By:

Assemblywoman Nicole M. Parra (D-Hanford)

In 2004, Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi proposed altering the way in which California’s automobile insurance rates are calculated. It is important for elected officials to engage in debates on public policy and to offer up proposals for changing the status quo, but such proposals cannot be taken seriously when they ultimately create an inequity favoring one group over another. This is exactly the kind of unfair situation that will be created by Commissioner Garamendi’s proposals, should they be fully enacted. The changes he is putting forward will basically lower insurance rates for drivers in urban areas of the state, at the expense of drivers in rural and suburban areas across California.

Since Garamendi went public with his call for change, a number of studies have shown that insurance rates would increase in 52 of California’s 58 counties, representing over 62% of drivers statewide. Furthermore, according to the Mercer Report, released just this year, Kings County’s rates would jump by 8.7%, Tulare County’s rates would increase to 7.1%, and Kern County’s rates would skyrocket to 11.2%. Now, change can definitely be a good thing, but is this the kind of change we are looking for? Do we really want to see our hard earned money siphoned away by these out of control insurance rate increases? I think not.

Since Commissioner Garamendi’s less than fair proposals for change, I have hosted an informational town hall in Hanford; written a letter to all of my colleagues in the State Assembly, urging them to fight against this attack on the state’s rural and suburban citizens; and submitted a letter directly to the Insurance Commissioner strongly urging him to put aside his drive to enact such negligent and wholly irresponsible policies.

Additionally, in direct response to the Commissioner’s pursuit of these inequitable policies, I am co-authoring legislation with Assembly Member Joe Canciamilla to help protect California’s rural and suburban residents. Assembly Bill 3047 will call for the Insurance Commissioner to conduct a study examining the impact of these regulations on military, senior, and low-income citizens in advance of their implementation.

I urge you to stand firm in the face of this callous attack on our rural and suburban residents. Elected officials have a responsibility to work for the people, not against them – these new insurance proposals by the Insurance Commissioner work for no one and only against the people of this state.

In order to keep these policies from taking hold, it is essential to make our displeasure heard, so I encourage you to contact the Insurance Commissioner:

(1)	By phone: (916) 492-3500 or
(2)	By mail: California Department of Insurance P.O. Box 277320 Sacramento, CA 95827-7320

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