Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 44
CHAPTER 145
Relative to Holocaust era insurance policies.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
August 17, 2004.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 44, Koretz.
Holocaust era insurance policies.
The Holocaust Victim Insurance Relief Act of 1999 requires any insurer doing business in California to disclose information about all policies that were sold in Europe by the insurer or a related company and that were in effect between 1920 and 1945. A recent ruling by the United States Supreme Court held this act unconstitutional.
This measure would urge the Insurance Commissioner to investigate any feasible alternatives to enacting state law that would serve to increase the likelihood that payments may be made to the heirs of Holocaust victims, and would urge the United States Congress to immediately enact legislation to require insurance companies to disclose their Holocaust era policy information.
Digest Key
WHEREAS, Many families in Europe during World War II purchased life insurance policies as financial protection for loved ones who would survive the war; and
WHEREAS, After the Nazis came to power in the early 1930s, they systematically confiscated the assets and insurance policy documents of Jews and other victims, and did not issue death certificates for the countless Jews and untold others murdered in concentration camps; and
WHEREAS, After the war, several insurers, many of which have California affiliates, refused to pay on valid policies because survivors did not have adequate documentation, thus making the victims of the Holocaust and their heirs unable to collect the proceeds from life insurance policies that they are rightfully owed; and
WHEREAS, Because in some instances, recollections of the very existence of insurance policies may have perished along with Holocaust victims, insurance company records may be the only proof of insurance held by Holocaust survivors or their heirs; and
WHEREAS, In 1998, the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC) was created to facilitate the expeditious processing of unpaid insurance policies issued to Holocaust victims; and
WHEREAS, The ICHEIC launched its claims process in February 2000, and has received over 85,000 claims from all over the world, of which 2,357 were from California; and
WHEREAS, California enacted the Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act in 1999 to require insurers to release detailed information about policies they sold in Europe between 1920 and 1945; and
WHEREAS, Approximately five California insurers have provided documents in full compliance with the state statutes and approximately 100 have refused to comply; and
WHEREAS, In July 2002, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the 1999 Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act was constitutional; and
WHEREAS, On Monday, June 23, 2003, the United States Supreme Court in American Insurance Association, et al. v. John Garamendi, Insurance Commissioner, State of California (2003) 539 U.S. 396 overturned the lower court ruling, holding that California’s Holocaust Victims Insurance Relief Act was unconstitutional; and
WHEREAS, The Insurance Commissioner has stated that for more than 60 years insurance companies have held money that does not belong to them and are disregarding the legitimate heirs of Holocaust victims, refusing to provide basic insurance policy information that could help them collect on policies bought by their ancestors; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California urges the California Attorney General, along with the California Insurance Commissioner, to investigate any feasible alternatives to enacting state law that would serve to increase the likelihood that payments may be made to the heirs of Holocaust victims; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California urges, in the strongest possible terms, the United States Congress to immediately enact legislation to require insurance companies to disclose their Holocaust era policy information, for further delay is an abrogation of responsibility and a miscarriage of justice; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, the President of the Senate of the United States, the California Insurance Commissioner, and each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.