Audit Committee
March 13, 2003
Page 2
A U D I T O R - C O N T R O L L E R
C O U N T Y O F L O S A N G E L E S
before the Congress, State Legislature or State Insurance Commission or other
appropriate public bodies.
The Commission consists of ten members, two appointed by each Supervisor.
Members are selected on the basis of experience or knowledge of consumer insurance.
Members do not receive compensation for attending Commission meetings.
JUSTIFICATION
The Commission advises the Board on consumer insurance issues. During the review
period, the Commission submitted several proposals unanimously passed by the Board.
One of these proposals included a recommendation for a comprehensive multilingual
and multimedia outreach campaign, informing residents affected by the 1994 Northridge
Earthquake of the December 31, 2001 filing deadline for claims litigation.
In addition, the Commission also provided a forum for County residents to meet with
officials of the California Department of Insurance, Federal Emergency Management
Agency, and the California Earthquake Authority regarding claims related to the
Northridge Earthquake. It also advised the Board on major legislation such as SB 1427
regarding automobile insurance and AB 1147 regarding health insurance coverage.
In the future, the Commission plans to meet regularly with Insurance Commissioner
Garamendi and take a more proactive stance on automobile and healthcare redlining. It
will also proactively review legislation designed to use gasoline taxes to help residents
in economically disadvantaged areas purchase basic health and auto insurance. The
Commission also plans to aggressively research ways to assist first time homeowners
obtain insurance.
Please call me if you have any questions.
JTM:DR:RD
Attachments
c: Violet Varona-Lukens, Executive Officer
Robin A. Guerrero, Chief, Board Operations
Jim Corbett, Manager, Commission Services
Scott J. Svonkin, Chairperson, Commission on Insur