Power To The People

Gulf Coast homeowners fed up with skyrocketing insurance premiums took their frustrations straight to lawmakers.

The House and Senate Banking and Insurance committees met in a joint session Wednesday to hear more than two hours of testimony on a series of insurance reform bills.

Stan Virden, a Baldwin County homeowner, boarded a bus early Wednesday morning, paid for by Sen. Ben Brooks and Sen. Trip Pittman. The bus carried 32 people to Montgomery to testify during the public hearing.

"We understand there are complicated politics that go into this," said Virden, who hoped lawmakers would see the people affected by the insurance crisis and put politics aside.

"We are hurting. We need help," said Richadean Crawford, who gave one of the most passionate speeches of the hearing. "We are not asking that someone else pay our premium. We're just asking if you could get it lowered, so we could pay it ourselves," she told the committee.

State Sen. Ben Brooks, who represents Mobile County, admits solving South Alabama's insurance problems will not be easy, but he hopes the public hearing will have an impact on lawmakers from other parts of the state.

"I don't think a lot of legislators really know how bad it is in some circles down there," said Brooks. "I thought the stories were really compelling and I think they'll help our effort up here."

The next step for the insurance reform bills is a committee vote, but that could still be several weeks away.