Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

In this episode, Justin interviews RIMS General Counsel Mark Prysock on RIMS Public Policy Focus in 2026.

The RIMS Public Policy Committee is focusing on several legislative issues in 2026. These include the reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, a federal government backstop in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack. The bipartisan legislation would reauthorize program funding through 2034.

The Public Policy Committee is tracking an association tax reform proposal to levy a 21% tax on nonprofits' net earnings. Republicans and Democrats together are interested in the potential tax revenue of this proposal. RIMS serves on the Steering Committee of an association coalition led by ASAE to try stop this new tax from moving forward.

Other legislative interests include reforming the National Flood Insurance Program, mandating disclosures around third-party litigation funding of civil lawsuits, and providing the risk management perspective on various cybersecurity and data privacy initiatives.

This year's Legislative Summit, scheduled for March 18th and 19th in Washington, DC, will allow RIMS members to meet with their members of Congress to discuss these issues. Registration for the Summit is now open. Justin and Mark discuss these topics and more in today's interview.

Finally, if you haven't already done so, please consider contributing to RISK PAC, the Society's political action committee.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About RIMS and RIMScast.

[:16] About this episode of RIMScast. Our guest is RIMS General Counsel and VP of External Affairs, Mark Prysock. He's here to tell us what's going on with RIMS advocacy efforts and the top items on our legislative agenda in 2026 and beyond. But first…

[:47] RIMS Virtual Workshops. On March 10th and 11th, we have a two-day course led by John Button for the RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep.

[:57] On March 17th and 18th, RIMS will align with AFERM for a two-day RIMS-CRMP-FED Exam Prep Course.

[1:06] On March 4th and 5th, we have a virtual workshop, "Facilitating Risk-Based Decision Making", with Joe Milan. On April 15th, we have a virtual workshop covering "Emerging Risks", led by Joseph Mayo.

[1:22] Register today and strengthen your risk knowledge. RIMS members always enjoy deep discounts on the virtual workshops.

[1:29] Webinars. On March 6th, RIMS presents "Hard Hats & High Stakes: Women Leaders Shaping Construction Risk Management". We'll be joined by a Chief Risk Officer, an underwriter, and a broker.

[1:43] They will explore their career paths, risk and safety philosophies, and lend some insight as to why this is the time for the next generation of leaders to rise.

[1:54] On March 12th, Global Risk Consultants returns with "Don't Waste the Soft Market: Where to Reinvest Insurance Savings Before the Window Closes". Register for these and other webinars by visiting RIMS.org/webinars and the links in this episode's show notes.

[2:12] The RIMS 2025 Compensation Survey is now available through the link in this episode's show notes. The survey incorporates data from 867 U.S. and 201 Canadian Risk Professionals. Download it today and see how you measure up to your peers.

[2:32] RIMScast has its first spinoff, RIMScast Canada! It is a video podcast hosted by RIMS Canada Conference Committee Chair, Aaron Lukoni, with Justin as co-host. Check it out at RIMS.org/canada. This is a monthly series, and we are stoked to share it with you!

[2:57] On with the Show! Our guest today is Mark Prysock, the General Counsel and Vice President of External Affairs here at RIMS. It is always wonderful to have him on the show.

[3:07] He's here to remind us of the RIMS legislative priorities of 2026 and how they will be addressed during the RIMS Legislative Summit on March 18th and 19th in Washington, D.C., and who qualifies to attend.

[3:19] He will also talk about what else we can expect in the way of public policies that RIMS would like to prevent, and those we support. There are lots of links in this episode's notes. You can visit RIMS.org/advocacy, as well.

[3:30] Let's learn about the policies that are changing the risk landscape.

[3:34] Interview! Mark Prysock, welcome back to RIMScast!

[4:15] Mark says the RIMS priorities for 2026 include third-party litigation funding, where third parties, often from other countries, invest in civil litigation. This is of great concern from a national security perspective.

[5:22] If a foreign firm wants to invest in a lawsuit against a defense manufacturer, that foreign investor will have access to everything that comes out in discovery.

[5:36] There's a lot of information that can be gleaned through civil litigation. That is a national security concern. That's one of the things we are hoping Congress will address.

[5:55] Justin notes that RIMS had a couple of webinars about TPLF in 2025. The webinar panelists were incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about prevention. They covered ways to spot it and what to do about it.

[6:21] Mark states that there is a strong link between TPLF agreements and nuclear verdicts for substantial amounts of money.

[6:34] There's a real risk from a commercial insurance buyer's perspective if you are in an industry that is subject to TLPF arrangements, that the insurance for these types of lawsuits could dry up or become substantially more expensive. This could be extremely problematic.

[7:15] Congress is considering reauthorizing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). There is bipartisan support for it. The full House will be voting on it before too long. This may get wrapped before the RIMS Legislative Summit. The reauthorization would extend through 2034.

[7:40] Mark says that overall, RIMS would support a long-term reauthorization of the program.

[9:25] A proposal to tax the net earnings of non-profits came up almost two years ago. Some members of Congress feel that non-profits compete with for-profit organizations but don't bear the same tax burdens. Congress is always looking for new revenue streams.

[11:08] Congress is not done with budget bills and comprehensive tax bills. If there is a bill that comes forward this year, RIMS will try to make sure that there are no changes in the way that non-profits are taxed.

[11:28] Justin points out that RIMS is serving on the steering committee of a broad-based association coalition led by the American Society of Association Executives. It's called the Community Impact Coalition. A substantial number of associations in the D.C. area are involved.

[11:50] Being on the steering committee means that RIMS plays a very active role in settling on the legislative strategy in dealing with this issue.

[12:01] Mark says it's great to be involved in working with this group. They had a great deal of success last year in making sure none of these new tax provisions were included in the budget reconciliation bill.

[12:15] WMark says that we just need to make sure again, for the last half of this session of Congress, that those tax provisions don't rear their ugly heads again.

[12:24] Justin states that we love ASAE at RIMS. In 2023, RIMScast won an NYSAE Award for MarCom Excellence.

[12:40] Justin asks about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). It is typically funded as part of the Continuing Resolution, a bill that funds the federal government in general. That bill is considered by Congress every three to nine months.

[13:22] We often reach a point where the issues regarding the Continuing Resolution are hashed out at the eleventh hour. Sometimes, they're not, and the government experiences a partial shutdown, which, at the time of recording this episode, we are currently in.

[13:42] At present, the NFIP is not funded. RIMS advocates for the NFIP to be reauthorized, with enhancements, for an extended time, such as two or three years. However, if it were not part of the Continuing Resolution, it would no longer be considered must-pass, and it might go away.

[15:31] Mark talks about attending the RIMS Legislative Summit. You may attend if you are a RIMS member working for a company that does business in the United States.

[15:37] Mark says we are looking for RIMS members who represent companies that are constituents of Members of Congress, so you can go in, talk to a Member, say I am here on behalf of RIMS, and I work for a company that has X number of employees in your district....