TIA and OOIDA are at it AGAIN!! Proposed Legislation Involving an Increase in Broker Surety Requirements is being introduced in the house as H.R.7 Here is the Latest Update Key elements of two previously unsuccessful pieces of legislation attempting to raise the transportation broker bonding requirement from $10,000 to $100,000, specifically SB 3483 introduced in the Senate in 2010 and HR 2357 introduced in the House of Representatives in 2011, now have been incorporated as pages 504 through 543 of the proposed 847 page “American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012” docketed in the House as HR 7. That bill, given its veiled attempt to solidify the financial position of a few powerful brokers, should be renamed the “American Energy and Jobs Elimination Act of 2012”. You may download those pages of that proposed legislation, along with relevant commentary, from the Transportation Brokers Service Association. Another resource in that regard is the Association of Independent Property Brokers & Agents.
Significantly, HR 7 appears to be in direct conflict with a pending Senate bill, also re-introduced in January of this year, the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act” docketed as SB 1813. Most importantly, that piece of legislation does not incorporate any language regarding an increase in transportation broker surety requirements. As a matter of fact, Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, speaking for both herself and Republican Senator James Inhofe, was quoted in a Transport Topics article captioned “House, Senate Weigh Vastly Different Proposals” as having “begged colleagues not to attach controversial or extraneous amendments that would slow this bill down.”
Accordingly, the purpose of this notice is to suggest that those of you whose brokerage organizations might be driven out of business by a surety requirement increase to $100,000 should consider raising your own objections to any such proposed regulation. To that end, we suggest you contact the offices of your local Congressmen and your state’s Senators, as well as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Sample copies of statements from both individual brokers and organizations representing broker interests, correspondence which has contributed to successful efforts in blocking adverse legislation in the past, may be downloaded from the TBSA and the AIPBA websites. Conveniently, the AIPBA has already initiated a petition directed to a number of government organizations entitled “Keep Property Broker Bonds Reasonable”, and you’re hereby invited to log onto that association’s dedicated website at www.petitiononline.com. The petition is being offered as an alternative to or as an additional avenue of expressing your own opinion.
