transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:00] And we continue at 1.05 in the afternoon on The John Phillips Show. Mr. Randy Wang's in Culver City.
Speaker 2:
[00:06] John, just a few minutes ago at a press conference about Earth Day, current California Governor Gavin Newsom was asked who he likes in the governor's race and if he's going to watch tonight's debate on Nextar.
Speaker 3:
[00:21] I'm supporting a Democrat in the runoff and look forward to the voters making that decision very shortly.
Speaker 2:
[00:28] What if it's two of them? Or what if it's none of them?
Speaker 1:
[00:33] Boy he has opinions on everything. Whether it comes to Iran or Donald Trump or ICE or all of these subjects that really don't have much to do with state politics. But if you ask him a question about state politics, he turns into Switzerland.
Speaker 2:
[00:51] Well, and his press team likes to comment on anything and everything that's trending on social media. Didn't have a damn thing to say about Swalwell.
Speaker 1:
[01:01] Oh yeah. Well, the handcuffs are on Izzy.
Speaker 4:
[01:04] I think there will be one.
Speaker 3:
[01:05] Absolutely confident of that.
Speaker 2:
[01:07] Shangi, can I get an assist on that?
Speaker 4:
[01:11] I think there will be one.
Speaker 3:
[01:12] Absolutely.
Speaker 5:
[01:14] So we have Steyer, Porter.
Speaker 3:
[01:15] There are a lot of outstanding candidates with extraordinary records. I can name it.
Speaker 2:
[01:20] Fact check.
Speaker 1:
[01:22] Yeah. How about that CNN article where you said that if Katie Porter gets elected, she's going to drive all the businesses out of state.
Speaker 3:
[01:29] No.
Speaker 1:
[01:31] Or that Javier Baccaria was an awful attorney general.
Speaker 3:
[01:35] There are a lot of outstanding candidates with extraordinary records. I can name seven of them, though I think there were nine, with Betty He.
Speaker 2:
[01:45] Yeah. Who was the other person that dropped out?
Speaker 1:
[01:48] I guess that would be Calderon. He's the one Calderon that's not in prison.
Speaker 2:
[01:52] No. He's specifically not talking about Swalwell.
Speaker 1:
[01:56] Oh, yes. Yes, yes.
Speaker 3:
[01:58] Because as someone that's grown up in the state of California, I had an opportunity to work with every single person that is running for that office, and I've had the privilege of working and partnering with them in many different capacities over many, many years. And I respect their willingness to put themselves out. And I'm looking forward to the debate tonight. And I'm looking forward to where the voters ultimately land.
Speaker 2:
[02:23] Boy, he sounds so checked out as soon as you ask him about anything going on in California.
Speaker 1:
[02:31] What is he going to do if he runs for president and loses?
Speaker 2:
[02:35] Podcast. That's what that's all about. Backup plan, baby.
Speaker 1:
[02:39] With that voice?
Speaker 2:
[02:41] He loves it. Okay. This isn't like a new thing for him. When he was lieutenant governor, he had that TV show on Al Gore's network Current TV. When he was mayor of San Francisco, he would do a monthly radio show. He loves the medium of broadcasting.
Speaker 1:
[03:00] You think he'd want to fill in for us when we're on vacation?
Speaker 2:
[03:06] I mean, they do say to always make sure that the person fills in for you is not as good as you. So that'd be great for us.
Speaker 1:
[03:14] What do you think I had in mind? 800-222-5222 is telephone number 1-800-222-5222. Well, tonight is debate night for all the candidates running for governor. And we know that the likely scenario is that Katie Porter is gonna attack Tom Steyer. We know that Tom Steyer is gonna attack Javier Becerra. We know that Steve Hilton is gonna attack Chad Bianco. There's gonna be a lot of attacking going on. There's gonna be a lot of references to Donald Trump and to ICE, maybe even to the war in Iran. But California issues that impact California residents probably won't get discussed in great detail. One of the subjects that should get discussed in great detail is the state's insurance crisis.
Speaker 6:
[04:06] I'm very kind of sketchy.
Speaker 1:
[04:08] Oh, we know. None of us can buy insurance. It doesn't matter if you're a homeowner, a small business owner, whatever. The state is quickly becoming uninsurable. Our current insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, would rather spend his time with DJ Kitty Glitter than fixing the problem. Gavin Newsom, as a point of official policy, has delegated the job of fixing the insurance crisis to Ricardo Lara. Clearly, that's not working and whoever becomes governor next is going to have a great big mess on their hands. So, what they think about the insurance crisis actually matters.
Speaker 2:
[04:51] Julie Watts of CBS News Investigates sat down with every single candidate a few months ago and has asked them, every single candidate, the same questions. And instead of releasing, here's an interview with Tom Steyer, here's an interview with Katie Porter, and yes, I want to see that whole interview, she has released these compilations where she talks to every single candidate about one specific issue. And one of the things that I've noticed they've been doing is that when somebody gets taken away by the Oompa Loompas and the field gets shorter, they release a new video and edit the old person out. So without further ado, here is Julie Watts of CBS News California Investigates, which I just saw in her email. She's officially the California Accountability Correspondent, and I love that. Here is what every candidate has to say about insurance, starting with Steve Hilton, although I didn't need to say that. You could tell he's the British guy.
Speaker 6:
[05:50] Insurance. Insurance. Insurance. What do you do to stabilize California's insurance market without pushing insurers out of California? We are looking at folks who cannot get insurance. How do you keep insurance companies in California while still keeping rates down in a world where we're seeing climate driven disasters? You have people who live here who say I cannot afford to pay the prices that they are charging. You have a private industry that does not have to work here saying if you keep building expensive homes near burnable things, we cannot insure that.
Speaker 7:
[06:18] No, but there's so many common sense things you can do, for example. So there was, I think there's some ledger. I mean, I need to dig into it, but there's someone in the insurer.
Speaker 2:
[06:24] Wait, you need to dig into it? You know the policy on everything.
Speaker 1:
[06:31] Yeah, he certainly does offer more details of the rest of them.
Speaker 7:
[06:34] I think there's some ledger. I mean, I need to dig into it, but someone in the insurance industry was telling me that there's legislation that actually stops something incredibly common sense being done, which is defensible space being put around new building in those areas. But anyway, as I understand it, Laura, the Insurance Commissioner, has finally made the changes in how insurance companies can price future risk.
Speaker 2:
[06:57] And that hasn't taken anybody off the fair plan, and it isn't making insurance any more available.
Speaker 1:
[07:03] No, no, no. Ricardo Lara is not the authority on anything, except for maybe certain items that can be purchased in Colombia.
Speaker 2:
[07:15] I'm very kind of sketchy.
Speaker 1:
[07:17] You cannot delegate this very important issue to a buffoon like him. You can't do it.
Speaker 2:
[07:27] It's got to be hard for the Republican candidates to even talk about this, because what Ricardo Lara has done is given the insurance companies everything they want, and they're still screwing us over, and they're still not paying out claims.
Speaker 7:
[07:41] A lot of people have been asking for for many years. I mean, that's sort of a separate issue.
Speaker 6:
[07:46] But let's get to that.
Speaker 7:
[07:48] You know, it's a massive issue for so many Californians, either these insanely high premiums they're paying, and they can't get insured at all, and they're on the fair plan, and we know that the state run fair plan is a disaster. If anything goes wrong, that's a massive financial liability. This is a huge problem.
Speaker 2:
[08:03] And in fact, Ricardo Lara was the one that changed the rules right before the big Palisades and Eden fires, where it used to be the fair plan, which by the way is not a state plan. It is a consortium of the insurance companies created after the Watts riots. And the whole deal was, okay, if you don't want to insure them, you have to have this company insure them as the insurer of last resort. But if you put too many people on that plan and that plan goes belly up, you're on the hook for it. Ricardo Lara changed the rules to say that the rate payers are on the hook for it.
Speaker 1:
[08:33] Well, and what's so wild about insurance right now is we get the worst of both worlds. We have regulations that determine what the insurance companies can charge you, which I'm not in favor of price control, so I would never vote for that, but fine, that's the law. So what do we do? We allow them to raise the rates the maximum amount every time they ask. That's what historically has happened. However, the insurance companies say that's still not enough to cover the actual risk. So when you need to file a claim with your insurance company, they just say no, and you have to sue them to get anything out of them, which delays the entire process of rebuilding, and it costs you a fortune, and it destroys your mental health and physical health in the process. How anyone could look at this and say, this is the model, I don't understand. You can do what Florida does, which is probably what I would do, which is get rid of a lot of the regulations, which means the premiums would go through the roof. However, if you get paid on a claim, then you can actually use it. Then if something tragic happens to your home and you need to rebuild or you need to do whatever, you can actually get money out of the insurance company. Right now, what it is in California is it's a box to check when you get a loan from a bank. The banks require you to have insurance, but it's a product that you can't actually use in any realistic way.
Speaker 2:
[10:11] I will say though, when you look at what happened in Florida, and Florida is a different situation because of all of the risk of flood, which is a big majority of the state, you have a lot of people who own condos, that their insurance premiums tripled, quadrupled in the last couple of years to the point where the insurance is more than the mortgage payment, and you have people trying to sell and leave, and nobody wants to buy.
Speaker 1:
[10:36] And that's a different set of problems. But right now in California, you can't even buy insurance, and if you can buy insurance, you can't use it.
Speaker 7:
[10:45] And so I've spoken to the industry about it, and the insurance industry tell me that finally they feel that some of these long-standing policy mistakes have been corrected.
Speaker 2:
[10:56] Yes, like using their own proprietary climate modeling that we don't get to see for them to price their risk. I don't like that either.
Speaker 1:
[11:04] And this is also one of these weird subjects where the left and the right come together. The insurance companies and Greta Thunberg are on the same page. They believe that the world is going to end 11 years from now. Well, if the world is going to end 11 years from now, then you can price accordingly. Well, if you're a consumer, that doesn't work for you, especially if they won't even show you their work.
Speaker 7:
[11:31] And so they're telling me, I mean, we need to dig into it more. Perhaps you could do some investigation.
Speaker 2:
[11:39] She's done a lot of investigations on this.
Speaker 1:
[11:41] Oh, yeah.
Speaker 6:
[11:42] The investigation will send you the link.
Speaker 7:
[11:44] The insurance industry is telling me that actually, things are getting back to on the track that they feel they're going to come back into the state. Yes, rates are going to go up, but at least they're going to be able to insure because they can price risk properly. So that's what I'm being told. But again, let's look at another.
Speaker 2:
[11:59] You know, we're going to get to a point where it is so unaffordable to have insurance that people can't get a mortgage. And if you can't get a mortgage and that industry collapses, what's going to happen?
Speaker 1:
[12:10] Well, it's going to be one of these states where the extreme bias is to all cash offers. And if the only type of person who can buy a property is an all cash offer, then you really are going to price the middle class out of the state.
Speaker 7:
[12:26] But again, let's look at another component. Why premium is so much higher in California? Because building costs are so much higher in California.
Speaker 2:
[12:32] OK, on this one, he's totally right. The just the cost of lumber is more expensive in the state of California, which means the cost of rebuild is way higher than anyone in Eaton Canyon was covered for.
Speaker 7:
[12:44] So, of course, if you want to insure a building, what's the replacement?
Speaker 6:
[12:48] Yeah, most people are underinsured because they can't afford it.
Speaker 7:
[12:51] Because it costs so much. So if we bring all these things tied together, if we bring the cost of building down, that's another way we can bring insurance costs down because it doesn't cost so much to rebuild in the event that something happens.
Speaker 2:
[13:02] One of the things he has advocated for, and it sure makes sense to me, is, you know, we've got all these forests that are way out of control that we're not cleaning up, why don't we reactivate the timber industry so there's not as much fuel to burn, and then we have cheaper lumber that we're not importing from Canada.
Speaker 1:
[13:19] And when you think about it, yes, land is more expensive in California than it is in Utah, Montana, wherever. But theoretically, the cost of rebuilding should be about the same because the cost of lumber shouldn't be different between one state and the next. But just look at gasoline. Look at how much more expensive gasoline here is in California than everywhere else and apply the same logic that applies to gasoline to other things like timber or whatever. And you just run up the cost in this state.
Speaker 5:
[13:55] Insurers have to make money. There are two things we need to do here. Both of them possible, both of them driven by new technology and new ideas. One is wildfire control. This is a...
Speaker 2:
[14:07] If you can't tell, we've moved on to the most grating voice in the campaign.
Speaker 5:
[14:13] Both of them are driven by new technology and new ideas. One is wildfire control. This is a... This is a fire ecology. There are always going to be fires. What we're trying to avoid is devastating fires.
Speaker 2:
[14:26] And we've had some of the most devastating fires in the state's history just in the last five years.
Speaker 1:
[14:32] Including in the state's population centers like in Altadena and Pacific Palisades.
Speaker 5:
[14:37] And that is something that can be monitored, that can be controlled with new technologies. I believe the governor's doing it, but I believe we can control debit.
Speaker 2:
[14:45] I believe you haven't even been following what the governor does.
Speaker 1:
[14:48] No, no, and take the fire in the Pacific Palisades. That was a complete failure of government. That was the state getting involved in something that they had no business getting involved in, and they were the ones that are responsible for that fire not being fully extinguished.
Speaker 5:
[15:05] You know, doing it, but I believe we can control devastating fires. That's the actual issue. But the second thing is, I believe there are new technologies that are quite inexpensive and can be financed to harden houses that have an incredibly high success rate, way over 90 percent. If that's true, and both of those I believe to be true.
Speaker 2:
[15:25] By the way, there are technologies like that, and I'm in the opinion of the insurance company should pay for those. If it makes their risk much lower, they should be buying you the thing that makes sure that you have the retardant that flies out of your house when the fire starts.
Speaker 1:
[15:42] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought we weren't allowed to use that word anymore.
Speaker 2:
[15:45] Retardant.
Speaker 5:
[15:48] If that's true.
Speaker 2:
[15:49] The pink stuff.
Speaker 5:
[15:51] If that's true.
Speaker 1:
[15:52] Now wait a minute. The health insurance companies, they're willing to buy the flu shot. They're willing to buy the gym membership. They're willing to pay for any number of things that are proactive to keep you out of the ER. So I think that you have a point there, Randy, that the insurance companies, I think, would be willing to incur at least some of those costs.
Speaker 2:
[16:15] Oh, they're not. In fact, we never got to it, but there was a Julie Watts investigation for a few weeks ago on how insurance companies are adding all these things in the Bay Area, like earthquake detectors, what have you, that you have to foot the bill for or they won't cover you.
Speaker 5:
[16:32] If that's true, and both of those, I believe to be true, we should go to insurance companies. This is the biggest insurance market in the United States of America.
Speaker 2:
[16:39] Boy, when he goes up an octave, it's even more uncomfortable.
Speaker 5:
[16:45] They want to be here. They have to be.
Speaker 2:
[16:47] They do not want to be here.
Speaker 5:
[16:49] They have to be able to write insurance that makes money. The job of the governor is to go to them and say, you need to take into account the data. We've solved this problem. You can look at it. You can write.
Speaker 1:
[17:00] Okay, he is the biggest global warming alarmist on planet Earth. If he were to get elected and they were to use his modeling, the state modeling that I'm sure would come from a Steyr administration, what do you think they would use that for?
Speaker 2:
[17:18] Well, this shows the disconnect between the billionaire and the people who have average means that are running for this office. He has no idea what his insurance premiums are and he doesn't care if they go up 300 or 400 percent.
Speaker 1:
[17:34] No, because it's his secretary that's writing the check anyway.
Speaker 5:
[17:38] Successful insurance, we insist that you get the data and charge people fairly for the people who've hardened their houses and to take into account the fact that we have, as a state, dealt with devastating wildfires.
Speaker 2:
[17:49] We have not dealt with devastating wildfires.
Speaker 1:
[17:54] All right, we'll have more from the candidates on the subject of the insurance crisis coming up in moments. It's the John Phillips. If you'd like to email the show, you can do so at johnnydontlikeshowatgmail.com. That's johnnydontlikeshowatgmail.com. And Randy, now that we've hit the halfway point of today's show, if you want to continue listening after we sign off at three, that's easy to do.
Speaker 2:
[18:15] All you got to do is search for The John Phillips Show. Wherever you get your podcast, whether it's the Apple Podcasts app, iHeart, Spotify, search for The John Phillips Show, hit subscribe. You can download all the episodes. You can do a Google on the YouTube. You can get the free KABC app or the free KSFO app. You can also get that KMJ Now app because we're on the big KMJ in the Central Valley Saturdays at noon. There are so many different ways to listen live to this radio station and listen to this show from noon to 3 wherever you are thanks to streaming and download all the podcasts whenever you want. And look, we feel like after the last seven and a half years of doing this show at this time slot, that we built a certain amount of trust with you guys. And so we trust that when we say subscribe to the podcast, you do it. Otherwise, you busted the trust. And you know what they say?
Speaker 1:
[19:07] Don't bust the trust. 800-222-5222 is the telephone number 1-800-222-5222. John Morgan joins us at the top of the hour. Right now, we're going through the interviews between the candidates for governor and CBS News' Julie Watts on the subject of California's insurance crisis.
Speaker 2:
[19:30] Let's get back to the candidates.
Speaker 8:
[19:32] So I think we need to think about...
Speaker 2:
[19:33] Oh, you know whose turn it is.
Speaker 1:
[19:38] It's our girl.
Speaker 3:
[19:39] Paul!
Speaker 2:
[19:40] And yes, in case you were wondering, this is the same interview. It's just, you know, they released the clips of it throughout the year. But this is the exact same interview where Katie Porter ripped off the microphone and said, I don't want to do this anymore.
Speaker 6:
[19:58] Well, to those voters. Okay, so you...
Speaker 8:
[20:00] I don't want to keep doing this. I'm going to call it. Thank you.
Speaker 6:
[20:05] You're not going to do the interview with us.
Speaker 8:
[20:07] Nope, not like this. I'm not. Not with seven follow ups to every single question you ask.
Speaker 1:
[20:12] America's sweetheart.
Speaker 2:
[20:15] Think there will be a moment in tonight's debate like that?
Speaker 1:
[20:19] God willing.
Speaker 8:
[20:20] So I think we need to think about changing some of the rules around how insurance companies function in California. I think the proposal that the insurance commissioner rolled out is the right one. I think.
Speaker 2:
[20:31] No.
Speaker 1:
[20:33] What alternate universe are we living in where Ricardo Lara is being treated like he's some kind of elder statesman?
Speaker 2:
[20:41] It's really bizarre.
Speaker 8:
[20:44] The insurance commissioner rolled out.
Speaker 2:
[20:45] You have what may be the most inept and corrupt member of the entire state government. And that's saying something being propped up because they all know that this is a disaster. So they want to say, this is Ricardo's plan. But no one wants to go after him because if they come up with their own plan, then they'll own the crisis.
Speaker 1:
[21:04] And mind you, the position that all of these candidates are taking is the same position that Gavin took.
Speaker 8:
[21:12] The insurance commissioner rolled out is the right one. I think it came too late. We've already seen too many exits. We've already seen rates go up too soon. I support the wildfire.
Speaker 2:
[21:20] And one of the things that he authorized is that rates can go up faster.
Speaker 1:
[21:26] If they have a hearing, that he doesn't attend and prior to the hearing actually starting, he said he was going to give them their rate increase.
Speaker 8:
[21:35] I support the wildfire fund. I think that's going to be a big part of having a plan in case of catastrophic wildfire. So that our insurers know that that fund is going to be there for them. And people who lose their homes know that fund is going to be there for them. That fund needs to be recapitalized and restarted. That's up right now for debate.
Speaker 2:
[21:52] So that means that what? We're going to have the insurance companies are getting pretty much reinsurance from us?
Speaker 1:
[22:02] This is so screwed up.
Speaker 2:
[22:04] No, I'm telling you, the entire industry is a house of cards. And if we're at a point where nothing is insurable and the companies really can't make any money anymore unless they raise rates to the point where no one can afford a mortgage, I don't know what we do.
Speaker 8:
[22:19] That fund needs to be recapitalized and restarted. That's up right now for debate in the legislature and I support that fund. Ultimately, I think we're going to have to be realistic. The costs of insurance are going up in many places. That's not just true in California. Climate change is happening everywhere. But the way to bring costs down is to make sure we have a lot of companies in the marketplace competing on price.
Speaker 2:
[22:41] She wants Adriana and Veronica competing over your rate.
Speaker 1:
[22:46] Talk about a cage match.
Speaker 8:
[22:47] So we're not going to be able to bring the price down unless we retain those companies.
Speaker 2:
[22:52] So we can't bring the companies back unless they can charge us as much as they're charging in Florida. Great. All right, let's see if Mahan has a better answer. So far, I'm not impressed with anybody. And usually, they always front load these things with the front runner candidate. So it's Steve Hilton. And usually you're impressed by everything he says. And I wasn't impressed with that either.
Speaker 9:
[23:17] So we're going to have to bring back the private insurance market. And it's comparable to what we're seeing in energy. If we don't have a functioning competitive market, prices go up and pretty soon we're overly reliant on government to provide services and we don't have the resources to do it at the scale we would need. We'll have to allow the private sector to come back into the insurance market in California. That means we have to build a price risk. And that's not easy. But folks who are living out in fire zones, we'll have to pay more. I think the state can help offset that by investing in those fire breaks and doing more vegetation management to reduce catastrophic risk.
Speaker 2:
[23:55] Hey, I like that.
Speaker 1:
[23:57] So far, this is the most coherent answer. And by the way, apropos of nothing, I think part of the problem that we have in California is that our elected leaders look at insurance companies the same way they look at utilities. Utilities will always have to do business in California. This is where their equipment is. This is where their customers are. They just can't pick up their equipment and move to Nevada or Delaware or some other state. But with insurance companies, they can pull out of the market. And it's quite easy for them to do so. And we've seen that happen with State Farm. We've seen it happen with farmers. Others have threatened to do the same thing. But if you act as if they can't leave the market, if you act as if their equipment is here and they're gonna be here forever, you're gonna be disappointed.
Speaker 2:
[24:51] Well, it's actually even worse than that because reporting that we found out was when Ricardo Lara was crafting his sustainable insurance strategy for the last three years, he let the executives at State Farm know what he was doing. And it actually gave them an incentive to set the table for why we needed these regulations. They actually had a vested interest in dropping everybody in 2023 and 2024. So Ricardo Lara could say we need to give them everything they're asking for. This is a straight up conspiracy.
Speaker 9:
[25:28] If we have fewer catastrophic fires in the coming years, we will not only save lives and property, but we will see rates start to come down. And so the state has to play a role.
Speaker 2:
[25:39] How is he only at 5%? What is wrong with this state?
Speaker 1:
[25:42] Because running as a Democratic candidate talking about California issues, there's no appetite at all among Democratic voters for that, unfortunately.
Speaker 9:
[25:52] And so the state has to play a role in better reducing large fire risk and catastrophic loss. We also, though, need to have a functioning market where private insurance companies are competing for people's business versus what we have today where government's the only backstop and we don't have the funds to actually deal with the amount of need that's out there.
Speaker 2:
[26:13] Yeah. So if you remember, so so far, that's the most coherent answer from Matt Mahen.
Speaker 1:
[26:18] And by the way, don't forget what we learned from James Gallagher, who is the Assembly Republican leader, former Assembly Republican leader, who also represents Paradise, California. He said on this program that the fair plan is insolvent, which means they can't pay you if they owe you money and they're your insurance company and something bad happens.
Speaker 2:
[26:42] You know whose turn it is? The surging candidate, the one that the machine seems to be getting behind, Plan D, Javier Bacharia.
Speaker 4:
[26:52] Scrub it. So if you remember, the insurance market is based on spreading risk, right? The more people you have, the more you can spread the risk. Somebody has a problem.
Speaker 2:
[27:02] It sure seems like every single issue, he has just the most basic rudimentary understanding of it. Yep. And this guy is the new one that everyone's looking. He's the shiny new object.
Speaker 4:
[27:15] So if you remember, the insurance market is based on spreading risk, right? The more people you have, the more you can spread the risk. Somebody has a problem, you got a whole bunch of other folks who don't. Spreading risk. Okay, you can still make money. So the insurance industry can still make money. They just have to know how to spread the risk. And what we have to make sure is that when we pay them, they're not using that money to make investments outside of our state. You want money from us? Let us show us that you're putting the money back in California. So do what I keep saying to you. You got to bring folks in early. Let's take a look at what you're saying your problem is, insurance industry and staying in California. Okay, show me your books. And if you're telling me we're not letting you charge enough, show me and we'll see.
Speaker 1:
[28:00] And then I guess he needs to scrub it.
Speaker 2:
[28:03] Oh, we're going to do some scrub-a-dub-dubbing.
Speaker 4:
[28:06] Scrub it.
Speaker 6:
[28:07] And that's what Ricardo Lara said he's doing right now. Do you support what the insurance commissioner is doing right now?
Speaker 4:
[28:11] I can't tell you.
Speaker 2:
[28:12] But Sarah doesn't even know who the insurance commissioner is.
Speaker 1:
[28:15] Nope.
Speaker 4:
[28:17] I can't tell you I know everything that the insurance commissioner is doing. What I can't tell you is there are still people.
Speaker 2:
[28:21] It's amazing how many people that are running for governor do not know, will openly admit that they don't know anything about what's going on in the state.
Speaker 1:
[28:30] How could you not even familiarize yourself with this information before you put your name on the ballot to run the state?
Speaker 2:
[28:38] If you don't think this is a priority issue, you're not paying attention. Now, for the average California voter, it may not be a priority issue. And that's how we are where we are.
Speaker 4:
[28:50] I can't tell you I know everything that the insurance commissioner is doing. But I can't tell you is there are still people in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena who haven't yet heard from their insurance company about when they're going to get their money or how much they're going to get.
Speaker 2:
[29:01] Yes, and the insurance commissioner is not doing a damn thing about that.
Speaker 1:
[29:05] Isn't that the job of the California Department of Insurance to make sure that the insurance companies fulfill their contractual obligations?
Speaker 4:
[29:13] And that I would never let stand. I would do what I did as secretary where I had to bring in industry titans and said, you have a problem, we have to resolve it, we're not leaving this room until we come up with a solution. We did that.
Speaker 2:
[29:27] He's going to tell the companies, you're grounded.
Speaker 1:
[29:32] Yeah, I'm sure state farm will quiver.
Speaker 2:
[29:35] There's not a whole lot of policy coming out of Becerra.
Speaker 1:
[29:38] No. And don't expect to hear much from him tonight either.
Speaker 4:
[29:42] We could do that again with the insurance industry and say, at least, even if I don't have by law the right to say this, I can say, look, you don't want me to go out as governor and say that you aren't willing to tell your own customers when they can expect to receive their check for their burned house that burned six months ago.
Speaker 10:
[30:01] This is how we got here.
Speaker 2:
[30:02] Oh, it's time for Mr. Peanut.
Speaker 1:
[30:05] All right, we're going to take a quick break. And when we return, we'll tell you what Mr. Peanut has to say about California's insurance crisis. Right now, we're going through the sound of all the candidates running for governor and what their opinions are on California's insurance crisis as they explain it to CBS News' Julie Watts.
Speaker 2:
[30:24] And it's time for, he won't be on the debate stage tonight, but let's hear what he has to say anyway. Recent guest of this show, Antonio Viragosa.
Speaker 10:
[30:39] This is how we got here. Until just recently, we didn't do catastrophic modeling in this state. Every other state in the country did catastrophic modeling because we're living in a world of climate change.
Speaker 2:
[31:01] Already, I feel this answer is getting expensive.
Speaker 1:
[31:05] Me too.
Speaker 10:
[31:06] In open Florida, it's hurricanes. Here, it's fires.
Speaker 2:
[31:10] Two. Used to be earthquakes, but nobody even talks about earthquakes in this state anymore.
Speaker 1:
[31:16] It's been a while since we've had a big one, and I hope I just didn't jinx us.
Speaker 2:
[31:19] Knock on wood right now.
Speaker 1:
[31:21] Okay, hang on. Oh, wait, no, that's tile.
Speaker 2:
[31:25] Two.
Speaker 10:
[31:26] We didn't allow reinsurance. Every state allowed reinsurance. Why?
Speaker 6:
[31:33] Allow them to charge for reinsurance? No. To pass on the cost of reinsurance to the consumer?
Speaker 10:
[31:39] No, we didn't allow them.
Speaker 2:
[31:42] Someone's confused.
Speaker 1:
[31:45] I can tell.
Speaker 2:
[31:47] Look, and there is a very, very real thought to, when everyone was looking at all of the candidates after Swalwell dropped out, it is obvious that even though he has a big resume and even though he is pretty damn charming in person, Tony is old and it comes out.
Speaker 1:
[32:13] Well, he is saying that he would only serve one term.
Speaker 2:
[32:17] Yeah, that doesn't ever work.
Speaker 10:
[32:19] To reinsure.
Speaker 6:
[32:21] Well, they are all reinsured, but we didn't allow them to charge us. So in other words, I am not paying for State Farm's reinsurance.
Speaker 2:
[32:26] Yes, and Ricardo Lara has decided that we should pay for that cost as well, because if you want to know what the House of Cards really is here, insurance companies have insurance.
Speaker 10:
[32:38] Three, three, it take across.
Speaker 2:
[32:43] We just had a Jerry Brown moment.
Speaker 1:
[32:46] A couple of them.
Speaker 10:
[32:48] It take.
Speaker 2:
[32:51] Poor guy.
Speaker 10:
[32:52] Across the country, the average.
Speaker 2:
[32:54] He's got to show you the draw of power for these people is so strong. All of these, you know, someone like Antonio Viragosa, he's got money. He could go, you know, live on an island somewhere with as many reporters from Telemundo as he wants. But he wants this. He wants to go back to Sacramento in his seventies.
Speaker 1:
[33:16] I don't know why anyone of means would even want this job to run this basket case of a state.
Speaker 10:
[33:24] Across the country, the average time that it takes to raise rates is three months. In this state, it's more than, it was more than a year.
Speaker 2:
[33:33] So, so what Tony's saying is that everything that voters passed in Prop 103 is bad? Consumer Watchdog is not going to like that.
Speaker 10:
[33:45] We brought us to some of this. Now we have Prop 103 and so we have an opportunity to obviously, you know, review rate hikes to make sure they're not price gouging and I will never support price gouging. But when the entire market leaves because of those three issues, a disproportionate by the way, then you know you have a problem and we should have seen this coming.
Speaker 2:
[34:13] So Tony's answer is yes, you should all be paying a hell of a lot more.
Speaker 1:
[34:19] Here's what's so weird about his campaign. His campaign is half a loaf on every subject. It is clearly what's going on in Sacramento right now isn't working. Climate change, climate change, climate change. We need to incorporate that into the pricing. I don't know who you make happy with that. It's like what he did with Prop 36. And he said, crime is a problem. What the legislature wants to do doesn't go far enough. Prop 36 goes too far. Well, what does that mean?
Speaker 11:
[34:55] You know, two things can be true at once.
Speaker 2:
[34:57] Oh, it's time for the other recent guest of this show who got, what's the opposite of a bump?
Speaker 1:
[35:06] A slump.
Speaker 2:
[35:08] Yes, Tony Thurmond and Tony V both appeared on this show and then went down in the polls. Correlation does not equal causation. I just thought I'd point it out.
Speaker 11:
[35:19] You know, two things can be true at once. The insurance industry has to pay more. They've earned so much money off of Californians. And then the pick up and leave in our moment of greatest need is unacceptable. And I will hold them to account with more regulation and more pressure. At the same time, we need...
Speaker 2:
[35:36] No one wants to even get on the bully pulpit and call out State Farm, which I find to be really strange.
Speaker 1:
[35:43] Yeah, why is it they're willing to go after big tobacco? They're willing to go after big oil. But for whatever reason, State Farm, who, if you talk to any of the fire victims, is one of the worst actors there, they're not willing to go after them by name.
Speaker 11:
[36:02] At the same time, we need to learn to build differently. Wildfire is part of our new normal in the state of California, and we have to build with materials that will keep our homes safer. We have to build in places that are less likely...
Speaker 1:
[36:15] Here's a theory. I wonder if the insurance companies are the ones bankrolling all the environmentalist groups.
Speaker 2:
[36:22] Oh, that's definitely possible.
Speaker 1:
[36:25] And so, if you go after state farm, you're going after fill-in-the-blank Enviro group, and they don't want any heat with them.
Speaker 11:
[36:37] Keep our homes safer. We have to build in places that are less likely to be impacted by fire or by flood. We have to have enough, you know, natural burns to address areas that could...
Speaker 2:
[36:49] How is Tony Thurman sounding the most common sense on this?
Speaker 1:
[36:54] He's been in state politics for a long time, unlike many of the top polling candidates who come from Washington, DC or the private sector.
Speaker 11:
[37:03] Could trigger fire. We have to do all the things that we know to keep our communities safe.
Speaker 6:
[37:07] Why haven't we done that thus far? I mean, it's wonderful to say we need to do these things, but how do you tangibly do that if we haven't been able to thus far?
Speaker 11:
[37:15] Well, I think the urgency is certainly upon us, and we know that we have to do it. We have to educate homebuilders and edu...
Speaker 2:
[37:23] What he can't say is a good portion of the majority, bipartisan, the good portion of the legislature, bipartisan, is bought and paid for by the insurance industry. He can't say that.
Speaker 1:
[37:34] No.
Speaker 11:
[37:34] We have to educate...
Speaker 2:
[37:36] Remember how Ricardo Lara said he wouldn't take any insurance company money when he was running for insurance commissioner and then took insurance company money?
Speaker 1:
[37:46] He also takes money from the environmentalist too.
Speaker 2:
[37:50] I think there's something there.
Speaker 11:
[37:51] We have to educate home builders and educate home owners, perspective homeowners, to not put themselves in situations that will keep them unsafe. And it's incumbent on us to do all the prevention that we can because we don't have enough people power and resources to keep up with all of the disasters that can affect us. And so again, I see it as holding the insurance industry accountable. You know, in this state, California.
Speaker 2:
[38:18] What does it say when the lowest polling candidate in this piece has maybe the best answer?
Speaker 1:
[38:25] It says we're screwed.