Rep. Garey Bies’ Notes from the West Wing: Auto Insurance Provisions from the State Budget

Posted on 19. Nov, 2009 by Garey Bies in News

State Representative Garey Bies talks about auto insurance, another component of the 2009-2011 State Budget that has recently been generating many phone calls and emails to his office.

For those of you who have been subscribing to my e-mail update for a while, you will remember my April 10, 2009 update that dealt with non-fiscal policy that the Democrats had included in their budget bill. One of the provisions that I specifically mentioned in that update concerned changes to mandated auto insurance coverage limits and the removal of related tort reforms. In that column, I warned that if the final budget included these provisions people could see auto insurance premium increases in the range of 33-43%. Unfortunately, this is exactly what has come to pass and as people have received their most recent auto insurance bills, they have been justifiably upset.

First of all, as I mentioned in that April update, these auto insurance provisions should never have been in the budget. They bore no fiscal impact upon the state, they neither increase nor decreased revenues or expenditures. Yet they were included, and passed. Why? Because the Democrats did not want to have to deal with the public outcry against these provisions had they been required to go through the normal legislative process.

However, now that people are receiving their new insurance bills, the outcry has been loud, and widespread. To add insult to injury, not all of the budget provisions have gone into effect yet either. A couple of provisions go into effect on January 1^st and June 1^st 2010. Already making an impact on your insurance bills are drastically increased insurance coverage limits and the ability for the trial lawyers to go after multiple insurance policies when trying to recover damages, referred to as stacking.

The bottom line is that Wisconsin, like the rest of the country, is facing a major recession and is shedding jobs. Companies are either going out of business or are simply moving jobs from Wisconsin to other states. As a result, Wisconsin residents are being squeezed. Less income and higher taxes are difficult to take and to have dramatically higher insurance rates tacked on is simply strike three.

On the bright side, I and several of my Republican colleagues drafted legislation to rescind the auto insurance provisions passed in the state budget. Thankfully, this legislation is scheduled for a public hearing next week. Whether the Democrats allow the legislation to move forward and be passed remains to be seen. We can always hope!

As always, I can be reached by e-mail at Rep.Bies@legis.wisconsin.gov or by telephone, toll-free at 1-888-482-0001. You can also visit my website at http://www.legis.state.wi.us/assembly/asm01/news/.