Wisconsin Republicans Aim to Repeal Auto Insurance Mandates

Republican legislators in Wisconsin are trying to muster support for a bill that would repeal new minimum car insurance mandates. The state budget Gov. Jim Doyle signed earlier this year required all motorists to purchase liability insurance. The change raised the minimum coverage for liability, uninsured and underinsured motorists, and medical payments by tens of thousands of dollars.

A group of GOP lawmakers is proposing legislation they say will reset the minimum standards to pre-budget levels.

Rep. Joe Parisi, a Madison Democrat who’s on the Assembly Insurance Committee, blamed higher premiums on insurance industry stock market losses. But insurers say any increase in premiums is the result of the legislators’ work.