Topeka ? Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger has requested that life insurance companies provide information on how they conduct business on military bases in the state.

Scott Holeman, a spokesman for Praeger, said the commissioner’s concerns about sales tactics were raised after a meeting last week of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

He said commissioners from two other states told her they were having problems with insurance sales staff aggressively selling policies to soldiers.

The issue has become a major one in the race to represent the 2nd Congressional District, which includes west Lawrence.

Democratic challenger Nancy Boyda has accused U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun, a Republican, of protecting insurance companies against tighter regulation despite reports of deceptive sales practices. Ryun has called Boyda’s allegations “character assassination.”

Ryun has said he supported stricter enforcement of existing rules governing the conduct of insurance agents who sell policies on military installations.

Holeman said Praeger’s request for information was unrelated to the Ryun-Boyda campaign.

Praeger, a Republican, has written to several life insurance companies requesting a list of policies being sold to military personnel, copies of advertising and marketing materials, an explanation of agents’ training, and verification of having paid premium taxes, Holeman said.

The Insurance Department says it has received no complaints in Kansas about life insurance policies sold to soldiers.