Did Republican Steve Stivers, a former bank lobbyist and current candidate for Congress, allow representatives of the insurance industry to write insurance legislation for the state of Ohio? You decide.
LifeSettlements Wire (5/6/08):
Ohio state Sen. Steve Stivers told about 25 representatives of the life insurance and life settlements industries to reach a compromise on life settlement legislation or risk that neither group may like what legislators come up with.
The gathering in Columbus, Ohio, occurred on May 6, according to Shawn Busken, legislative aide for the senator. Stivers is chairman of the state Senate's Insurance, Commerce and Labor Committee.
"He put them together and said, 'It's in your best interest to negotiate this. Otherwise you'll be stuck with the decisions of the committee and the will of the committee, and it might not be in your favor,'" Busken said.....
Aren't these legislative committees obligated to write bills to protect citizens? Why did Stivers allow these insurance people to have this much input for insurance legislation? Did these insurance executives write the insurance legislation to fit their needs and then hand it to Stivers? What do you think?
In case you are interested, the insurance PACs have been very, very good to Steve Stivers.
FEC (Federal Elections Commission):
I'm sorry if I've omitted any insurance contributor to the Stivers campaign.
Meanwhile, Stivers is still whining about how he could not get the camp background check loophole fixed. If he really wanted to fix the loophole, he would have gotten it done. He pushed teacher background checks and legislation was passed at the speed of light. The camp background checks are even more important because children often spend the entire summer in sleepover camps.
Stivers seems to have his priorities mixed up. Does he care more for insurance/oil/bank PACs than the little campers?