View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2019/04/10/523394.htm
California’s Senate Insurance Committee on Wednesday passed legislation aimed at promoting diversity in the state’s insurance industry.
Senate Bill 534, introduced by Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, would require the largest carriers to report on their level of contracting with businesses owned by women, people of color, veterans and LGBT individuals.
It would also require insurers to report on the diversity of their governing boards and set goals for supplier and board diversity.
The measure was supported by testimony from the California Department of Insurance, members of the department’s Insurance Diversity Task Force and The Greenlining Institute.
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association has taken no position on the bill.
Data collected by the CDI in 2017 showed that 80 percent of major insurers’ governing board seats were held by men while just 12 percent were held by people of color. Of nearly 2,400 total board seats, only 14 members self-identified as LGBT, while 13 percent of insurance companies reported zero women and 35 percent reported zero persons of color on their boards, according to CDI data.
The bill now moves to the Senate Judiciary Committee.