Senate Standing Committee on Insurance

The Insurance Committee will start in 30 seconds.

Good afternoon. Today we are going to get going. But before we do start, we just want to acknowledge that we have a lot of serious committees happening at this time as it pertains to the budget and end of year issues.

So we may have Members coming in and out, but we're going to ask that we ask all Members if they can join us, to please join us. But I see two of our presenters here, so we don't want to make them wait. So we will commence as a Subcommitee until we can establish a quorum.

So thank you everyone. And so today, once again, welcome to the Senate Insurance Committee. Thank you, Assemblymember Calderon and Assemblymember Rodriguez. So today again we don't have a quorum as evidenced by two Members present. So we will again continue the meeting with just a Subcommitee.

But I will start with one of our authors and I'm going to begin with an order of file orders. So we do have two bills and consent and two bills that will be presented. So we will invite our first presenter, Assembly Member Lisa Calderon to join us.

We will start with AB 234.

Before we move forward, we have now enough Members to establish a quorum. Madam Secretary, can you please call the roll? Senators Rubio.

Senators Rubio? Rubio, present. Niello?

Here.

Niello, here. Becker? Becker, here. Caballero? Jones? Jones, here. Padilla?Wahab?

We have now established a quorum. If I may ask Assemblymember Calderon. I will ask that our Members, before they're in and out, that we vote on the consent calendar. AB1 by Mr. Connelly. AB 226 by Assembly Member Calderon. Can I have a motion?

So moved.

Thank you. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Senators Rubio? Rubio, aye. Niello? Niello, aye. Becker? Becker, aye. Caballero? Jones? Jones, aye. Padilla? Wahab?

Okay, we will keep that on call. And so once again, thank you for your patience, Assembly Member Calderon. And we will now begin with dearbo and you. Whenever you're ready, you may commence.

Thank. Thank you, Madam Chair, and Members, I'm here today to present AB 234 which allows the Senate Pro Tem and Speaker of the Assembly to sit on the Fair Plan Governing Committee. These two new appointees will be non voting Members, similar to the four governor's appointees on the governing Committee.

The provisions in this measure is modeled after the California Earthquake Authority. It's very apparent that the Fair Plan plays an important role in the overall health of our insurance market and more Importantly, in our service to our constituents, the Speaker and the Senate Pro Tem definitely deserve to have a seat at this table.

Here with me in support is the California Department of Insurance.

Thank you. Good afternoon Madam Chair and Members of the Committee. Josephine Figueroa, Deputy Commissioner and Legislative Director for the Department of Insurance, under Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara's leadership.

The Department of Insurance is in strong support of Assembly Bill 234 which would place the Speaker in the Assembly and the chairperson of the Senate Committee of Rules on the respective for non voting ex officio Members of the California Fair Plan Association Governing Committee.

California has faced unprecedented wildfire devastation in recent years. The Fair Plan was designed as the insurer of last resort. Yet for many homeowners and businesses it has increasingly become their only option.

While steps have been taken to modernize and strengthen the Fair Plan under Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, more oversight and transparency are critical to ensuring that it functions as intended. AB 234 will enhance legislative oversight and increase transparency of these essential insurance safety network.

The Legislature and the Governor established the Fair Plan and it is all up to us our responsibility to ensure that it remains accountable and effective. AB 234 supports that mission by fostering greater transparency and and strengthening the role of policymakers in its oversight. On behalf of Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, I ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Are you wishing to speak in support?

No Madam Chair, my name is Melissa Wurster and I'm here if there are any technical questions.

Thank you for that. Now I'll invite anyone in the room wishing to speak in support. Please come up to the mic. State your name and your position. Anyone in the room? Okay so we will now move to Members wishing to speak in opposition of the Bill. Any witnesses in opposition?

Seeing none, I would invite anyone that like to come up to the microphone to state your opposition. Okay, so that was quick. So thank you so very much. I will now move over to Committee Members. Anybody wishing to take comment? Senator Niello.

So Assemblymember Calderon, you said that the Speaker and the Pro Tem deserve to be. I wonder what you mean by that? If they deserve to they would have been there already.

Well, I mean I think given how important the Fair Plan is to California and to the health of our insurance market, I think that they should have a seat at least an appointee the table and that's why this is structured like they have they have appointee for the California Earthquake Authority.

We're trying to do the same thing with this.

Well this says them or a designate so it doesn't say an appointee, but I would be very surprised if the Speaker and or the Pro Tem attended meetings of this. And in the analysis it talks about transparency. I asked you the question first about deserve because you took me a little bit by surprise using that characteristic.

I don't see that they, quote, "deserve" to be that sort of a personal privilege kind of thing. But I'll get back to the notion of transparency. How would this improve transparency? Given all of the other people that are on the earthquake authority notwithstanding, given all of the other people already represented, how would this improve transparency?

Well, I think if each of them had a designee, if like you suggest, they wouldn't be attending the meetings themselves. I think that that would just provide quicker feedback to them on, you know, what's happening at these meetings.

Frankly, I fail to see the overriding necessity nor urgency in it and I really can't support the proposal.

Anybody else wishing to speak? Okay, well, I just want to direct my comments to the author. Thank you so much for bringing it forward. I mean, I think I completely understand what you're trying to do. Oftentimes I get stopped by Members and asked about the insurance, insurance Commissioner and I always have to separate the two.

We have an insurance Commissioner, insurance Department as well as the Legislature. And I think in the same way this helps in that we are often tasked with fixing the problems, but not often do we know the problems right away. And having these Members and these boards does give us an insight as to what's happening right away.

And so I do thank you for bringing this forward. It does, in my opinion, give us a little bit more stability and greater input if we can know what the issues are right away. So with that, would you like to close?

Yes. Senator, I appreciate your questions and I respect your opinion and I respectfully ask for an aye vote. Thank you.

Please call the roll. No one. Oh, wait, I'm sorry. Motion. Senator Padilla moves the Bill. Please call the roll.

Senators Rubio? Rubio, aye. Niello? Becker? Becker, aye. Caballero? Jones? Padilla? Wahab? Padilla, aye.

Okay, we're gonna put that Bill on call. Thank you. Thank you so much. I would now like to invite Assembly Member Rodriguez. She will be presenting AB943. Please join us up in the podium.

Assembly Member Rodriguez, thank you for being here and you may begin when you're ready. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair and members for the opportunity to present AB 943. California's current insurance pre licensing requirements create unnecessary barriers to economic self reliance, especially for individuals from disadvantaged and working class backgrounds.

This rigid 20 hour line specific instruction mandate places a disproportionate burden on aspiring insurance professionals who often face financial pressures and scheduling challenges. A review of standard curriculum material shows that roughly 35% of the required content is redundant, adding time and cost without improving readiness or competency.

These efficiencies slow down workforce entry and limit pathways to upward mobility in the insurance industry. AB 943 addresses this by removing the line specific hour requirements while maintaining the essential 12 hours of general education focused on ethics and the California Insurance Code. This bill increases accessibility, supports workforce development, and better aligns California with national best practices.

By passing AB 943, we can help build a more inclusive, efficient, and economically resilient insurance workforce. Without compromising consumer protection, our professional standards. With me today to testify in support are Naomi Padron and Matthew Powers, representing the Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

You may begin in four minutes with both of you. Thank you.

Thank you very much Assembly Member Rodriguez and good afternoon Chair and members of the committee. Matt Powers with the Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies, or ACLHIC. We're proud co sponsors of AB 943 and we appreciate the assemblymember's leadership in bringing forward this important measure to modernize California's producer pre licensing requirements.

Just building on the assemblymember's remarks, this bill is about meeting people where they are and creating more flexibility in the pathways to licensure. By removing most time based study requirements, this bill allows prospective producers to study at their own pace and in a way that works for them.

To be clear, this bill makes no changes to the state's licensure exam. Producers will still have to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the products that they want to sell. We are simply removing the overly prescriptive time based study requirements which we think better reflects the diversity of personal and professional circumstances for those seeking to enter the profession.

In short, we believe AB 943 modernizes the path to licensure while keeping the right safeguards in place. So we respectfully ask for your support and with that I'll turn it to my colleague Naomi Padron.

Good afternoon chair and members. Naomi Padron on behalf of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors California or NAIFA California. Along with ACLHIC, we are proud co sponsors of AB943. NAIFA California represents thousands of insurance producers across the state who are dedicated to the financial well being of millions of California.

AB 943 helps open the doors for working parents, veterans, caregivers, and others for whom rigid classroom schedules just aren't feasible. The requirement to pass the licensure exam remains unchanged. The exam confirms that a producer is competent and knowledgeable in a specific line of authority. And that will continue to be the final safeguard for consumer protection.

For those reasons, we respectfully ask for your I vote on AB 943. Thank you.

Thank you. I will now invite anyone support witnesses in the room that would like to state your support for this bill. Please come up to the microphone. Thank you.

Madam Chair and senators, Adam Keigwin on behalf of Alliance College-Ready Public Schools in support.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to register their support? Okay, we will now move over to lead witnesses in opposition. Is there anyone wishing to speak in opposition? Okay, I will now invite anyone in the room to come up to the microphone and register your opposition. If there's any. Seeing none.

I will bring it over to our Committee Members. Anyone wishing to speak on this item? Okay, Becker moves the bill. But before we do, I have to share with you that I, as a teacher, I had a really hard time accepting this bill. I had to do a little bit of research.

I always believe in more education, not less. But thank you for all the information. I've come to learn everything that goes into passing this test. And it's not easy. So you have to be prepared and fully understand, you know, getting into this profession.

So there's another thing that I was very happy to see, that there's a twelve hour requirement for ethics training and that's not disappearing. So again, thank you for engaging me and clarifying everything that they have to do to pass. And with that, I will turn it over to the author. Would you like to close?

Thank you. And I respectfully ask for an I vote.

Thank you. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

[roll call]

It's 6-0. We will put that on call. And now that we see members joining us, we are going to go back to the consent calendar. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

For the consent calendar, we have file item one, AB 1 and file item two, AB 226. Senators Caballero. Padilla. Wahab. Padilla I. Wahab I.

That bill will remain on call. I think we're still waiting for Senator Caballero. We will now go over to open the roll for AB 234 by Calderon. Secretary, please call the roll.

Motion is due pass. Senators Niello, Caballero, Jones, Wahab. Wahab I.

That will remain on call. We're still waiting for one member. We will now lift the call on AB 943 by Assembly Member Michelle Rodriguez.

Senators Caballero. Caballero I.

That one is out. 7-0. Thank you. And we will now lift the call on the previous bills.

We have Senator Caballero joining us, so we will go back to the consent calendar. AB 1, Connolly, AB 226, Calderon. Please call the roll.

[roll call]

Consent calendar is out. 7-0. We will now lift the call on AB 234 Calderon.

[roll call]

That bill is out. 5-0. We will now lift the call on AB 943 by Assembly Member Michelle Rodriguez. That one's 7-0. I think we have everyone. Thank you so much and I apologize, but again, we have to get these folks back to their budget committee hearings. And so thank you everyone for making it on time.

I believe that that concludes our meeting today, and thank you, everyone, for making this quick. We are now adjourned. Thank you.