JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Months after Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said he wanted to see his role become an appointed position, a bill to fulfill that request has been filed.
The 2025 Legislative Session is well underway, and District 25 Sen. Walter Michel has introduced S.B. 2024, which would transition the position from an elected role to an appointed one beginning on July 1, 2025.
Michel said he filed the bill at the behest of Chaney, saying the commissioner thinks an appointed insurance head would be a better model for the state.
“He does an excellent job… If he didn’t want it, I would have [introduced] it,” he said.
If passed, Chaney would be allowed to serve out the remainder of his four-year term before a new commissioner is appointed. The next commissioner also would be appointed if Chaney left office before his current term expires.
The commissioner would be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The person selected would have to be a resident of the state, be at least 30 years old, and have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
He or she also would be selected based on their knowledge and experience with risk management and the insurance industry, as well as “demonstrated administrative and management ability.”
Meanwhile, as commissioner, they would not be allowed to manage or control any company that could be impacted by his or her role. They also could not be a candidate for or hold any other public office.
“We would find the most qualified person rather than a person running who doesn’t have as strong a background in insurance getting elected,” Michel said. “It’s a very large agency… Insurance is very important to Mississippi.”
Michel said people often think about insurance when they remember Hurricane Katrina but pointed out that Mississippi is part of Tornado Alley. He said last year’s drought conditions also made the state more susceptible to wildfires like the ones going on in Los Angeles.
“Then you look at health insurance. That’s a whole other world,” he said.
Chaney has been advocating for the position to be appointed for some time, saying it would make the job easier to perform and take out the politics of it.
[READ: Mississippi Insurance Commissioner advocating to change the job from elected to appointed]
Right now, the insurance commissioner is one of eight statewide elected offices.
The others are governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture, and auditor.
Chaney shared several instances where politics had gotten in the way of his office back in September, including in 2012, when the commissioner wanted to set up a state-run healthcare exchange in response to the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
“In 2012, we would have had a state-based exchange, except for the political winds at that time were against anything that had anything to do with the president at that time’s administration,” he said, referring to then-President Barack Obama.
The bill also reflects Chaney’s request that the position be for six years, and not at the will and pleasure of the governor.
“When you’re appointed, you are appointed unless you do something wrong, and that gives stability to the job. That’s what most states have,” he said.
According to Repairer Driven News, 39 out of 50 U.S. states appoint commissioners. The 11 states that elect them are Mississippi, Georgia, California, Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Delaware, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota and Washington.
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