California Fights to Keep Insurers Despite Fire Risk

Insurance companies like The Allstate Corp. and State Farm have experienced one too many devastating wildfire seasons in California. Many are looking to exit the market in impacted communities, but a powerful state lawmaker is trying to keep them.

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Mike McGuire is a Democrat representing a Northern California district directly affected by wildfires, and he just became the top ranking member of the California State Senate. Many of his constituents say they’ve gotten non-renewal notices or steep rate hikes. He wants to require insurers to issue policies to property owners who take wildfire mitigation measures.

On this episode of On The Merits, our California correspondent Andrew Oxford tells us why insurers no longer want to cover climate-vulnerable areas and what politicians like McGuire can do about it.

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