IIABA names Legislator of the Year

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., has been named the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America's Gerald Solomon-IIABA Legislator of the Year for 2011.

The award was this week during the IIABA's the annual leadership luncheon, just before the organization's legislative conference & convention. The group bestows the Legislator of the Year Award annually upon a member of Congress who has provided outstanding leadership on insurance issues. It is named as a tribute to the late Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., the former House Rules Committee chairman and IIABA member whom the group described as having “championed independent agent and broker legislative concerns during his 20 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

“Rep. Spencer Bachus is the epitome of a conscientious member of Congress, he's a thoughtful chairman and a true legislator's legislator,” said IIABA President and CEO Robert Rusbuldt, in a statement announcing the award.