The Raleigh News & Observer reports today that Senate Majority leader Tony Rand (D- Allegedly) has authored a bill that is anti-consumer and a gift to the insurance lobby:

A bill introduced in the state Senate calls for stripping the North Carolina insurance commissioner's authority to set rates on auto, homeowners and workers' compensation insurance.

Under the measure, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand at the urging of the insurance industry, a Superior Court judge would rule on rate disputes after conducting a hearing. Currently, the insurance commissioner presides over such hearings and determines the maximum rates that insurers can charge.

NC has a relatively strong Insurance Commissioner. To the industry, that's a bad thing. The solution, of course, is to strip him of his ability to regulate rates. And on top of that, the burden of proof would be reversed, so that insurance companies would almost automatically be granted whatever rate hikes they sought. This is a play right out of the GOP playbook. Why would an alleged Democrat even consider this, let alone author it?