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* SB1508 from Sen. Bill Cunningham…
Amends the Sports Wagering Act. Provides that the Illinois Gaming Board shall require an online sports wagering licensee to, after every 10 wagers made online by an individual, display a pop-up message directing that individual to websites on gambling addiction help.
* Press release…
Legislators, backed by a coalition of 15 consumer, community and civil rights organizations, introduced legislation Wednesday to protect Illinois drivers from excessive and unfair car insurance rates. The effort comes after Illinois car insurers made $896 million in excess profits during the first year of the pandemic and raised rates by more than $1.1 billion in 2022.
The proposed legislation, HB2203, sponsored by state Rep. Will Guzzardi (39th District) in the House and state Sen. Javier Cervantes (1st District) in the Senate, would empower the Illinois Department of Insurance to reject or modify excessive rate hikes, and end the use of non-driving factors, such as credit scores, to set rates.
“It’s time for the legislature to protect Illinois consumers and ensure fairness in our car insurance market,” said Rep. Guzzardi. “Discrimination is wrong, profiteering is wrong, and this bill will put an end to those practices in insurance rate-setting in Illinois.”
Even though Illinois requires every car owner to buy insurance, it is one of only two states that doesn’t protect insurance customers from excessive or unfair rates. Average Illinois car insurance rates increased by 18% in 2022, more than in all but one other state, according to analysis by Auto Insurance Report.
Car insurers commonly use non-driving factors such as credit scores or zip codes in setting rates. This practice has well-documented discriminatory impacts. A 2017 ProPublica investigation found insurers charging 30% higher car insurance rates in majority Black zip codes compared to other areas with similar accident costs. […]
Rate hikes are likely to continue in 2023. On January 18, Allstate filed its first Illinois car insurance rate hike in 2023 — a $63 million increase that will raise average customer premiums by $174 annually. In December, its CEO has said, “”We may end up overshooting a bit, don’t know.”
Counterpoint from the insurance industry…
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), the Illinois Insurance Association (IIA), and National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) released the following statement in response to HB2203 otherwise known as the rate regulation bill.
“The Illinois bill limiting insurers’ ability to use proven factors in setting rates, to put it simply, is bad public policy. This bill is a combination of prohibitions and requirements that will harm consumers, reduce competition, and increase litigation. To enforce the provisions of this legislation a massively expanded state bureaucracy to carry out these regulations will be necessary, the cost of which is also borne by consumers. The legislation will have exactly the opposite effect that the proponents seek.
“Changing Illinois’ rating law will not change the economics or crash statistics that drive the cost of insurance in the state. Illinois’ current insurance rating law has benefited consumers since it was implemented in the 1970s. Illinois has one of the most competitive insurance markets in the country and that has helped to keep costs below the national average for consumers.
“With fatal accidents and crashes nearly equaling five-year highs in Illinois, skyrocketing inflation and supply chain challenges, auto insurance costs continue to climb in 2022. When the costs associated with insurance, such as crashes, medical and legal costs rise insurance must reflect the costs for the goods and services it pays for.
“Allegations by PIRG for additional auto insurance premium reductions displays a lack of understanding of how auto insurance pricing works. . In fact, the report cited is misleading, ignores the big picture, and fails to acknowledge a system that has historically served Illinois consumers well. The bill’s supporters conveniently overlook gruesome road safety data from recent years and instead use formulas untethered from facts to calculate alleged “windfalls” to validate this proposal.
“Some activist groups only focus on the short-term period when driving declined, but it is important for stable and accurate insurance pricing to do what insurers and most regulators have always done and look at the long-term patterns impacting driving and loss trends. The volatility of always responding to short-term trends would create instability both for consumers and insurers. This could mean wild price fluctuations for consumers and the inability to count on price stability for budgeting purposes.
Insurers are opposed to provisions in HB 2203 that would restrict rating and underwriting tools that have been proven to benefit consumers and are accurate and effective in setting fair insurance rates. By using the variety of rating factors currently in use, insurers can assess drivers’ risks more accurately and price their product based on the likelihood and severity of insurance claims. The use of these tools benefits consumers and is the fairest way to set Insurance rates.
“The bill claims to seek insurance accountability and fairness. Yet, if insurers are unable to utilize risk factors when determining rates, it will lead to a one-size-fits-all approach to pricing, eliminating competition in the marketplace, and ultimately driving prices up for all consumers. As prices increase for all Illinois consumers, access and affordability will steeply decline.“There are about 230 companies offering personal auto insurance in this state, and through this very competitive environment, no one insurance company or group dominates the market. This provides consumers with a wide array of auto insurance products and services to choose, and the competition means if a company prices their product too high, consumers can purchase their insurance from another carrier.
“This serves to keep costs lower for consumers. Illinois’ insurance rates are in the middle third of the nation and 15.5% lower than the countrywide average and they are significantly lower than comparably sized prior approval states. Insurance rates are first and foremost a function of claims and their costs. As these costs fluctuate with market forces, the imposition of price controls through a pre-approval regulatory system may prove more harmful than helpful to consumers.
“Now is not the time to enact legislation that could result in increased premiums for consumers. This type of legislation could have serious negative consequences for many Illinois drivers, not to mention the state’s auto insurance market, which is currently healthy and competitive
*WAND…
State Senator Doris Turner has introduced a bill that would mandate body cams and dashboard cams for EMS workers.
SB1306 would require “all EMS personnel to be equipped by their employers with body cameras that record the interactions of those personnel with patients, emergency responders, and members of the public during service calls.”
The bill comes in the wake of the killing of Earl Moore Jr., a Springfield man who died after EMS workers responding to a call strapped him facedown on a gurney. An autopsy found that Moore died of compressional and positional asphyxia due to prone facedown restraint on a paramedic transpiration stretcher due to tightened straps across the back. […]
Turner’s bill has a provision that would not allow the footage to be requested via the Freedom of Information Act unless being requested by “the person who made the service call or that person’s attorney or personal representative or a law enforcement official.”
*WCIA…
A bill introduced in the State Capitol would honor the legacy of two U.S. presidents with ties to Illinois with statues: Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan.
“Reagan was a Republican, Obama’s a Democrat,” State Sen. Tom Bennett (R-Gibson City), the bill’s sponsor, said. “It seems like if we had a more bipartisan part of this, it might be more receptive with everyone in the House and in the Senate.” […]
Bennett said he has also been working on a separate bill that focuses on getting a statue just for Reagan.
He added that the finances for the statues haven’t been figured out yet but he said money for the Reagan statue would come from private funding.
Aimed at reducing drownings, a bill requiring water rescue equipment to be available along Lake Michigan’s shoreline is awaiting amendments in a state Senate committee.
Co-author state Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, told a Senate panel his bill mirrored similar legislation enacted last year in neighboring Illinois after a 19-year-old man drowned near a Chicago pier, which didn’t have safety equipment.
Senate Bill 424 calls for public and private-owned piers and beach drop-offs to be outfitted with at least one ring life buoy. The bill defined a “drop-off” as a shoreline area intended for direct public access to the water.
The Natural Resources committee heard testimony Monday and its chairwoman Susan Glick, R-LaGrange, held the bill so a few changes could be made. Sen. Michael Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, also authored the measure.
* SB1655 from Republican Sens. Jil Tracy, Tom Bennett and Erica Harriss…
Creates the Counseling Compact Act. Provides that the State of Illinois enters into the Counseling Compact. Specifies that the Compact’s purpose is to facilitate interstate practice of licensed professional counselors with the goal of improving public access to professional counseling services. Contains other provisions relating to state participation in the Compact. Sets out provisions concerning the privilege to practice, obtaining a new home state license, active duty military personnel, telehealth, adverse actions, Counseling Compact Commission, data systems, rulemaking, oversight, dispute resolution, and enforcement. Contains other provisions concerning the Commission, the Compact, and the procedures governing participating in and construction of the Compact. Effective immediately.
posted by Isabel Miller
Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 12:54 pm
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–Bennett said he has also been working on a separate bill that focuses on getting a statue just for Reagan.–
There is a very active private political group called the Reagan Legacy Project. It has a sole purpose of placing statues of Reagan in as many places in the country as possible, getting his name attached onto public places, and getting every state governor to officially declare a Ronald Reagan Day in Feb every year.
From their site:
“Our goal is to eventually see a statue, park, or road named after Reagan in all 3,140 counties in the United States.”
Comment by TheInvisibleMan Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 1:10 pm
SB1508 would be an annoying inconvenience, especially for those of us who like to put $10 on a bunch of games just to make ‘em interesting (hi). Why not just throw it up there every time someone logs into their account? You’re automatically logged out every so often anyway for location checks.
Comment by Concerned Observer Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 1:13 pm
This sort of thing has been shown to reduce problematic gaming behavior on the video poker side of things.
People who have issues with machine gaming can get into a compulsion loop, winning actually becomes an annoyance since it interrupts the loop with a payout.
I highly recommend Addiction By Design, which goes into this and machine gaming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction_by_Design
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction_by_Design
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 1:34 pm
Not one word in the insurance industry response to address the racially discriminatory effects of their using non-driving factors such as credit scores or zip codes to set rates.
– MrJM
Comment by MisterJayEm Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 1:43 pm
the sports betting thing seems dumb. 10 bets over 2 days, yes maybe a sign of an addiction. 10 bets over 2 years, probably not. It should be bets/time based and not just an iteration on bets.
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 1:54 pm
SB1306 is a bad idea, let me count the ways. 1) Medical confidentiality - do we really want video of your loved ones undergoing emergency treatment to be available for others to see. 2) Money, money, money. These agencies are not flush with the cash to pay for the cameras and infrastructure to support the monitoring system. 3) I can see the malpractice lawyers salivating over the idea of grabbing videos for questionable lawsuits.
The predicate for this bill is one highly publicized incident. One that was investigated and charged without the benefit of cameras. Now that the bill has gotten it’s press pop, it can be silently relegated to a subcommittee for eternal study.
Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 2:09 pm
“…and end the use of non-driving factors, such as credit scores, to set rates.” Several years back my mother had one of those promotional mailers inside her Shell gasoline card bill (back when Shell had their own in-house card and the bill went to Oklahoma) and it had a promo for a free credit rating report. She sent it in and found that State Farm had run her credit without her knowledge. I call B.S. on that.
I don’t think that auto insurers should be able to run your credit report just because they feel like it. If you don’t pay your bill on time, they can drop you. Plus it’s another database that can be hacked by identity thieves. Kudos to Rep. Guzzardi and Sen. Cervantes!
Comment by Payback Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 2:10 pm
Last time I looked, there’s already a statue of a Republican president at the statehouse. And unlike Reagan, that other one actually served in the Illinois legislature.
Pairing Reagan and Obama seems unbalanced, in a couple ways. Which is probably the point.
Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 2:50 pm
===Even though Illinois requires every car owner to buy insurance, it is one of only two states that doesn’t protect insurance customers from excessive or unfair rates.===
Illinois has had a lot of insurance company influence on lawmakers. State Farm and Allstate were both headquartered in Illinois along with several others.
Comment by DuPage Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 4:13 pm
Does Senator Bennett have something against President Grant?
Comment by Commonsense in Illinois Wednesday, Feb 8, 23 @ 4:32 pm