On December 7 at its meeting in Orlando the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) approved both a model exemption act and a model regulatory act for gift annuities. These model acts will now be sent to all state insurance departments as part of the minutes of the NAIC meeting. Their circulation could stimulate those departments to initiate legislation in their respective states.

We would like for the states that have already passed exemption statutes to take no further action, for the silent states to adopt an exemption statute, and for the highly-regulated states to substitute either the new regulatory or exemption act. To make that happen we need to monitor the situation in our various states and to meet with insurance commissioners and key legislators. The NCPG legislative network, the ACGA, and Charitable Accord can all be valuable resources. Please watch for future communications on this subject and let us know of any new developments in your state.

[Editor's Note: The final drafts of the Model Acts as approved by NAIC on 9-7-98 are found on this website under Model Act and Model Exemption Act.]

Here is a list of the three categories of states according to our most recent information. It should be noted that the distinction between the regulated states and the exempt states is a matter of degree. Regulated states vary in requirements for certification, reporting, and investing reserves. Likewise, exempt states vary in the requirements to qualify for the exemption.

State Law Requires Certification (10):
AR, CA, HI, MD, ND, NJ, NY, OR, WA, WI

State Law Provides for Exemption, in most cases subject to the charity's meeting certain requirements (25):
AL, AZ, CO, FL, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TX, UT, VA

State Law Does Not Specifically Address Gift Annuities (16):
AK, CT, DE, DC, GA, IA, MS, MT, NV, NH, NM, RI, TN, VT, WV, WY