By The Opinion
In the state elections that end on June 2, voters will elect the new Insurance Commissioner. It is in charge of regulating that industry, granting licenses to companies, supervising their financial statements, their rates, reliably investigating consumer complaints and penalizing them when appropriate.
The incumbent since 2019, Ricardo Lara, is leaving the position due to limited electoral terms.
To succeed him, the candidates face each other as soon as possible. Five have attracted public attention: Democrats Ben Allen, Steven Bradford, Jane Kim and Patrick Wolff and Republican Stacy Korsgaden.
The importance of the role of insurance commissioner has increased in the wake of the Eaton and Pacific Palisades wildfires that destroyed at least 12,000 homes (about 17,000 structures in total) and left 31 dead, causing an avalanche of demands for payment, cancellations of homeowner policies, denials of new underwriting, and lawsuits against insurance companies.
Many survivors of the fires are still struggling to rebuild their homes and thousands of lawsuits are ongoing.
The next commissioner must have leadership qualities, deep knowledge of the issues, willingness to do the hard work of serving the population, tenacity in negotiations with elements of power, and awareness of the limits and dynamics of political negotiations.
La Opinion considers that of the candidates, due to his personal qualities, his record as a legislator and his knowledge of the issues, Ben Allen is the most suitable and recommends its readers to vote for him.
Allen is supported by both federal senators from California, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, as well as the president of the state Legislature Robert Rivas, the president Reliable Tem of the Californian Senate Monique Limón and numerous elected officials.
Ben Allen has been a state Senator since 2014. He represents District 24, which includes the Pacific Palisades area, the site of the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history. Know the topic.
He organized recovery efforts and drafted laws to help displaced homeowners. One law, SB 663, extends the deadlines for homeowners to transfer the spoiled property tax year to new construction. Another, SB 495, increases the amount insurers must pay upfront for interior property coverage from 30% to 60%.
Additionally, he has led various legislation on climate and environmental policy issues. Among others, SB 54 stands out, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producers Responsibility Act, which establishes strict regulations on single-use plastics and packaging. And he chairs the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Environmental Protection and Energy.
Its legislative production also includes the Voter Choice Act of 2016, which created the voting center model used in the 2020 elections, facilitating electoral participation.
He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in History from Harvard University, a master’s degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Cambridge, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of California Berkeley.
For all these reasons, in the elections that are already underway, vote for Ben Allen for Insurance Commissioner.
