Around the PIA Western Alliance States -  Week of August 18, 2025

Alaska — Juneau Flooding: Last week, flooding from nearby Mendenhall Glacier forced residents of Juneau to either be on high alert or leave their dwellings. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put up a very high wall of sandbags to stem the flooding and, so far, it has stemmed the tide.

So far.

A couple of years ago the flooding was worse as water flowed into Mendenhall Lake. There was so much water that it overflowed its banks and destroyed several homes.

The Juneau Assembly is forcing the homeowners in the area to cover 40% of the cost of putting the barrier in place. That’s about $6,300 per home and will be assessed over the next decade. Some homeowners had to throw in $50,000 to build the reinforcement.

As expected, a lot of them objected to that cost.

Juneau’s engineering and public works deputy director, Nate Ramsey said city is now looking at a permanent solution. “There’s still a lot to be learned,” he said. “We have to assume this will be an annual event for the next many, many years. Is something like a temporary, soil-filled basket levy the best we can do over that period of time? … We’ve got to keep looking for a long-term solution.”

The Army Corps of Engineers has thrown in $5 million to start the work on a long-term solution.

Source link: Insurance Journal — https://bit.ly/3HEk3Tz

Montana — Work Comp Insurer Violated State Laws: The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a decision that said Victory Insurance Co. violated state law by canceling policies and then rewriting them with a new company.

Victory apparently entered into an agreement with Clear Spring Property and Casualty to “reinsure” a number of policies and sent a notice to those policy holders that a switch was being made.

The email went like this: “To further reduce your business’ workers compensation premiums while increasing coverage options, effective January 1, 2020, your Victory Insurance Company policy has been upgraded to Clear Spring policy number [number].”

The Montana State Auditor James Brown said the company illegally canceled the policies and could face a $2.7 million fine. Upon hearing that, Victory said the policies canceled and the new policies with Clear Spring Property and Casualty were exactly the same and asked for a hearing.

The hearing examiner agreed with Brown and said Victory committed 165 violations of the state’s insurance code and fined the company $250,000 and suspended $150,000 of that amount.

Victory appealed and lost.

The Montana Supreme Court said, “there is one material difference between the two sets of policies: the issuing insurer. An insured’s ability to choose the insurer with whom they are contracting is at the very core of market competition and Montana law assumes that the parties to a contract ‘are in the best position to make decisions in their own interest.’”

Source link: Business Insurance — https://bit.ly/4lx5Zt3

New Mexico — Crime Emergency Declaration: New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared a state of emergency in an area across Northern New Mexico, and that includes two Native American pueblo communities. She has awarded $750,000 to local governments in Rio Arriba County.

Officials with the tribe and local governments asked for help against the violent crimes that have broken out in recent weeks. Tribal leader and Santa Clara Governor James Naranjo sent a letter to the governor asking for help.

“The pueblo has expended thousands of dollars trying to address this crisis … and to protect pueblo children who are directly and negatively affected by a parent’s or guardian’s addiction,” he said in the letter. “But we are not an isolated community and the causes and effects of fentanyl/alcohol abuse, increased crime, and increased homelessness extend to the wider community.”

The governor responded and said, “The surge in criminal activity has contributed to increased homelessness, family instability and fatal drug overdoses, placing extraordinary strain on local governments and police departments that have requested immediate state assistance.”

This isn’t a first for New Mexico. In April of this year the governor declared Albuquerque a crime center and sent the New Mexico National Guard to help police with crime. In 2023 she banned the right to carry guns in public parks and playgrounds because gun violence was killing kids.

Source link: Insurance Journal — https://bit.ly/3HJWWqy

Oregon — Oregon Division of Financial Regulation earns NAIC accreditation: The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) recently received its five-year accreditation from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The association announced the news at its summer conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last week. The purpose of NAIC accreditation is to ensure that state insurance departments meet baseline standards of solvency regulation, particularly with respect to regulation of multistate insurers.

“We are honored to have earned accreditation, and it is due to the exceptional efforts of Division of Financial Regulation Deputy Administrator Kirsten Anderson, Chief Analyst Paul Throckmorton, and Chief Examiner Teresa Borrowman, along with the entire Insurance Institutions team,” acting Insurance Commissioner TK Keen said. “As financial transactions, filings, and company structures become more complex, we are proud to have a financial regulation team that is up for the challenge and has been recognized for its continued excellence.”

Accreditation is awarded only after a detailed, comprehensive review process. The accreditation program at NAIC includes a pre-accreditation review one year before the full review, a full accreditation review that occurs every five years, and interim annual reviews. The full accreditation review DFR underwent included an analysis of state laws and regulations, the agency’s financial analysis and examinations processes, oversight and organizational practices, and primary licensing and re-domestication practices.

“We take our responsibility to protect consumers very seriously in monitoring insurers for solvency and compliance,” Keen said. “Earning NAIC accreditation is a testament to our staff’s professionalism, competence, and expertise in financial regulation, and reaffirms our commitment to rigorous oversight.”

Getting accredited through NAIC’s program gives state regulators the ability to work with other states’ financial regulation practices and improves the potential for coordination across states through comprehensive exams and enforcement actions.

Washington — R 2025-06 Supplemental long-term care insurance prepublication draft posted: We released a prepublication draft for the supplemental long-term care insurance rule (R 2025-06). The rule will implement ESSB 5291 by creating a new chapter within Title 284 WAC specific to supplemental long-term care, and amending various other sections within Title 284. 

We scheduled an interested party meeting to discuss the rule:

When: August 26, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time (U.S. and Canada)

Where: via Zoom — https://bit.ly/4mHnFDL

Comments on the prepublication draft are due August 27, 2025. Please send comments to rulescoordinator@oic.wa.gov.