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Fun with money

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Andrew Boron, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, is pushing legislation that would provide $5 million to a new state corporation chaired by Mr. Boron to recruit out-of-state insurers. The money would be siphoned from the fees insurers and insurance brokers pay to fund the state’s regulation of them.

He wants to replicate the success the department had in wooing EquiTrust Life Insurance Co. from suburban Des Moines, Iowa, which is a national hub for life insurers. […]

The $5 million to lure insurers from other states accounts for about 10 percent of the $52 million the Insurance Department receives annually from insurers and brokers.

So, the plan is to take insurance company fee money and use that cash to lure competing insurance companies to Illinois?

I suppose I can see the logic in this, but has anyone thought of just lowering the insurance fees by 10 percent?

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 10:59 am

Comments

Rich, Rich, Rich, please don’t bring common sense into this.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:00 am
Can’t grow the state payroll if you just lower the insurance fees.

Comment by so... Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:02 am
—–
I suppose I can see the logic in this, but has anyone thought of just lowering the insurance fees by 10 percent?
—–

HAHAHAHAHA… Rich, you kill me!

Comment by RonOglesby Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:07 am
Bureaucrats can’t seem to tell the difference between the role of govt as the regulator of business to assure a free market and interference in a free market.

Comment by Liberty First Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:09 am
Little empire-building going on.

Please, not another state-giveaway fund to “lure” business.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:09 am
When I saw the Fun With Money headline I thought rich would have a note on the ISP and all those new (year old) trooper cars sitting without electronics.

But this one was just as good.

Comment by RonOglesby Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:15 am
Another example of how your ‘regulation fee’ as it were gets used for other stuff..

Years ago they took some of the money that nurses pay for their licenses (full disclosure, my wife had three different nursing related licenses she paid fees for) and were going to use it for nursing scholarships to try and reduce the ‘nursing shortage’

Well besides the whole idea of using a fee paid by a workforce to create more job competition with that workforce stuck me as a bit odd, it also didn’t seem to be a good use of the fees in general.

In this case, anyone want speculate how long until there some sort of insurance company scandal and how the regulator will say they were underfunded and that’s why didn’t catch it.

Comment by OneMan Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:21 am
Lowering the fees would be giving away all the power that Boron is working so hard to get.

Comment by Pete Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:21 am
All they need to do is give a press release to industry publications that we’re encouraging insurers to come here.

Question: How exactly would they be spending that $5 million? Spend $50K on a administrative assistant, $200K for a “director” and spend the rest on a politically connected Board of Directors, agents and lobbyists?

Comment by Arizona Bob Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:26 am
The Department of Insurance is just a shill for the insurance industry. There is very little meaningful regulation that goes on there. There’s a reason why many former securities reps (including barred ones)decide to make a living in insurance.

Comment by April Fool Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:26 am
” In this case, anyone want speculate how long until there some sort of insurance company scandal and how the regulator will say they were underfunded and that’s why didn’t catch it.”

The Department of Insurance is definitely not underfunded. Between their two regulatory funds they have almost 100 mil in the bank - all subject to appropriation of course. I believe most of their funding comes from fees of insurers and producers rather than general revenue funds.

Comment by April Fool Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 11:38 am
IL does not set rates…that is the “plan” from All State, State Farm, Horace Mann, etc. etc.

Give the young man his money. The bigs won’t let any one in

Comment by circularfiringsquad Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 12:02 pm
====”Andrew Boron, director of the Illinois Department of Insurance, is pushing legislation that would provide $5 million to a new state corporation chaired by Mr. Boron….”====

Is there a single reason to read beyond this point to know bad policy is coming down the pike?

Comment by A guy... Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 12:04 pm
This is wrong on so many levels. Using a fee for doing business in Illinois to attract competitors is just wrong. Those funds should be used to increase oversight of the insurance industry as intended or the fee reduced.

Comment by Jack Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 12:18 pm
Illinois almost lost their national certification a few years back and was only saved because Mautino stepped in. DoI was not spending on examiners and we would have lost reciprocity.

Comment by 4 percent Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 2:19 pm
==Please, not another state-giveaway fund to “lure” business.==
Yeah, and that’s just step one.

Step two is to give tax breaks to the insurance companies we already have - you know, the companies with CEOs who just bought multimillion dollar homes here and send their kids to private school here.

Comment by Robert the Bruce Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 2:37 pm
Rich if this is your idea of fun with money I’m here to tell you that you’re doing it wrong.

Comment by The Captain Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 2:45 pm
Robert the Bruce, I’m with you.

The corporations get tax breaks; the politicians get to issue multi-million-dollar press releases for “creating jobs.” Insidious relationship, worth nothing to taxpayers.

It’s a scam all over.

We could all learn a little something from ADM and the ludicrous Caterpillar “scare” about moving out.

U-Haul? Too early.

By the way, how’s JJ, the crocodile deal poster boy for moving out of Illinois? Last I heard, he was an Illinois Romney delegate to the GOP convention.

That hq still in Champaign? Thought it was a done deal that it was gone.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 2:58 pm
April Fool: Aren’t you a lower-taxes, less government person? And you’re calling for *more* regulation from the agency? If my premise is wrong, I apologize.

Comment by Anon-MCMLVII Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 3:29 pm
Andrew Boron, enough said. Agree with A Guy.

Comment by South of 64 Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 6:40 pm
Isn’t State Farm moving a tremendous number of jobs to Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta already? Check the numbers.
A brilliant idea to increase their fees even more.

Comment by South of 64 Monday, Apr 14, 14 @ 6:47 pm