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Poizner Slams Garamendi's Letter

Contact: Kevin Roberts

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Poizner Slams Garamendi's Letter

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Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner responded to Lt. Gov. John Garamendi's letter criticizing his new insurance regulations with a sharply worded retort, writing he was "disappointed that the work product you left behind was flawed and needed to be fixed."

Poizner pulled no punches in response to Garamendi's letter . "Given that your letter was received by the press corps before I received a copy, I can only conclude that it was a press release written in the first person," he wrote.

Garamendi attacked Poizner for "actions that you have taken to undermine important consumer protections." The current and former insurance commissioner are jostling over regulations drafted by the Department of Insurance under Proposition 103.

In his letter Garamendi admitted he had "not had time to fully analyze" Poizner's changes, but "wanted to react to your precipitous process you are following with the same immediacy with which you embarked on it."

Poizner pounced on that. "I applaud your candor in admitting that you are acting in ignorance," he wrote. "Rest assured that I will give your comments commensurate consideration."

He accused Garamendi of crafting last-minute regulations, adopted in his final months in office, that were "more about legacy building and partisan politics than good public policy."

"Consumers and insurers both deserve a process that is effective, efficient and transparent. Regretfully, this is far from what you left me," he wrote.

"In closing, I note that you repeatedly use the word "disappointed" in regard to the manner in which the Department and I have addressed this issue. I, too, am disappointed. I am disappointed that the work product you left behind was flawed and needed to be fixed. But, even more so, I am disappointed by the cavalier attitude you display in making inflammatory pronouncements about changes you admit that you have not reviewed. The public deserves better."

Read the SacBee Capitol Alert post here: http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/012329.html

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