Meet the insurance commissioner candidates: Steven Bradford

Capitol Weekly recently asked the insurance commissioner candidates to answer a set of identical questions regarding how they would approach this incredibly important and challenging job. The candidates – Sen. Ben Allen, former Sen. Steve Bradford, California Working Families Party executive director Jane Kim, Insurance agent Stacy Korsgaden, Los Angeles school teacher Lalo Vargas and financial analyst Patrick Wolff – all submitted their answers, which we will be presenting individually in alphabetical order by last name. We started with Sen. Ben Allen and this week we move on to former Sen. Steven Bradford.

What professional experience or background best prepares you to serve as California’s Insurance Commissioner, and how would that experience guide your decision-making in this role?

In the legislature, serving on the Assembly Insurance Committee, I built up a strong record of doing the homework, meeting with people and organizations with differing viewpoints, engaging in thoughtful and substantive debate between competing interests, finding common ground to generate consensus, and getting things done for the people of our state.  This includes authoring forward-thinking insurance legislation like AB 1063, which would have expanded uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage by redefining an “underinsured motor vehicle” so that injured drivers could access the full underinsured coverage they’ve purchased. I have decades of experience working across the aisle to address the most challenging issues facing Californians – and plan to continue this collaborative approach to problem-solving as State Insurance Commissioner.

In addition to my career in public service, I spent over 20 years in corporate America working for IBM and SCE—tech and utilities that play a significant role in insurance. I also served as Program Director for the LA Conservation Corps and Recycling Director for the City of Compton, where I worked closely on environmental issues. The challenges California’s insurance industry faces are many – but I am confident that the opportunities to rebuild, restructure and refortify are achievable. No Californian should hear news of a natural disaster beyond their control and wonder whether they will be pushed into poverty. As Insurance Commissioner, I’ll work to ensure that nobody does.

Many Californians report difficulty finding or keeping homeowners insurance coverage. What is your plan to ensure insurance remains available statewide, particularly in higher-risk areas?

While too many Californians are struggling to even get insurance, insurance companies are leaving our state at a rapid and unsustainable pace. The status quo isn’t working for consumers and businesses alike, and profound change is desperately needed to right the ship. For a large percentage of Californians, their entire savings is in their home – if Californians can’t insure their homes, they will live one crisis away from financial ruin. As Insurance Commissioner, I would work to stabilize insurance markets while protecting consumers by closely reviewing and, when necessary, rejecting unjustified rate increases, making sure insurers clearly justify how proposed rates reflect actual risk and loss experience rather than excessive profits.  We can be faster and more efficient when reviewing rate filings by increasing the rate review team, eliminating non-productive administrative hurdles not mandated by Proposition 103 and concentrating on eliminating the uncertainty and friction inherent in the current regulation-based rate and form application process. Additionally, we must create a fast path, or a flex band, for rate increases or decreases below a certain threshold (for example, 5%), and we must deregulate commercial rates because commercial policyholders are sophisticated purchasers with sophisticated brokers and risk managers, and other tools at their disposal. Lastly, I would shore up the FAIR Plan as a backstop, and work with the Legislature to modernize regulations so insurers remain solvent and competitive without shifting unreasonable costs or risks onto consumers.

How would you propose to bolster California’s FAIR Plan?

The current over-reliance on the FAIR Plan is not sustainable. We must begin a process to depopulate the number of policies in the FAIR Plan. I believe this will best be done by a fully functional, competitive insurance market. I support the implementation of Assembly Bill 226, which will enable the issuance of bonds to finance the costs of claims, thereby increasing the liquidity and claims-paying capacity of the FAIR Plan, refunding bonds previously issued for that purpose, and reducing reliance on expensive reinsurance.

We did this 25 years ago when faced with a workers’ compensation meltdown; Assemblymember Lisa Calderon’s bill can do it again with the property insurance crisis we now face. I want to evaluate including the FAIR Plan in the California Insurance Guarantee Association, as a means to more efficiently spread risk among all of the parties that are benefitted by — and burdened by — the realities of the California market.

In summary, reinvigorating our insurance market will not occur overnight, because the problems and issues did not materialize overnight. It will take time and the willpower to make difficult decisions. I have that ability and am willing to make those difficult choices.

But let’s keep in mind, California insurance consumers still pay less than East Coast hurricane zone rate payers. The California insurance market has not collapsed the way it has in Florida, where major insurers — not just the low-market-share companies — have abandoned the state. All we have to do is look at the Florida insurance market to learn what not to do. We have an opportunity to fix our market here. We just must be honest, smart and reasonable.

California insurance rates — especially homeowners insurance — have risen sharply in recent years. What specific actions would you take as Insurance Commissioner to slow or reduce rate increases while ensuring insurers remain financially stable?

To create the best options for consumers, we must have a vibrant insurance market with competition. As Insurance Commissioner, I would work to stabilize insurance markets while protecting consumers by closely reviewing and, when necessary, rejecting unjustified rate increases, making sure insurers clearly justify how proposed rates reflect actual risk and loss experience rather than excessive profits. I will ensure that insurers are not taking advantage of consumers by modernizing and adequately staffing the department’s rate regulation bureau to examine insurers that attempt to charge excessive rates.

Additionally, I would strengthen enforcement against price gouging and unfair practices to ensure insurers are not withdrawing coverage or redlining communities without valid reasons. I would also approve fair and actuarially sound rates more quickly when insurers meet transparency standards, shore up the FAIR Plan as a backstop, enhance consumer education, and work with the Legislature to modernize regulations so insurers remain solvent and competitive without shifting unreasonable costs or risks onto consumers.

How will you maintain independence from insurance companies, political parties, and special interests while serving as Insurance Commissioner? Please describe any ethics standards or transparency practices you would implement or strengthen.

As Insurance Commissioner, I will pair stricter conflict-of-interest rules with more transparent processes to ensure the Office is more accountable to the public and driven by consumer protection. This includes strengthening ethics standards by reinforcing clear, enforceable rules that limit financial and political entanglements with the insurance industry and partisan organizations. This includes tightening disclosure requirements for campaign contributions, gifts, and outside income; expanding recusal rules when matters involve former employers or major donors; and strengthening revolving-door restrictions that bar senior staff and the Commissioner from working for or lobbying on behalf of insurers for a meaningful period after leaving office. Establishing an independent ethics officer or inspector general within the Department of Insurance—empowered to audit compliance, investigate complaints, and recommend penalties—would help ensure that ethical standards are not merely aspirational but consistently enforced.

To maintain independence from political parties and special interests more broadly, I will also adopt internal policies that prioritize transparency and public accountability in decision-making. This could include publishing clear rationales for regulatory actions, holding open and well-documented stakeholder meetings, and relying on data-driven analyses rather than partisan or donor pressure. Regular ethics training for all department employees, coupled with strong whistleblower protections, can foster a culture where independence and integrity are expected and defended.

Wildfire and natural disaster risk increasingly shape California’s insurance market. What role should the Insurance Commissioner play in addressing these risks — before disasters occur — and how should costs be shared among insurers, homeowners, and the state?

As California’s Insurance Commissioner, I’d fight for insurers in this state to be required to transparently assess and disclose climate-related risks in their underwriting and pricing, while regulators enforce limits on premium increases tied directly to these risks. They should also diversify risk through reinsurance, risk pooling, and investment in mitigation strategies, rather than passing the full cost onto workers or policyholders. This helps mitigate wildfire and natural disaster risk and ensures the market remains financially resilient without unfairly burdening those least able to absorb higher costs.

Additionally, by approving or rejecting insurance rates, setting rules for underwriting and availability, and enforcing requirements related to climate risk modeling and mitigation, the Commissioner can affect whether property insurance remains affordable or even available in high-risk zones. And I could encourage safer, more resilient rebuilding by requiring insurers to recognize and reward disaster risk-reduction measures, like fire-hardening, flood protections, and stronger building standards, rather than withdrawing coverage or sharply raising rates.

Bonus questions (optional)

California law allows private plaintiff groups to “intervene” in insurance rate filings by challenging an insurer’s rate filing request. Insurers then compensate the intervenor for its costs. Supporters of the process say it helps consumers, while opponents claim it simply duplicates work the CA Department of Insurance already does to evaluate insurer rate filing requests. Where do you stand on California’s intervenor process?

California consumers need to know that many of these private plaintiff groups intervening on their behalf are making millions of dollars by opposing the insurance industry at every turn, and that consumers are paying for this through intervenor comp fees, which drives up the cost of insurance. The authors of Prop 103 wrote this in the law in order to create this ability to pay themselves. Yes, California absolutely needs to strengthen consumer oversight and safeguards in place, but not at the expense of high costs for consumers. There needs to be more collaboration, instead of the just-say-no approach that these groups frequently take toward the insurance industry.  We can’t solve this problem in silos and by pointing fingers.

How should voters measure whether an Insurance Commissioner is succeeding? What outcomes should Californians expect to see by the end of your first term?

I think California voters can measure whether the Insurance Commissioner is succeeding if they have delivered on market stabilization, reduced and stable rates, modernized the Department of Insurance to provide quicker investigations and reviews, and better communication, cooperation, and collaboration with all entities involved with insurance.