California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara says that he is tired of being “white mansplained on how to do my job,” after facing criticism from elected representatives, including Democrats, over his recent job performance.
Lara is a far-left former state legislator who championed such ideas as state-run health care (the so-called “Healthy California Act,” a local version of “Medicare for All”) and allowing illegal aliens to serve in state government posts.
In 2019, he faced criticism for breaking a key campaign promise when he was found to have taken campaign cash from the insurance industry — the very industry that he is supposed to be regulating as Insurance Commissioner.
Now, some critics are saying that Lara’s insurance industry ties are making him too lenient on insurance companies who are trying to find ways not to pay claimants after the Los Angeles fires, or who want to raise premiums sharply.
One critic is a fellow Democrat, Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA), who said that Lara’s “job is to hold the companies accountable, and he seems to be doing the exact opposite, and that is giving the companies whatever they want.”
In response, the Los Angeles Times reported, Lara said that pressuring insurers would not help, adding: “[Q]uite honestly, you know, this is not going to be the first or last time that I get white mansplained on how to do my job.”
The reference to race and gender is part of a pattern in Lara’s political rhetoric. He advertises himself as being the “First openly gay person to ever be elected to statewide office in CA history.”
Lara is faulted by conservatives for imposing price controls on the insurance industry that resulted in many companies leaving the state or canceling policies. Many homeowners in the Pacific Palisades even lost their policies in the days before the Palisades Fire.
Recently, Lara refused to allow State Farm to raise premiums 22% to account for additional risks and costs in the aftermath of the Palisades and Eaton Fires. That could accelerate the exodus.
Lara’s response in December to the ongoing insurance crisis — before the fires — was to issue new regulations to compel companies to offer insurance in fire-prone areas and to allow some more flexibility in pricing their policies.
But the change came too late for many homeowners, who were forced onto the California FAIR plan — an insurer of last resort that often does not cover the full extent of loss or damage.
Some observers say that Lara has taken actions that help consumers, such as encouraging (but not forcing) insurance companies to pay out the complete value of policies for property lost inside homes, rather than making traumatized consumers itemize their lost possessions.
In addition, Lara recently encouraged insurance companies to extend their coverage for alternative living expenses, given that many homes in the Palisades and Eaton fire zones are still “uninhabitable,” even when they are standing.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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