What to Know for the 2024 Election
The Council is launching a voter education program to help its members prepare for the upcoming presidential and legislative elections.
Election Day 2024 is nearly upon us and we’re in the midst of yet another heated presidential campaign cycle, this one with even more drama than usual.
The Council’s advocacy team is again looking at the various post-election scenarios to piece together the potential implications for commercial insurance brokers. Elections have consequences, and few past elections will be as consequential as this one. As part of our first Voter Education Program, we will provide our members—through email, social media, and more—with the tools and guidance to understand which issues will most impact our business next year as they consider their candidates. And we’ll provide you with the tools to help your employees and colleagues identify where to vote.
Global public affairs firm Edelman publishes an annual report tracking the most trusted messengers in the country. Over the past decade, there’s been a quantifiable erosion of faith in our institutions: politicians, government officials, journalists, and faith-based leaders. But the data shows one pillar has actually garnered more trust in that time: the business sector.
In Edelman’s 2024 Trust Barometer, only business was in positive territory for trust, while nongovernmental organizations, government, and media all ranked as neutral.
When thinking about this data, you don’t have to look hard to see how the business community leads and where politicians and government fail. The business community led the country through much of the COVID-19 pandemic and return to work, helping communities navigate vaccination concerns; and it has been at the forefront of so many other issues of our time. The fact is that Americans are following their business leaders. The moment is now to use your voice to invest in the future of the industry.
Council members sit at a unique juncture of the nation’s economy. We are responsible for 90% of commercial property and casualty policies and 80% of group health policies, and are supported by both private equity and public markets. Our broker community leveraged its clout to build a political operation in Washington that is second to none in the insurance industry. We believe the time is right to launch the voter guide, considering The Council’s market dominance and capacity as a trusted messenger, as well as the impact that lawmakers on Capitol Hill will have on our business in these next two years.
The next Congress and president will significantly rewrite the federal tax code, reconsidering the tax rate of corporations, pass-through entities, and whether to begin taxing health insurance benefits. Congress will consider whether to reauthorize Affordable Care Act health insurance premium subsidies while pursuing efforts to lower costs for employers. And efforts are afoot to consider a federal response to the insurance premium crisis. Our goal with this voter education program is to equip you, as a trusted messenger, with the tools to help inform your employees and community for the Nov. 5 elections and encourage them to vote.
As you know, our issues are championed and resolved by centrist lawmakers. If either party takes the White House and both chambers of Congress in November it would likely allow the political poles to derail our legislative priorities.
The past two presidential elections were determined without participation by much of the electorate. In 2022, just 52.2% of voting-age citizens went to the polls. Even in 2020, a record year for turnout in this century, just 66.8% of the electorate voted in the General Election. We hope you’ll find these tools helpful and lean into the opportunity to continue impacting our governing bodies.
