the last 10 years serves as a vital example for California to follow,” Commissioner Lara said. 

Other state regulatory changes

Alaska will allow pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) licensees to process their licenses electronically beginning in July.

Colorado Division of Insurance officials have adopted a regulation effective Oct. 1, 2025, that changes the certification requirements for insurance carriers that offer limited benefit health, sickness, and accident–related plans.

Connecticut Insurance Department (CID) officials issued a notice to consumers that the federal government is investigating three prominent Medicare Advantage carriers for improperly inducing people to enroll in plans. The CID notice reminds consumers that Medicare isn’t regulated by the state and that consumers should be careful about Medicare Advantage plans.

Florida has issued a reminder to consumers that June 1 is the state’s hurricane season. Anyone who’s interested in disaster preparedness can use the Department of Financial Services website. 

Georgia Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire John F. King issued two directives, one to collect data on insurance policies under the Ashley Wilson Act, which requires public entities to cover help for first responders to get treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, and another bulletin with a data call for health benefit plans to assess their adherence to mental health parity requirements. King also joined U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina in a roundtable discussion of sickle cell disease.

Iowa is using Fieldprint as of June 2, 2025, to manage the Department of Licensing’s fingerprinting and federal criminal background checks. For license applicants, they can have fingerprints taken at a Fieldprint facility.

Louisiana has earned full NAIC accreditation. Well done! It means they’ve been cleared as having the correct controls for the carriers in their state to ensure solvency in the state market.

Maine will no longer allow online proctoring for insurance examinations. All examinations must be taken at an in-person test center.

Maryland Insurance Commissioner Marie Grant appointed Patricia Dorn as the new associate commissioner for consumer education and advocacy at the Maryland Insurance Administration. Dorn has been with the Administration since 2012. Congratulations!

Michigan has fined several agencies $4,000 for giving misleading quotes to customers. They revoked licenses for seven business entities that failed to register a DRLP, disciplined one unlicensed public adjuster, took action against a nonresident producer for failing to disclose that he ran afoul of FINRA, acted against a nonresident producer who did a fraud, and acted against someone who did a fraud completely without a license. The state also issued a bulletin to help auto insurers figure out how recent court cases apply to claims payments.

Missouri has discontinued online proctoring and producers and adjusters must schedule all insurance examinations for an in-person test experience.

New Hampshire has changed its insurance licensing vendor to PSI Services LLC. The state also issued a bulletin for how insurance producers and adjusters should disclose administrative actions and criminal prosecutions against them.

New York has issued reminders to business entities and individual producers about the requirements for renewing their license (for instance—if you went inactive for more than an entire license period, you have to have an appointment before reupping that license). If only producers’ agencies could use a software that made that easier. … We kid. We know you know about AgentSync.

Pennsylvania has removed pre-licensing requirements for resident licensees. The state has also twiddled a bit with CE requirements for those renewing their licenses—it behooves everyone to stay up-to-date on ethics CE credits.

Washington is working through updates to securities regulations—nothing’s firmed up as of publication, but if you’re interested in the process, you can check out the state’s rulemaking process. Meanwhile, Commissioner Patty Kuderer interviewed state Sen. John Lovick and state Sen. Vandana Slatter on the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner podcast to discuss their sponsored legislation about insurance company fire data reporting and funding the Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA) program, respectively.

West Virginia carrier appointment terminations are due May 31, 2025, for any appointments a carrier doesn’t want to renew. West Virginia carrier appointment renewal invoice payments open June 6 to Aug. 31, 2025.

SILA is reminding people that the national conference is in New Orleans from Oct. 26 to 29. The Securities and Insurance Licensing Association also announced a new class of those who earned their SILA designations: 

SILA Fellow (SILA-F) Designation Recipients:

• Denise Andries
• Julie Mendel
• Christina Ward

SILA Associate (SILA-A) Designation Recipient:

• Devlin Giddings

Congrats!

Stay on top of regulatory changes with AgentSync

While these points of interest aren’t comprehensive, our knowledge of insurance producer and variable lines broker license and compliance maintenance is. See how AgentSync can help make you look smarter today; head over to the Compliance Library and wrastle up some state-by-state regulation and more jurisdictional updates. If you’re looking for a solution that builds regulations like these into your distribution channel management workflows automatically, AgentSync can help. See us in action or talk to one of our experts today.