Playing politics with public notices

We’re only a few days into the state legislative session, and North Dakota newspaper publishers find themselves thrust into a battle to protect the public’s access to information.

Senate Bill (SB) 2143, a bill that would eliminate publication of insurance abstracts in newspapers, was heard by the Senate’s Industry, Business and Labor Committee last week.

Insurance abstracts, or short briefs that illustrate the financial position of insurance companies that write policies in North Dakota, are published in all the state’s newspapers three times each May, and have been for more than 100 years. The founding fathers of our state first enacted this law a mere six years after statehood, much in the form it exists today, because they felt citizens needed to know basic information about the insurance companies that serve them.

Now, insurance companies have drafted a bill, introduced by Sen. Mark Weber of Casselton, to remove insurance abstracts from newspapers completely.

Interestingly enough, this bill is also supported by N.D. Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread. He said in his testimony on Wednesday that he wants to “bring more efficiency” to the insurance commissioner’s office and eliminate burdens (i.e. costs) to the industry that are passed along to policyholders.

Publication is “at the discretion of the newspaper,” Godfread said, implying that there may be newspapers failing to publish insurance abstracts, and that there is no way for the public to know when they will be published. However, that is not correct. Again, it is codified in state law that newspapers publish insurance abstracts, and the North Dakota Newspaper Association (NDNA) ensures that all newspapers comply with the law every year. Insurance abstracts are published three weeks in May every year, and affidavits of publication are submitted by every newspaper for every insurance company with notices running. If we miss one or make a mistake, we must make good on it.

Godfread also said that very few people read insurance abstracts, and those who do can now easily find them on his agency’s website.

Readers, I don’t know about you, but I believe that having a government entity as the keeper of information is like hiring a fox to tend the hen house.

Newspapers are the place to put public information. We are non-partisan, private entities and are the source for all public notices currently required by state law. Further, a 2020 statewide survey conducted by Coda Ventures on behalf of NDNA found that 86% of North Dakota adults read a newspaper at least weekly, and 88% of them turn to newspapers when they are seeking public notices.

Another one of the arguments I have heard is that people look to the internet for this information, not newspapers. If that is the case, they will find those same insurance abstracts on our state public notice website, http://ndpublicnotices.newzgroup.com/. North Dakota newspapers led the way in establishing this statewide home on the internet for all public notices published by newspapers throughout the state, another service we provide to both government and industry. Public notices are available there for anyone to read, with no subscription required.

Newspapers didn’t ask for this fight. We know that local insurance agents are just as important to a small town economy as newspaper editors are, and the last thing we want to do is increase costs of services (i.e. insurance) to our readers. That said, I don’t know that you will find an insurance company willing to pass the savings along from not publishing abstracts to you, the consumer. In other words, your insurance premiums will not go down because they no longer have to publish financial statements in the newspaper.

Godfread argued that insurance abstracts are more of a revenue tool for newspapers than they are a source of information for the public.

“We are not here to kill rural newspapers,” Godfread said, and suggested that he’d rather propose state funding for newspapers than continue to publish insurance abstracts in them.

“We’d be more than open to discussing how to replace that revenue, what does that look like, I don’t think that’s a problem,” he added.

Yes, insurance abstracts are a source of revenue, but this isn’t just about money, and newspapers aren’t asking for a handout. We are asking for transparency and access to information for the public.

This is a slippery slope, readers. If this bill passes, the state agencies and legislators will go after another public notice next. Soon it will be your city council minutes or school board minutes that they want to remove from the local newspaper.

By keeping insurance abstracts in newspapers, we make them easily accessible to every resident of North Dakota.

Readers, if you want to keep reading public notices in your local newspaper, contact your state legislators and urge them to vote no on SB 2143.