Ellington

Attorney General Jim Hood said he was worried about a bill pending in the U.S. Senate taking insurance industry oversight away from state officials. More specifically, the legislation, authored by Sens. John Sununu, R-N.H., and Tim Johnson, D-S.D., allows the insurance industry to set its own rates without state regulation. SB 2509 would create an Office of National Insurance within the Treasury Department.

"We can't get them to pay what they owe to Mississippians from Katrina, and now they want to take more money from the people," Hood said. "It's outrageous, and I want Mississippians to be aware of it."

Hood called for Mississippians to alert their elected representatives to concerns they may have over the legislation. "If it concerns you like it does me, then call your U.S. senators and let them know," Hood said.

Hood has made few friends in the insurance industry of late. Last year, he challenged Mississippi's top property insurance carriers in state court, claiming homeowners' policies that excluded water damage from hurricanes violated the state's Consumer Protection Act and deprived consumers of coverage choices. Hood also announced last month that he had convened a grand jury to investigate whether insurers, including State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., improperly denied Hurricane Katrina claims by pressuring engineering firms to doctor damage reports.

Jenny Manley, spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., told The Clarion-Ledger that Cochran preferred more local control, saying the needs of Mississippi may be different from those of California, and that Federal regulation may be unfit to police that kind of nationwide variety.