CA Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, photo from his candidate websiteThe California insurance market is in flux. We asked our Experts to rate, on a scale of one to 10, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s handling of this situation so far.
A view of downtown Los Angeles seen from the Hollywood hills. (Photo: logoboom, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Perhaps the greatest financial risk faced by Californians today has nothing to do with rising interest rates or a looming recession. Rather, it is the loss of access to products they rely upon to protect their most valuable assets: auto, homeowners and commercial insurance.
The 2020 Silverado Fire burns toward homes in Orange County, northeast of Irvine. (Photo: markmandersonfilms, via Shutterstock)Sarah Mapel bought her dream home in Santa Cruz County’s Boulder Creek neighborhood in 2018. Later, she purchased fire insurance through the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan, a state-mandated program for consumers unable to acquire such insurance due to high-risk factors. “It was quite expensive,” she said.
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.
The Harbor Freeway at rush hour in Los Angeles. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock) OPINION: The California Department of Insurance, having identified a disparity, has established a worthy goal of expanding auto insurance discounts to more low-income consumers and communities of color. But as it pursues that goal, the department must keep in mind a foundational principle in healing problems: Do no harm.
A business in Los Angeles that was forced to close because of the pandemic. (Photo: Lando Aviles, via Shutterstock)With no compromise in sight, at appears the debate over business interruption insurance coverage will be solved by litigation, not legislation. At issue are thousands of businesses around California with insurance policies to protect them against a sudden catastrophic event that forces them to close down for an extended period of time.
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 portion of a plant that produces gas through the breakdown of organic waste. (Photo: Bertold Werkman, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Let’s play a game: what would you do with 25 million tons of organic waste annually? Here are a few tidbits to spark your imagination: Organic waste includes food and green waste, landscaping and pruning waste, lumber, fiber, sewage and sludges.
The sign outside a Sacramento voting center. (Photo: Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)Since 2015 Capitol Weekly has been conducting polling to inform readers about policy and politics in the Golden State. This latest installment is an exit poll of voters done by Capitol Weekly using data and tools from Political Data, Inc. This polling focuses on early voters who cast ballots in the mail or at early voting centers. The full survey includes more than 11,000 respondents surveyed over a three-week period of ballot returns.
Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, who along with Sen. Ricardo Lara authored the early primary legislation, addressing the Assembly in May. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)With just-passed legislation from Sen. Ricardo Lara sitting on Gov. Brown’s desk, the 2020 California Primary looks to be headed to the front of the line. Well, not the very front – the first four spots in the nominating calendar would be reserved for Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.