MORE TROUBLE FOR QUACKENBUSH

Deputy Commissioner George Grays added his resignation to the current tumult at California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush’s office. Grays reportedly played a role in facilitating controversial donations made by insurers to educational foundations set up by Quackenbush. These donations are now under scrutiny from the State Assembly panel, the Senate Insurance Committee, the Fair Political Practices Commission and California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer’s office. The Los Angeles Times reported that out of the $11.6 million deposited in the California Research and Development Foundation, almost half had been given to social service groups, minority community projects and athletic programs. The remaining $6 million had not been distributed to Northridge quake victims. Quackenbush reportedly called the contributions part of an “outreach to minority communities that have been historically underserved by the insurance industry.”