Ricardo Lara explains journey to Bermuda was for insurance coverage work

From CalMatters financial system reporter Levi Sumagagsay:

When Insurance coverage Commissioner Ricardo Lara testified about California’s property insurance coverage market earlier than the Meeting’s insurance coverage committee this week, he talked about a current journey to Bermuda — considerably defensively.

Lara attended the Bermuda Danger Summit, an insurance coverage trade convention, final week. He gave a keynote handle on March 11, the identical day the Senate Insurance coverage Committee held an oversight listening to that he missed. Michael Martinez, chief deputy commissioner, and Michael Peterson, deputy commissioner for local weather and sustainability, represented the Insurance coverage Division at that Senate committee listening to.

On Wednesday, Lara — who in 2019 apologized for taking marketing campaign contributions from the insurance coverage trade — advised the Meeting committee that he went to the summit to satisfy straight with reinsurers, almost 40% of that are primarily based in Bermuda. Reinsurers present insurance coverage to insurance coverage corporations. Their function is vital when policyholders file claims.

• Larato the committee: “We have to engage face-to-face, which allows for more direct answers, and I must confront the insurance industry to drive these results. If insurance companies are telling me that the cost of reinsurance is almost tripling, well then I need to trust but also verify by directly meeting with the reinsurance companies who are their customers.”

Lara additionally mentioned he acquired some reinsurance corporations to conform to expedite funds to wildfire survivors, and that they agreed to work with the state on increasing earthquake insurance coverage.

Michael Soller, a spokesperson for the division, mentioned Lara’s Bermuda journey was paid for by the Nationwide Affiliation of Insurance coverage Commissioners. States pay annual evaluation charges to the affiliation primarily based on insurance coverage premium quantity. This yr California is paying the utmost quantity of $150,000, together with Florida, New York and Texas, in response to the affiliation’s finances.

Lara additionally mentioned he expects the California insurance coverage market to enhance in 2026 — in step with predictions by the insurance coverage trade CalMatters reported in 2023 — after his regulatory reforms that went into impact this yr are extra absolutely applied and insurance coverage corporations are in a position to increase their charges they really feel matches their danger.

4 episodes into his new podcast — during which Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with MAGA loyalists and different visitors — reactions from listeners and legislators from each side of the political aisle have been a mixture of bewilderment, skepticism and concern.

As CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff explains, within the podcast’s debut episode, Newsom stunned members of the LGBTQ group when he mentioned the difficulty of transgender athletes competing in ladies’s sports activities was “deeply unfair” throughout a dialog with conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk.

In one other episode with President Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, the governor mentioned he was “not an absolutist as it relates to being against tariffs.” However days earlier than, Newsom issued a press release that mentioned tariffs are “a tax on hardworking American families.”

With two years left in his governorship, legislators, advocates and California residents have been left questioning how a lot weight to provide Newsom’s informal podcast feedback relating to his stance on state coverage.

• Anthony Rendonformer Meeting speaker when Newsom took workplace throughout Trump’s first time period: “They’re mystified. ‘WTF’ is the most common text message I get.”

Learn extra right here.

Elsewhere within the state Capitol: Although it’s been 4 years since California handed a landmark legislation increasing psychological well being protection, advocates proceed to boost issues in regards to the lack of well being plans masking psychological well being remedy. In response, the Legislature is contemplating a handful of payments that search to manage psychological medical health insurance. Discover out what they’re from CalMatters’ Jocelyn Wiener.

State regulators on Tuesday granted electrical carmaker Tesla Inc. permission to kick off a constitution service utilizing Tesla-employed drivers in company-owned automobiles, writes CalMatters’ Malena Carollo.

Stemming from a November 2024 utility from Tesla, the California Public Utilities Fee licensed the restricted transportation service to shuttle Tesla workers in prearranged rides.

Although the allow doesn’t allow Tesla to function a rideshare service nor enable it to run driverless taxis, it may function a key step towards the corporate launching driverless automobiles. In January, Tesla’s CEO advised buyers it plans to launch self-driving vehicles in Austin in June.

• SAM Abuelsamidvice chairman of market analysis at communications agency Telemetry and an auto trade analyst: “The only reasonable explanation I can come up with for why they’ve got this (permit) is to allow them to test some of the operational backend services required to run a mobility service.”

Learn extra right here.