EDITORIAL: Process Bypassed, so Shut Up and Pay Up

By Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.

Oct. 29--It's pretty apparent why state Assembly Majority Leader Tom Nelson got into politics. The Democrat from Kaukauna is trying to get us to believe the unbelievable.

Nelson and his fellow Democrats passed a state budget this summer that contained a number of nonbudget items. One such provision will, for the first time, require everyone licensed to drive in Wisconsin to have auto insurance. The legislation also mandates higher minimum levels of liability coverage as well as requires "underinsured" coverage for the first time.

The first of these changes takes effect Sunday. So naturally people are starting to complain about the strong likelihood of paying higher auto insurance costs at a time when personal income is lagging or falling for many. Insurance agents are telling their customers the higher costs were mandated by the Legislature that passed the bill and Gov. Jim Doyle, who signed it.

Nelson, apparently with a straight face, said the bill he and his colleagues passed has absolutely nothing to do with the coming increase in auto insurance rates. "Any premium increases are due to business decisions of insurance providers rather than any action taken by the Legislature," Nelson told The Associated Press.

If you believe that, you'll believe anything. Maybe Nelson is doing an experiment to test the stupidity of the populace.

We can argue whether the legislation was wise and fair, or that it's a bit much in a bad economy. Nelson may not be 100 percent wrong in his claim that some insurance companies might use these new mandates as cover to increase profits, although something called competition presumably should take care of any potential gouging.

No, the real sin here is the Democrats' decision to stuff this nonbudget item into the budget bill to keep the public clueless. The Leader-Telegram used this space to oppose the bill for this very reason back in April. We used it again when we published a column by Todd Berry, president of the nonpartisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, warning about how such maneuvers bypass the legislative process, and we editorialized against the unseemly process one more time as the budget neared completion.

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