“If the insurance commissioner’s office isn’t able to provide answers as to the government purpose of this travel, I think it’s absolutely appropriate for us to move forward requesting an audit so we can get answers for the taxpayers,” said Vice Chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee Greg Wallis.
The Senate Insurance Committee recently held its first insurance briefing of the year. This critical meeting was held to provide key updates on the state’s insurance market, and the unknowns regarding the wildfires that occurred at the beginning of the year. Notably, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara was reportedly absent.
He was in Bermuda, on vacation. Again.
Lara’s many overseas excursions have come into question lately, as it appears that his recent vacations to Bogota, Paris, and Toronto were fully funded by taxpayers. Reporting by ABC’s 7 On Your Side found at least 46 trips among Lara’s expenses, with “a significant chunk of the records are missing, [which] the state has been unable to provide.” This includes “work-related trips” to Singapore, Cape Town, Dublin, Costa Rica, Chile, Egypt, Tokyo, Glasgow, and Dubai.
It’s anyone’s guess why the Commissioner would be in such high demand—and, apparently, state officials are just as confused. ABC’s reporting reveals that the state is still attempting to determine if there is any government purpose behind his frequent travel.
Putting aside the credible allegations that Lara is draining taxpayer dollars for personal vacations, he has furthermore missed over half of the state insurance hearings held since he assumed office in 2019. In fact, he was reportedly absent for 7 of the 9 total meetings with the Senate Insurance Committee.
“I think there’s definitely value to being able to take trips like this—meet with people, leaders across the globe,” said Vice Chair of the Assembly Insurance Committee Greg Wallis (R-Riverside). “The bigger question here is why we’re not able to identify the government purpose of this travel.”
Wallis acknowledged that he, too, takes routine trips to meet with stakeholders residing in other states, but went on to state that “if the insurance commissioner’s office isn’t able to provide answers as to the government purpose of this travel, I think it’s absolutely appropriate for us to move forward requesting an audit so we can get answers for the taxpayers.”
In November of last year, Lara was faced with frustration from California residents who were suddenly dropped from their insurance, and dealing with dramatically increasing premiums. It took investigators dozens of attempts via phone and email to get in touch with Lara regarding the matter. After eight weeks, they finally received a very weak response: “I have no idea this was the case; I’ve been busy traveling the state,” Lara said. “I apologize for that. I wasn’t aware.”
Back in 2019, during Lara’s first six months as insurance commissioner, his travel, including both domestic and international, cost California taxpayers, at the very least, $33,000. It was clear that these trips had little to do with the insurance industry, as the purpose of his week-long, all-expenses-paid trip to Colombia was to attend an LGBTQ Political Leaders Conference. Another taxpayer funded trip included his flight and five-star hotel stay in New York during Pride Fest.
“He travels a lot… he’s everywhere but his chair!” Ray Asbell, long-time California Department of Insurance (CDI) and California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) employee, told ABC7. “”How do you represent the state if you’re not even there at these meetings? Sure, you can send your staff, but I think it sends a message of what he views as important.”
California residents are outraged. “CA Insurance Commish Ricardo Lara has Latin American oligarch privilege. He is on vacation at the most inappropriate moments—like when insurers are pulling out of CA—and his staff can’t identify any business purposes for his trips,” said one user on Twitter/X.
“So…you’re not saying this great lawmaker in California used my hard earned tax dollars for inappropriate activities, are you?” asks another.
When asked to respond to the current situation regarding Commissioner Lara’s frequent absence, an insurance industry expert responded that “California’s foundation is cracking under the weight of poor leadership – political ambition overriding practical governance. We need new leadership to secure a stable and prosperous future for California’s insurance industry.”
