State orders insurers to refund drivers
Car insurers have overcharged Californians by hundreds of millions of dollars during the pandemic — and they must form a plan by April 30 to refund drivers some of their money, California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said Thursday. Although the state’s 10 largest insurers cut premiums by 9% between March and September 2020, they should have actually slashed rates by 17% to reflect a steep decline in claims for property damage and bodily injury, Lara said. The insurance commissioner’s announcement came a day after major insurer State Farm said it would return $400 million to 3.5 million California policyholders, the Sacramento Bee reports.
• Lara: “My order” to reduce premiums “saved California drivers more than $1.75 billion last year — the most in the nation. But while millions of us stayed home … insurance companies continued to collect inflated premiums.”
Missouri Republican Sen.
Roy Blunt has decided not to run for reelection, making it more difficult for the GOP to retake control of the Senate in 2022.
Blunt, an experienced, longtime party leader, turned 71 in January.
“After 14 general election victories — three to county offices, seven terms in the House of Representatives and four statewide elections — I won’t be a candidate for reelection to the United States Senate next year,” Blunt said.
He joins retiring Republican Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Richard Shelby of Alabama and Richard Burr of North Carolina.
A two-term senator who has generally supported Trump, Blunt didn’t offer any particular reason for his retirement, except his age and the rigors of holding office.
Blunt narrowly won reelection in 2016, defeating Democrat Jason Kander by winning 49.2% of the vote.
Bill Hoagland, a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said the departures of Blunt and the others signals the Republican Party’s continued political shift to the right.
“Their votes will be missed,” he told reporters. “And if they are not there, this is going to make it even harder to deal with some of the critical issues that we are going to be facing going forward.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called Blunt’s decision “a loss” for the Republican conference and for the entire Senate.
For McConnell, the number of senators leaving poses difficulties in managing legislation through the chamber. He singled out Blunt for his unique ability to round up votes to move legislation through the Senate.
“In just 10 years in this body, he’s quickly become a true leader, a policy heavyweight and a driving force behind both key conservative victories and essential bipartisan work,” McConnell said in a statement. “I’m very sorry he’ll be stepping away but am glad the country has two more years to keep benefiting from his talent.”
“In a two-minute video announcing the surprise decision Monday, Blunt cited his ‘practical sense of getting the job done’ in looking back on his congressional service, highlighting his role in funding medical research and improving mental health care,” The Washington Post reported Monday.
Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told reporters Monday that Blunt’s decision — joining the other GOP senators who have opted for retirement — “speaks volumes about what is happening in the Republican Party right now.”
“That certainly means that Republicans are viewing their party as in trouble, as one that is going to have a real difficult year next year,” he said.
In his announcement, Blunt said he always tried to do his best: “In almost 12,000 votes in Congress, I’m sure
I wasn’t right every time. But you really make that decision based on the information you have at the time.” Former Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill said she would not seek Blunt’s seat.
“I will never run for office again,” she said. “Nope. Not gonna happen. Never.”
The Senate is split 50-50 between the Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President Kamala Harris, who also serves as president of the Senate, providing tiebreaking votes and putting Democrats in control.
Sen. bary Peters of Michigan, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told reporters Monday that Blunt’s decision — joining the other GOP senators who have opted for retirement — “speaks volumes about what is happening in the Republican Party right now.”