Ellis says his office is receiving more phone calls and letters on the car insurance changes right now than any other issue. He claims majority Democrats have taken Wisconsin from one of the least expensive states for auto insurance, to one of the most expensive.
Assembly Democratic Majority Leader Tom Nelson made waves earlier this month when he told an angry constituent it’s not the Legislature’s fault that premiums are rising. He later blamed the insurers’ desire for profits.
Andy Franken of the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance says Nelson is flat out wrong and it’s simple economics that when a person has to buy more of something, it will cost more.
Ellis says anyone who claims that the auto insurance companies are driving the increase are either misleading the public or, “they’re so dumb they don’t belong in the legislature.”
When Governor Doyle proposed the higher insurance levels in February, he said legal disputes involved more money than they should in car injuries and deaths. That’s because the current minimum insurance levels had not been changed in almost three decades.
Mike Kemmeter-WHBY contributed to this report
