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Inventory of the California State Senate Insurance Committee Records
See series description.
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Table of contents
Title: California State Senate Insurance Committee Records
Dates: 1981-2004
Collection number: See series description.
Creator:
Senate Insurance Committee
Creator/Collector: Senate Insurance, Claims and Corporations Committee
Creator/Collector:
Senate Subcommittee on Earthquake Insurance
Creator/Collector: Senate Insurance and Indemnity Committee
Collection Size:
54.5 cubic feet
Repository:
California State Archives
Sacramento, California
Abstract: The present Senate Insurance Committee was created with Senate Resolution 58 on August 30, 1994, and charged to hear bills
relating to insurance, indemnity, surety, warranty agreements, liens, claims, unclaimed property, collections and franchises.
The Senate Insurance Committee Records consist of 54.5 cubic feet of Senate Insurance Committee files, including the Senate
Insurance and Indemnity Committee (1981-1982), Senate Insurance Claims and Corporations Committee (1983-1994), the Subcommittee
on Earthquake Insurance (1987-1992), and the Senate Insurance Committee (1995-2004).
Physical location: California State Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
The Quackenbush Investigative Files series is restricted under the Legislative Open Records Act Government Code Section 9075
(c) and (k).
For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the California State Archives. Permission for reproduction or publication
is given on behalf of the California State Archives as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility
for possible infringement which may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the California State Archives
collections.
[Identification of item], Senate Insurance Committee Records, LP[number]:[folder number], California State Archives, Office
of the Secretary of State, Sacramento, California.
The California State Archives acquired the Senate Insurance Committee records according to state law.
The Insurance and Indemnity Committee was created by Senate Resolution 8 on January 5, 1981, existing only in the 1981-1982
session. The committee's focus then was on bills relating to insurance and indemnity. The committee's scope was broadened
in the 1983-1984 session when Senate Resolution 11 passed on March 17, 1983, establishing the Senate Insurance, Claims and
Corporation Committee. The committee heard bills relating to insurance, indemnity, surety, warranty, agreements, liens, claims,
including retail credit, unclaimed property, collections, corporations, and franchises. The name and responsibilities would
remain as such until the 1995-1996 legislative session when the present Senate Insurance Committee was created with Senate
Resolution 58 on August 30, 1994. With the change in name, the committee would no longer hear bills concerning corporations
and retail credit claims. The Senate Insurance Committee was charged with hearing bills relating to insurance, indemnity,
surety, warranty agreements, liens, claims, unclaimed property, collections and franchises.
In 1981 the Insurance and Indemnity Committee consisted of 5 members with Senator Alan Robbins as Chair. Although the committee's
name changed in 1983, Robbins continued as chair and the number of committee members stayed the same until 1987 when it increased
to nine members. In November of 1991, Robbins, who was convicted of extorting money from special interests, engaging in obstruction
of justice, and filing a false tax return, resigned leaving the chair spot vacant for the remainder of the session. It would
not be until the 1993-1994 session that Senator Art Torres would become chair and increase the committee to eleven members.
The 1995-1996 session brought Senator Herschel Rosenthal to chair the newly named Senate Insurance Committee with nine members.
Rosenthal remained chair for two sessions until 1999 when Jackie Speier took over and increased the number to ten members
in the committee. She would continue for three sessions as chair, changing the number of members to seven in the 2001-2002
session, and again to nine in 2003-2004.
This record group consists of 54.5 cubic feet of Senate Insurance Committee files, including the Senate Insurance and Indemnity
Committee (1981-1982), Senate Insurance Claims and Corporations Committee (1983-1994), the Subcommittee on Earthquake Insurance
(1987-1992), and the Senate Insurance Committee (1995-2004). The records are organized into five series: bill files, hearing
files, subject files, correspondence, and Quackenbush Investigative Files. The Subcommittee on Earthquake Insurance files
are organized in a subgroup consisting of bill files and hearing files.
The records cover a wide range of issues dealing with various types of insurance, including but not limited to: health, automobile,
earthquake, homeowners, and life insurance. The committee also saw legislation on regulations imposed on the Department of
Insurance and the Insurance Commissioner. Topics such as insurance fraud, investments, liability, Proposition 103 insurance
reform, regulations on health care service plans, Health Maintenance Organizations, the Healthy Families Program, the Knox-Keene
Program, small business insurance, unclaimed property, and surplus line brokers yield significant information for research.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
California. Legislature. Senate. Committee on Insurance
Disaster insurance Law and legislation
Homeowner's insurance
Health insurance
Related Collections at the California State Archives
Alan Robbins Papers
Herschel Rosenthal Papers
Jackie Speier Papers (partially restricted)
Oral History
Art Torres Oral History Interview, conducted by Lawrence B. de Graaf, Center for Oral and Public History, California State
University, Fullerton for the State Government Oral History Program, California State Archives.
Related Material
Researchers interested in this committee are advised to check the papers of its Chairs. Committee Chairs often kept materials
relating to committee operations among their personal files. For Chair papers available at the California State Archives or
other repositories, this information can be found in the committee history.