Construction workers in Bakersfield on the job at a shopping center project. (Photo: Richard Thornton, via Shutterstock)OPINION: We will always fight to protect the interests of these workers. That’s why we are urging Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to reject proposed new regulations that could eliminate group insurance discounts that we provide our members.
Homeowners watch the billowing smoke of the 2018 Woolsey Fire in Southern California. (Photo: BrittanyNY, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As currently amended —after months of compromise and negotiations— this bill would create a new Insurance Market Action Plan, or IMAP, designed to increase home insurance availability with better coverage and lower rates, and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire damage through home hardening and community mitigation. For many homeowners in high-risk areas, the FAIR Plan is currently the only option for fire insurance.
A photo illustration of a driver on the road. (Image: Minerva Studio, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California’s track record regarding treatment of its teachers is mediocre at best. Budget cuts, overcrowded classrooms, a lack of school supplies, paychecks completely out of touch with the cost of living—teachers know what it’s like to be low priority.
A man surveys the charred debris of Glen Ellen home following a 2017 wildfire. (Photo: Rebecca Jane Call, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Recently Capitol Weekly printed an article by David Farber (“Don’t fix unbroken system for claims adjusters,” April 16) asserting that the California Department of Insurance (CDI) was advocating for a bill, SB 1291 by state Sen. Bill Dodd, which would, in Farber’s words, “create a shortage of claims professionals” in the aftermath of last year’s devastating wildfires. Farber couldn’t be more wrong.
Dan Morain (Photo: Tim Foster)Veteran political journalist Dan Morain joins us to chat about Steve Poizner, California’s former insurance commissioner who announced this week he wants to get his old job back — only this time by running as an independent, not a Republican.