Over a year before Los Angeles’s uncontrollable wildfires burned through neighborhoods once considered safe, the office of California insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara quietly shared a potential regulatory plan with insurance company lobbyists. It was a draft of reforms that would allow insurers to raise rates and pass costs on to consumers, among other industry-friendly changes, in exchange for little more than the companies’ word that they would cover homes in wildfire-prone areas.
“What do you think of the language below,” one lobbyist responded, according to records obtained by the Lever, along with a detailed edit. “I am really trying to get them to a happy place,” she wrote, referring to her insurance-industry client.
The changes the lobbyist suggested appeared to be included in legislation floated in September 2023, although the potential bill was dropped after an advocacy group leaked a recording of industry lobbyists loudly bragging about their role in the bill’s development. Several weeks later, Lara announced a package of executive actions that covered similar ground.
“The current system is not working for all Californians, and we must change course,” said Lara, a Democrat elected in 2018 with the help of significant donations from the insurance industry. “I will continue to partner with all those who want to work toward real solutions.” Lara did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The emails are just one example of the conflicts of interest behind the reforms the commissioner has made to address California’s insurance crisis. As record wildfires flare up all over California, homeowners have faced skyrocketing prices, and many have found they can no longer find insurance at all. Meanwhile,…
Auteur: Lois Parshley
