Capitol Report | New Mexico ? NM insurance boss gets job after his ...

THANKS, HONEY: John Franchini was named Superintendent of Insurance for New Mexico after his wife resigned her job. NM Watchdog photo.

ALBUQUERQUE ? John Franchini must have really wanted to become the superintendent of insurance for the state New Mexico. And he may have to buy his wife plenty of candy and flowers.

On Wednesday afternoon, the 67-year-old veteran of state politics announced his wife Julie had resigned her job as an underwriter for the Independent Insurance Agents of New Mexico and that cleared the way for the Insurance Nominating Committee to approve Franchini for the top job in an 8-0 vote.

?She will stay out of insurance completely,? Franchini told the committee after Mark Reynolds of the State Attorney General?s Office concluded that having Franchini?s wife working in the insurance industry ? even though her firm is a non-profit organization ? could be interpreted as a conflict of interest.

?I?ve agonized over this for the last few days and nights,? committee chairman Chris Krahling said. ?I think we?re doing the right thing, going by the letter of the law.?

Effective July 1, the insurance division becomes a stand-alone state agency after previously been part of the Public Regulation Commission. The Legislature passed a bill approving the switch and within the law a provision specifically stated the superintendent ?shall not have a spouse or child who has any direct financial interest in an insurer, insurance agency or insurance transaction except as a policyholder or a claimant??

The attorney general?s opinion concluded that as long as Julie Franchini was employed at her firm, ?Mr. Franchini may be disqualified from serving as State Superintendent of Insurance.?

?I?m not happy about it,? Franchini told the committee, saying he thinks the agency is being judged differently than other parts of state government, but said, ?I accept the attorney general?s statement.? Franchini said his wife is resigning immediately.

?It?s really important that the public sees there is no conflict and that this agency gets a clean slate,? committee member Jason Marks said.

?Appearances are important,? committee member Norman Becker said.

The decision means that Franchini continues as the state?s top insurance boss. He?s held a similar title when the agency?s been run through the PRC.

But PRC commissioner Pat Lyons has come out against a Franchini nomination.

In addition to the potential conflict of interest, Lyons alleged that Franchini ?tried to sneak through raises? for himself and members of his staff in May.

Franchini told the PRC he knew nothing about those increases but last week told the committee that he was in favor of the raises, saying some staff members were ?immorally? underpaid.

?He did an about-face,? Lyons told New Mexico Watchdog before Wednesday?s meeting. ?He didn?t tell the truth, it?s not right.?

?That was an unjustified criticism,? Franchini told New Mexico Watchdog after he had been confirmed. ?Pat is wrong. I can?t agree with that.?

The pay raise flap did not come up in Wednesday?s hearing.

After being told of Franchini?s confirmation, Lyons told New Mexico Watchdog, ?I got overruled on that ? I wish him the best and hope the new insurance commission does a great job for New Mexico.?

Franchini said his current job pays about $100,000 per year and could go up to $125,000. He said the loss of his wife?s salary would represent ?approximately a 30 percent? reduction in their household income.

?We have a lot to do,? Franchini told the committee about the newly-constituted agency, which is estimated to hire nearly 100 people and have a budget of $7.7 million. ?For the first few months, we?ll stumble a bit but we will address every consumer concern that comes our way ? The more open we are, the better we can serve the state.?

Contact Rob Nikolewski at rob@nmwatchdog.org and follow him on Twitter @robnikolewski

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 26th, 2013 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.capitolreportnewmexico.com/2013/06/nm-insurance-boss-gets-job-after-his-wife-quits-hers/

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