By CAMILLE VON KAENEL, POLITICO
IT’S HAPPENING: It’s looking like Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is going to make his self-imposed deadline of Jan. 1 to wrap up his new rules meant to bring property insurers back to fire-prone California.
He submitted the regulation at the heart of his strategy to the Office of Administrative Law today. The regulation would allow insurance companies to use forward-looking catastrophe models to set their rates in exchange for a guarantee they’ll offer a minimum quota of policies in disaster-prone areas.
Whether it works remains to be seen. Mark Sektnan, vice president of state government relations at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, said in a press release the regulation was an “important tool” but that he’d keep working on additional reforms, such as increasing the FAIR Plan’s capacity. Consumer Watchdog immediately responded with a slick video (opens in new tab) arguing the regulation has loopholes. And Rep. John Garamendi, a former insurance commissioner, called on Lara to resign in a KGO news broadcast (opens in new tab) today, citing failures to “stand up” to the insurance industry. — CvK
