Official Urges ‘No’ Vote on All Insurance Initiatives

The chairman of the state Assembly’s Insurance Committee, Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton), has launched his own $40,000 campaign of television commercials in the insurance initiative wars, urging a “no” vote on all five of the Nov. 8 ballot measures.

“The assemblyman thought he ought to tell people what he thinks, and he doesn’t think any of these measures are constructive,” said Johnston aide Jeffrey Shelton on Wednesday, explaining the commercials, which have begun running in Sacramento and Stockton. The ads were paid for out of Johnston campaign funds,

“Each of the sponsoring groups sort of reforms the other side and not themselves,” said Shelton. “The lawyers want to reform the insurers. The insurers want to reform the lawyers. But no one wants to be balanced.”

Johnston, he said, believes that the state Legislature should act to change the insurance system. “Our position here doesn’t relieve the state of the obligation to try to do something constructive,” he said.

Word of Johnston’s commercials came as independent pollster Steve Teichner released a new survey indicating that none of the five initiatives is doing particularly well at this stage of the campaign. Three trail badly and two are leading by only a narrow margin in the survey of 600 registered voters.

The two initiatives that were leading are Proposition 103, a measure backed by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, with 28% for, 26% against and 46% undecided, and Proposition 106, the insurers’ initiative to slash lawyers’ contingency fees, with 27% for, 26% against and 47% undecided.

The trailing initiatives were Proposition 100, backed by the California Trial Lawyers Assn., with 20% for, 33% against and 47% undecided; Proposition 101, backed by the Coastal Insurance Co., with 16% for, 35% against and 49% undecided, and Proposition 104, backed by the insurance industry, with 23% for, 33% against and 44% undecided.

The Teichner poll has shown a higher undecided than other polls, both public and private. But most recent polls have shown the same trend it finds, dwindling voter support for most of the initiatives, as record campaign spending, most of it focused on negative advertising, continues. In this Teichner poll, only Proposition 103 showed a gain in support since the last poll in September.