Legislator Blasts Quackenbush’s Stand on AIG

State Assemblywoman Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont), chair of the Assembly Committee on Insurance, accused Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush of trying to “exact vengeance” from American International Group on Friday when he threatened in a news release to hold hearings on AIG’s “business practices.” AIG, the nation’s largest financial services firm, with $148 billion in assets, was the losing bidder in May’s court-supervised auction of Golden Eagle Insurance, a $1.3-billion San Diego-based insurer seized by the state in January. AIG, which is appealing the winning bid by Liberty Mutual of Boston, has run full-page ads directed at Golden Eagle customers, and last week submitted testimony critical of Quackenbush before Figueroa’s committee. In a letter Monday to Quackenbush, Figueroa said the commissioner’s news release, which did not set a hearing date or specify AIG’s wrongdoing, was an effort to “turn to the power of your office in an effort to silence a party with whom you disagree.” In its statement Monday, New York-based AIG said it will “continue to pursue its challenge” of the rehabilitation of Golden Eagle, the state’s second-largest workers’ compensation underwriter at the time of its seizure. In a statement, Quackenbush said: “Why is Liz Figueroa interfering with a court decision, and why is she getting involved with a giant insurance company based in New York?” The Legislature will hold more hearings today. A court hearing on the Golden Eagle rehabilitation is scheduled for July 23.