Assembly Panel OKs Automobile Insurance Measure

SACRAMENTO — The Assembly Insurance Committee has passed an automobile insurance measure proposed by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown as a rival to a low-cost, no-fault policy supported by Gov. Pete Wilson.

Brown’s bill, sent to the Ways and Means Committee on a 10-4 vote, is designed to reduce fraud, improve vehicle safety and enact a more stringent mandatory insurance law.

By cutting costs and reducing the number of uninsured motorists, Brown said, he hopes to create sufficient savings in the insurance system to subsidize a $300-a-year policy for low-income motorists with good driving records.

Brown opposes a measure by state Sen. Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton) and supported by Wilson that would create a $220 annual insurance policy available to all motorists.

Unlike Brown’s proposal, Johnston’s plan would dramatically change the state’s insurance system, creating a no-fault policy under which injured drivers would be compensated by their own insurance companies regardless of who was at fault in the accident.