I’ve gotten the letter about the weeds. I’ve sat through the meetings. But if I want to see where my homeowners association dues go, I have the law on my side: a written request, 10 business days, no fee and at least $50 a day in damages if they stall.
New Mexico demands that much from the people who decide what color I can paint my fence. It should demand at least that much from the people who shape my homeowners policy.
My premium went up this year. Many of the standards behind your homeowners policies begin at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a private nonprofit where state and territorial regulators develop model laws and run an accreditation program. Its work helps states oversee insurers, but its influence also deserves scrutiny.
The current model isn’t perfect. I wish New Mexico had more control, and I don’t like how many decisions get made at insurance commissioner headquarters in Kansas City. But I like what’s brewing in Washington even less. If Sen. Elizabeth Warren has her way, our insurance industry will be torn apart, and both industry and consumers will suffer. Some radical liberal politicians want to hand insurance oversight to the federal government. That is a recipe for disaster.
The fight may feel far away, but New Mexico homeowners are already feeling the strain.
Superintendent Alice Kane told legislators that insurers declined to renew more than 6,200 homeowners policies in 2025, the highest on record. When coverage is getting harder to find, policyholders deserve to understand who shapes the rules and how those decisions are made.
Local problems need local solutions. Insurance regulation should remain in state hands, with stronger transparency built into that system.
If something on my policy looks wrong, I can drive to Santa Fe and talk to someone at the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance. I can call the legislator who represents my district, who votes on the statutes governing my policy.
Those officials know the challenges facing New Mexico homeowners. Moving authority to Washington would put decisions farther from the people who live with their consequences. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners gives our superintendent a forum to advocate for New Mexicans. It’s up to us to share our concerns and successes with her.
The Office of the Superintendent hosts opportunities for constituents to speak directly to it, like this virtual roundtable. But participation does not guarantee that New Mexico’s position will prevail. Accreditation standards can require state laws substantially similar to National Association of Insurance Commissioners models, giving the association’s decisions considerable influence over what legislators are asked to adopt.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has its flaws. But I’d rather have 56 commissioners in one room than a bunch of out-of-touch bureaucrats in Washington.
Each of those commissioners comes from a state or territory with its own weather, its own housing market and its own risks. A regulator who has watched the wildfire season in New Mexico understands our market in a way a federal agency never will.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners lets them share what works without giving up their own authority. I’m not asking to tear it down. I’m asking for more transparency, like public financial reporting and open meetings.
Those types of reform don’t require an act of Congress. Michigan has required the association to report annually to its insurance commissioner and both legislative insurance committees since 1998: revenues and expenditures, officer compensation, the pay of its five highest-paid managerial employees, every standard a state must adopt to keep accreditation, and whether the deliberations are open.
New Mexico should require the same disclosures.
An annual report would give legislators a regular opportunity to review the association’s spending, standards and decision-making. Policyholders could see what their regulator supports and what changes may be coming. Accountability would become a routine obligation rather than an occasional request.
The fix for insurance isn’t in Washington.
New Mexico can answer from Santa Fe, preserve state authority, and hold its insurance rules to the standard it already sets for my HOA.