Also tucked in the state budget, which was passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Doyle, were two key provisions that mandate changes to auto insurance. The first requires that all motorists must purchase liability insurance. The second change dramatically raises the minimum coverage levels for liability, uninsured, and underinsured motorist and medical payments by tens of thousands of dollars. In fact, this latter provision has resulted in more costly premiums for some motorists across the state by about 33-43%.
Therefore, I have joined my colleagues in introducing legislation that would repeal the costly changes to raise the minimum coverage levels, but keep the provision requiring every driver to have liability insurance. The bill, Assembly Bill (AB) 525, recently was given a public hearing by the Assembly Committee on Insurance. I support passing AB 525 as soon as possible to bring much needed relief to families across the state and urge the committee to hold a vote on the bill.
Prior to the passage of the state budget, Wisconsin motorists enjoyed some of the most affordable auto insurance premiums in the nation. However, with the passage of the budget, Wisconsinites now have some of the highest coverage minimums in the nation.
These expensive changes are not needed. Before the changes in the budget, the minimum auto coverage levels were sufficient to cover over 90% of all auto accident claims. I do not believe Madison should be requiring drivers to pay hundreds of dollars more for unnecessarily high levels of insurance.
Instead of your state government passing provisions that increase costs for families, it needs to be doing all it can to help create jobs and improve our economy. I will continue to encourage the passage of AB 525, along with numerous other job-creating pieces of legislation designed to improve our state’s economy.