LAT: Insurance industry has special access to Scharzenegger's government

[DeepModem Mom]

Insurers Liking the Coverage of Schwarzenegger's Policies
By Peter Nicholas, Times Staff Writer
September 24, 2006

SACRAMENTO — With a onetime State Farm official and a former insurance lobbyist in top staff jobs, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is repeatedly siding with insurers in legislative battles as they maneuver to fend off fees, fines and concessions to policyholders.

A veteran insurance lobbyist, Dan Dunmoyer, is now the governor's deputy chief of staff, helping to craft his entire policy portfolio. Former State Farm official Kathleen Webb is Schwarzenegger's insurance advisor, vetting insurance-related bills that reach his desk and recommending which he should sign into law.

Both have given the insurance industry special access to Schwarzenegger's government and taken positions that protect insurers' financial interests. Webb, in particular, has met continually with industry trade groups and attended private meetings where insurance lobbyists plot strategy and discuss ways to push their agenda, her calendar shows. She has not recorded a single meeting with a consumer representative.

When insurance-related bills have crossed Schwarzenegger's desk, he has sided with — or at least not opposed — the industry nearly nine times in 10, a review of 56 bills tracked by insurance groups shows. At other times, he has sought to kill or blunt legislation before it reached him....

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Meanwhile, insurance money has poured into Schwarzenegger's campaign accounts. Since he jumped into the recall campaign in 2003, he has collected about $4.4 million in donations from insurance interests, state records show....

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/politics/cal/la-me-insurance24sep24,1,7668022.story?coll=la-center-politics-cal