AI summary: Waste of the Day: CA Insurance Commissioner’s Costly Travels
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara skipped a key Senate hearing on property insurance after the LA fires—to give a 15-minute speech in Bermuda. Days later, he greenlit State Farm’s emergency rate hike of up to 38%.
Since 2019, Lara’s taken at least 56 work trips, costing taxpayers over $30K (and likely more due to missing records). Destinations include Paris, Colombia, Egypt, and more. Some trips were funded in part by outside groups, but the public still picked up $26K+ in full travel expenses and another $4K+ for hotel and Uber costs.
He was also absent from both state insurance hearings held from 2021–2022.
Critics say Lara should be focused on California’s crises—not on global junkets.