Legislative Happenings - Wednesday, July 1, 2009 12:19 - 0 Comments

GOP lawmakers warned by ALFA

Alfa political chief John Pudner fired a warning shot recently aimed directly at Republican state legislators. John said efforts to change insurance laws to make coastal coverage cheaper and more available could “hurt” the GOP lawmakers in the 2010 elections. The warning was sent by e-mail after Republican Paul Sanford won the special election in Huntsville for a state Senate seat. Alfa backed the new senator with a $26,000 campaign contribution, which I am told was his largest. As you probably know, the Farmers Federation is the “agriculture arm” of Alfa, the state’s second-largest property insurer, and one of the strongest lobbying groups in the state. I have always thought that Alfa was really an insurance company with an agricultural division, but on paper they are separate.

It appears Alfa is concerned that the unpopularity of the GOP nationally will hurt GOP state senators in Alabama who voted, as John put it, for “the same kind of anti-insurance legislation that chased all insurance companies out of Florida.” John claimed that type law would only benefit rich owners of beach condos. The message warned that 99% of lawmakers’ constituents would be forced to pay more to subsidize premiums near the Gulf. While that might be true, I was sort of surprised that Alfa would put its veiled threat in an email and apparently leak it to the media for the world to see.

Source: Mobile Press Register