Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Early on, the just-completed session of the Legislature was famously declared the "session of the consumer." Homeowners were heartened by pronouncements from legislators on both sides of the political aisle about the need to address the problems plaguing our insurance system. The House voted unanimously to take up homeowners insurance reform this session, refusing to punt to the next session or beyond. At one point last year, even Gov. Rick Perry said he was tired of carrying the insurance industry’s water, though he used much more colorful language to articulate his frustration.

Now, the silence is deafening.

Efforts to lower rates, improve coverage and rein in claims-handling abuses died a slow and painful death. Instead of any meaningful improvements to our market, homeowners were left with the same tired excuses about partisanship and lobby influence blocking its passage.

What happened? Insurance reform became a victim of petty partisanship. By choosing to place partisan interests over the real problems facing our state, the leadership handed the insurance companies a huge victory.

The industry lobbyists knew that if reform came to a vote, they would lose. Public opinion is against them and the pressure was on lawmakers to vote in favor of their constituents’ interests. But instead of standing up to the special interests, the leadership wilted under the pressure. When it became clear that insurance reform was dead, you could almost hear the clinking of champagne flutes from the offices of insurance lobbyists all over town.

Perry says that he is planning to bring lawmakers back for a special session, probably sometime this summer. Only he can decide what lawmakers will consider. He must put insurance reform on the agenda.

Failure to act would be the kind of irresponsibility that comes with a steep political price.

In February, Texas Watch commissioned Hill Research to conduct a scientific statewide survey of likely voters to ask about their perceptions of the homeowners insurance market. More than 70 percent of the Texans who responded want comprehensive insurance reforms that will make our market fairer and more transparent with real accountability protections for consumers. In fact, 71 percent said that they are more likely to vote for lawmakers who support reforms that will address the "Three C’s" of insurance reform — cost, coverage and claims handling.

Without action by the governor and Legislature, we face at least two more years of excessive rates, inadequate coverage and claims-handling misdeeds on the part of insurance companies. We pay the highest insurance rates in the country; our market is so convoluted that consumers don’t know whether they are covered for something until it is too late; and insurers are using credit scoring, data mining and pattern recognition to decide whom to cover and how much to charge. If we’ve learned anything over the last year, it is that complex financial institutions like banks and insurance companies simply cannot be allowed to go without true oversight.

Texas homeowners have waited long enough for the promise of real insurance reform. Governor, make that promise a reality. Put insurance reform on the agenda.