Declarations

All I want for Christmas is …

“On our Christmas wish list is to have somebody come back into the residential artisan contractor market. Pricing has gone way up for small guys in the artisan contractor/residential market.”

— Barbara Parker-Hatch, executive vice president for Yates & Associates, on challenges in the insurance industry she expects will continue from 2006 into 2007.

Commissioner take II

“I think it’s going to be fun to get to know him, and hopefully his office will be an open office. Really, after the current commissioner, all you can do is hope.”

— David Nielson, executive director for the California Alliance of Insurance Agents and Brokers, commenting on working with Steve Poizner. Poizner was recently elected California Insurance Commissioner and will be sworn in in Jan. 2007.

Agent compensation

“We contend that there’s nothing wrong with contingent commissions. Companies shouldn’t blindly follow along [with settlements]. You need to have solutions that fit the needs of your sales force and the competitive environment.”

— Clark Payan, CEO of Insurance Brokers and Agents of the West (IBA West), commenting on recent settlements by insurance companies that agreed to eliminate contingent commissions, following the Spitzer investigations.

Axe the tax proposal

“Providing adequate law enforcement for Oregon is always a priority for state and local officials. But, to burden motorists with a multi-million-dollar tax to hire additional troopers at a time when the state has a budget surplus makes no sense.”

— Kenton Brine, Northwest regional manager for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, commenting on Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski’s proposal to impose a sales tax on drivers that the PCI believes would raise automobile insurance premiums by millions of dollars. According to PCI, the governor announced the tax plan as part of a $14.9 billion state budget proposal he unveiled in advance of the 2007 legislative session that will begin convening on Jan. 8. Revenue from the new tax on drivers would be used to hire an additional 139 Oregon state troopers, PCI said.

Security at warp speed

“The time is now to establish a single standard for securing citizens’ personal information regardless of whether it is housed within federal, state or local government, private sector or educational institutions. Americans are being victimized by data breaches and current laws are inadequate to protect and notify them.”

— Paul Kurtz, executive director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance, calling on the new Congress to make it a priority to enact a law to secure sensitive personal information. He noted a complex web of regulations has been created by numerous state-level data security laws.(AP)