STATE LAWMAKER TO CHALLENGE LARA FOR JOB
Calif. Department of Insurance needs an overhaul, he says
A Northern California lawmaker is challenging state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, saying it is time to end the “current era of scandals” surrounding the incumbent.
Assemblymember Marc Levine, a Democrat who represents portions of Marin and Sonoma counties, said he wants to remake the California Department of Insurance into a regulatory agency that is more responsive to consumer needs.
“Our state deserves an Insurance Commissioner who will stand up to corporate special interests on behalf of everyday Californians and consumers,” Levine said in his announcement. “The issues facing the next commissioner have never been more critical.”
The campaign announcement comes as Lara emerges from a political scandal that prompted him to cancel all fundraising two years ago this month.
In 2019, The San Diego Union-Tribune disclosed that Lara accepted political contributions from insurers, breaking a campaign pledge and years of practice by prior commissioners, who wield substantial influence across the multibillion-dollar insurance
sector.
Lara issued a public apology, returned more than $80,000 in political donations and suspended fundraising for more than a year.
Further reporting by the Union-Tribune disclosed that Lara actually accepted more than $270,000 from people with ties to entities with business pending before his agency. The paper also reported that Lara’s office intervened in proceedings to benefit political donors at least four times.
The Lara campaign, which reinstated its fundraising earlier this year and quickly raised more than $300,000, said Tuesday that the commissioner is not focused on attacks by political opponents but is focused on
helping the people of California, especially wildfire victims.
“Lara has sponsored legislation that allows wildfire survivors to better access their benefits by cutting red tape ... giving grace periods for payment of premiums, and requiring additional living expenses be paid when a home is uninhabitable due to an evacuation order or lack of water or power caused by a fire,” the campaign said.
Levine cited as reasons for running a host of issues confronting state residents, including worsening climate change leading to wildfires and floods, and the need for affordable and quality health care for all and consumer protections from corporate fraud and abuse.
“At this moment of real challenge in California, we need real, engaged leadership and problem solving,” Levine said. “Currently, there are too many distractions, too many conflicts, too many opportunities missed. I think new leadership is essential.”
Levine is a five-term Assembly member with more than $1.8 million in his campaign treasury.
He was born in Los Angeles and raised in Contra Costa County before moving in 2004 to Marin County, where he and his wife are raising two children. A former San Rafael City Council member, he won election to the statehouse in 2012 by defeating a well-known incumbent.
Two other candidates have announced they are running for the seat.
Dr. Vinson Eugene Allen, a former emergency room physician, previously filed papers to seek the Democratic Party nomination. Green Party candidate Veronika Fimbres, a San Francisco nurse and transgender activist, also filed paperwork to appear on the ballot.
The elected insurance commissioner runs the California Department of Insurance, which regulates more than $300 billion in policies for millions of property owners, motorists, employers and others.