Bill Would Leave Insurers With $500 Million Fox River Cleanup Tab

A bill that would force insurers to pick up the estimated $500 million tab to clean up the polluted Fox River has been passed by the Wisconsin Assembly on a 49-44 vote. The bill now heads to the Senate, but will not be considered before August. Called the Fair Claims Act, Assembly Bill 222 was proposed by a group of state legislators who represent the Fox River area and the approximately 100,000 workers employed by the paper manufacturers. It would force insurers to pay “all-sums” up to the policy’s limits due to a covered risk regardless of whether or not it occurred during the policy period.

American Insurance Association spokesman Jeffrey Junkas said insurers are cautiously optimistic because the Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz (R-17th), former chair of the Senate Agriculture and Insurance Committee, “understands the property/casualty industry very well.” While Schultz has not made a public statement about AB 222, he did oppose inserting it into the two-year budget package which is still being debated.