CA insurance commish defends taxpayer-funded overseas trips

California state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s office has pushed back against criticisms about Lara’s world travel over the past six years, contending that all the trips – to South America, Europe, Africa, Dubai – were directly related to his duties and helped to protect California consumers.

A recent Channel 7 Eyewitness News report said at least 12 of the scores of trips were funded by taxpayers and that records and receipts for many trips were incomplete. In July, a former state Department of Insurance and Department of Human Resources employee, Ray Asbell, filed a complaint consisting of more than 700 pages of documents about Lara’s travels with the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

The complaint alleges violations of campaign law stemming from non-filings or non-disclosures and failure to disclose gifts made through intermediaries and others.

“He has been given transportation, lodging, meals and gifts by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and only reports de minimis items and not the full accounting of the gifts he has accepted,” Asbell’s complaint states.

Such criticisms have come in the wake of renewed concerns about the ability of the state’s insurance market to cope with deadly and destructive wildfires that have generated rising damage claims and civil lawsuits against insurers and government agencies.

Publicity about the trips, including travel that allegedly included a safari in South Africa, a conference in Bogota, Colombia, and a meeting in Bermuda, led one California lawmaker to call for Lara’s resignation.

“I’m calling on California Insurance Commissioner Lara to resign in disgrace,” Assemblyman David Tangipa (R-Fresno) said in a recent video. “... Our insurance commissioner is flying across Europe like a second-rate celebrity … sipping cocktails at five-star resorts, all on your dime.”

Tangipa characterized Lara’s actions as corruption, accusing the commissioner of stealing from taxpayers and driving around in limos with private security.

But a spokesman for the Department of Insurance said the ABC report was based on incomplete reporting and included false claims.

“Insurance companies operate across state lines and international markets,” Gabriel Sanchez said in an email to the Southern California Record. “They move without borders. That’s why Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s leadership roles with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners … and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) – the coordinating bodies for all insurance regulators – are vital to California.”

As a result of his work with those organizations, insurance reform efforts in the state are more effective and consumer protections have been strengthened, according to Sanchez.

“By working with fellow state commissioners and leading national and international delegations, he is advancing strong, coordinated regulation that protects California consumers and safeguards the integrity of our insurance marketplace,” he said.

Top homeowners insurance companies such as Mercury, CSAA, USAA, Pacific Specialty and California Casualty have pledged to remain and expand their operations in the California market, according to Sanchez. In turn, this will help to move homeowners from the nonprofit California FAIR Plan to the private market, he said.

In addition, Lara uses the California Highway Patrol to provide protection on trips, not “private security,” as recent media reports have alleged, Sanchez said. He added that the length of a South Africa conference on insurance regulation has been exaggerated and that no “limo” was used during the conference.

“Any personal excursions are paid for by the commissioner personally, not by the department,” Sanchez said.

Lara’s spokesman said Lara has set a new standard for community outreach in California by holding more than 2,900 events in all 58 California counties in a bid to ensure the views of consumers, small businesses and nonprofits are all considered in the regulatory process.