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Committee backs bill giving superintendent of insurance authority to issue investigative subpoenas
Summary
The committee recommended a do-pass for Senate Bill 124, which would authorize the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance to issue civil investigative subpoenas before initiating adjudicatory proceedings; the superintendent said the change would aid consumer-protection investigations.
Senate Bill 124, which would grant the state superintendent of insurance authority to issue civil investigative subpoenas during pre-enforcement investigations, received a do-pass recommendation from the House State Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee.
Alice Kane, superintendent of insurance, told the committee that most state agencies already have similar subpoena authority and that the insurance office can now issue subpoenas only after a hearing or when already in litigation. Kane said the proposed change would let the office investigate suspected wrongdoing or incomplete data responses from insurers proactively, enabling earlier consumer-protection action. "One of the major purposes of the office of the superintendent of insurance is to protect consumers," Kane said, and subpoena power would allow investigators to gather needed information before initiating a hearing.
Committee members asked whether the change would require court involvement and whether it raised constitutional concerns; Kane and her staff answered that the office has administrative adjudicatory processes and that subpoenas would be used to determine whether a formal hearing or other enforcement action is warranted. Proponents said giving the superintendent subpoena power aligns the office with common practice in other states and many other state agencies.
Representative Anya Narnu moved a do-pass recommendation; the committee recorded a do-pass recommendation on the hearing record.
