A member of the California state Assembly committee probing accusations against Insurance Commissioner Charles Quackenbush said he thinks the commissioner should be impeached, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The statement is unusually direct because Assemblyman Tom McClintock and Quackenbush are both high-ranking Republicans, and because McClintock is a senior member of the investigating committee.
However, his comments followed testimony that Quackenbush may have using millions in public money to pay contributions to two nonprofits managed by his department's staffers and fund a political image campaign, and that he accepted political donations from insurers he was charged with regulating.
In the second day of hearings before the Assembly committee, McClintock said that if it can be proved Quackenbush approved or directed $11 million to be donated to the California Research and Assistance Fund -- rather than used to help victims of the 1994 Northridge earthquake -- "that would constitute an impeachable offense under the state Constitution," the L.A. Times reports.
Testimony focused on a memo sent from a Sacramento public relations firm outlining a plan to use $12.8 million in settlements -- intended to help earthquake victims -- to instead boost Quackenbush's public image.
Insurance Committee Chairman Jack Scott told the newspaper the memo was sent in February 1999, two months prior to the creation of three foundations that gave grants to charitable organizations and held forums in communities that appeared to be overlooked by the insurance industry, to show Quackenbush was taking action against the firms.
Earlier news reports stated that Quackenbush -- who won re-election in 1998 -- reduced up to $3.3 billion in potential fines against California insurance firms based on "mishandled" insurance claims from 1994's Northridge earthquake.
The companies instead contributed to the $11 million California Research and Assistance Fund, intended to help earthquake victims. Title and escrow companies facing fines and penalties have likewise contributed $2.8 million to the nonprofit Escrow and Title Insurance Consumer Education Foundation.
The three foundations have sponsored a Los Angeles forum Quackenbush attended, paid for TV commercials featuring the commissioner and donated more than $1 million to nonprofit groups, with a $500,000 grant going to the Sacramento Urban League. Quackenbush sits on the group's board of directors, the Times reports.
Because the three foundations are 501(c)(3) entities, the insurance companies can deduct part of the contributions, which they wouldn't be able to do with the more than $3 billion in fines they faced for mishandling insurance claims.
Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/state/
reports/quack/lat_quack000608.htm
