Three New Editorial Boards Announce "NO on Proposition 33" Recommendations

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Oct 18, 2012, 05:42 ET

Prop 33, Backed by One Insurance Billionaire, Will Raise Car Insurance Rates on Good Drivers

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three more California newspapers, the Stockton Record, La Opinion, and the Chico News & Review, have joined the flood of papers urging voters to reject Proposition 33, the ballot measure sponsored by one insurance billionaire to raise car insurance rates on good drivers.

Proposition 33 will allow insurance companies to raise rates on Californians with perfect driving records who have a break in insurance coverage for almost any reason, even if they weren't driving at the time. 99.5% of the funds behind Prop 33, $16.4 million, was given by insurance billionaire George Joseph, the chairman of Mercury Insurance. Mercury sponsored an almost identical initiative just two years ago, Prop 17, which was rejected by the voters.

The Stockton Record says: "Don't let Prop 33 fool you. Measure would most likely raise rates on auto insurance for everyone. …What's in it for Joseph and the big insurance company he heads? The short answer is money."

The Chico News & Review says: "Throw away this lemon, Proposition 33 is just a retread of an earlier loser, 2010's Proposition 17. …If 33 passes, it will allow [George Joseph] to cherry-pick the customers he wants and raise rates for millions of California motorists, many of whom have perfect driving records."

La Opinion says: "Nos preocupa que se incremente el costo del seguro a las personas financieramente más vulnerables y que el impacto final de esta iniciativa sea que haya más conductores manejando sin seguro en la calle."

Translated: "It troubles us that it will increase the cost of insurance for the most financially vulnerable and that the initiative's final impact will be more uninsured drivers on the road."

The editorial boards recommending a No vote on Prop 33 include, in part: The Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union-Tribune, Bakersfield Californian, San Jose Mercury News, Riverside Press-Enterprise, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Ventura County Star, Fresno Bee, North County Times, Contra Costa Times, Daily Breeze, San Bernardino Sun, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Los Angeles Daily News, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Santa Clarita Valley Signal, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Sacramento News & Review, Bell Gardens Sun, Stockton Record, La Opinion, Chico News & Review, Pasadena Journal, Beverly Hills Courier and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Read the No on Proposition 33 editorials here: http://stopprop33.consumerwatchdogcampaign.org/feature/california-newspapers-agree-vote-no-prop-33

Proposition 33 would overturn a law that has protected consumers against auto insurance discrimination for 24 years, Proposition 103. That law prohibited insurance companies from raising car insurance rates on the basis of insurance history, and has saved drivers $62 billion since voters enacted it at the ballot in 1988.

For more information visit http://stopprop33.consumerwatchdogcampaign.org

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog Campaign