Credit

I have written before about all the laws that get passed in this conservative state. Hundreds of bills make it into law each session, at least half, I swear, are working to fix problems from bills passed the year before. Sometimes I think it’s just legislators trying to get credit for being effective, actually doing something. Believe me, it can be tempting.

I went to a conference for legislators in November about energy in the northwest. I was struck by one suggestion that selling automobile insurance by the mile has been shown to decrease driving, thus save energy. People are more thoughtful, more conservative about choosing to drive if they realize the mile by mile cost. Most auto insurance is sold by the year, or six months and the different amount you drive isn’t really considered. The presenter who suggested this thought most states needed minor changes to their insurance code to make the sale of “per mile” auto insurance legal.

I love conservation. I also thought maybe I could get some credit, some splash for a good idea. Ah, beware vanity. So I started investigating the Idaho Code. I got some help since it can be confusing. The first guy I talked to in Legislative Services office thought indeed we would need to change the code. Maybe I should write a bill! But I thought I should talk to the Department of Insurance before I started a draft. I talked to the Director when he wasn’t in meetings about the insurance exchange. He told me the Idaho code allowed for “by the mile” automobile liability insurance. In fact, Progressive had just applied to the Insurance Commission to sell such a policy. So we don’t need a bill.

I don’t mind not getting the credit. Maybe I’ll just check out the policy and see if I can save some money.

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