Insurance surprises in Doyle's budget

By State Sen. Sheila Harsdorf
Gov. Jim Doyle's state budget bill, now before the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, determines taxes and spending over a two-year period. However, the budget bill includes more than just revenue and expenditure items found in a typical budget. The governor also included 80 nonfiscal policy items identified by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
While it is not uncommon for governors to include nonfiscal policy items in their budget proposals, in recent sessions, the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Committee have agreed to remove them and introduce them as individual bills. Unfortunately, this session the co-chairs removed less than half of these policy items and left in the budget some items that will have significant impact on our everyday lives and have nothing to do with state taxing or spending.
A couple of surprises in the budget would directly impact insurance premiums for cars and liability insurance for organizations such as businesses, churches and charities.
The first proposal would mandate dramatically higher auto insurance coverage limits. It is estimated this would increase auto insurance premiums by as much as 33 percent. It would increase minimums of $25,000 for each person injured, $50,000 for each accident and $10,000 for property damage to $100,000, $300,000 and $25,000 respectively. Wisconsin has the most affordable auto insurance premiums in the nation, but that would change quickly if this budget provision stays.
The second proposal would redefine who pays liability damages for injury costs. Current law says a defendant must meet a 51 percent threshold to be held responsible for up to 100 percent of the injury cost. However, the governor's budget says an individual, employer, charity or church that is even 1 percent liable could be held responsible for 100 percent of damages. It is worth nothing that if one is simply present, he or she is partially liable.
Regardless of our positions, we should not cower from having a direct vote on these issues. That is why I have joined with more than 30 of my colleagues in asking the Joint Finance Committee co-chairs to pull these provisions from the budget bill and introduce them as separate bills.
Harsdorf, R-River Falls, represents the 10th District in the state Senate.