CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS INSURANCE COMMISSIONER : Garamendi Calls Prop. 103 ‘Amateurish’

In one of the few public statements so far in his campaign for insurance commissioner, state Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) chose the New York Times Op-Ed page this week to decry as a mistake the very initiative that created the elected office he is seeking.

On Proposition 103, Garamendi wrote, “The insurance companies lost the battle but they walked away with the war.” Citizens, he said, had voted themselves a 20% rate rollback, but instead had simply “prompted a California Supreme Court ruling that entitles all insurance companies in California to a profit, no matter how poorly they run their businesses.”

It would have been better, the senator went on, for the Legislature, with its capabilities of “systematic analysis, in-depth research (and) critical compromise” to have fashioned its own solution to the state’s insurance problems.

“Amateurish and often deliberately confusing draftsmanship leads to interpretation difficulties and expensive litigation, which could have been avoided through the legislative process,” he wrote, adding that this is true of many initiatives besides Proposition 103.

Garamendi’s opponents, frustrated for weeks with the comparative invisibility of the candidate who in some polls is the front-runner, have launched a sharp attack since the article appeared. They contend that if Garamendi believes the Legislature is the best place to develop “good public policy,” as he wrote, he ought to stay there.

Besides, some said, Garamendi has misunderstood the Supreme Court interpretation of Proposition 103.

“In comparison to you,” Conway Collis, a Democratic contender, wrote to Garamendi, “even (appointed Insurance Commissioner) Roxani Gillespie looks like a champion of Proposition 103.

“She, at least, has so far taken the position that the fair rate of return requirement (of the Supreme Court) guarantees a reasonable profit only to insurance companies with reasonable expenses. You, on the other hand, read Proposition 103 to guarantee a profit to a company no matter how much of its policyholders’ premiums it has wasted on bloated and unnecessary expenses.”

Another Democratic candidate, Bill Press, said he thinks the article proves that “Garamendi’s got a legislator’s mind. He thinks the solution to every problem is to introduce a bill. . . . Then why isn’t he staying in the Legislature?”

Democrat Walter Zelman called the article “a white paper on why he shouldn’t be elected. . . . Clearly, he doesn’t believe in 103. He’s very negative on the initiative process. . . . He believes the Legislature should solve the problem it didn’t try to solve.”

And Democrat Michael Blanco, calling initiatives a “safety valve,” said such measures would not be necessary “if the politicians in Sacramento would just address the major issues of the day, including auto insurance.”

Garamendi, commenting Wednesday on the criticisms, generally stuck by his guns on Proposition 103, but took the position that as a man with legislative experience he would know how to secure passage of the new laws necessary to finally implement it.

“We all know about the auto insurance crisis and the attempt, through initiatives, Proposition 103 and others, to resolve the issue,” he said. “Yet the problem remains. . . . The first elected insurance commissioner must be capable of developing, advocating and working with the Legislature and the governor to change insurance laws. . . .

“I have proved in 16 years (of legislative service) that I can develop good public policy and get it into law.”