An insurance victory

LEGISLATORS FROM the more northern parts of Alabama seem to be catching on to the threat the deteriorating coastal insurance market poses to the state as a whole.

On Thursday the state Senate passed a basic and noncontroversial element of the reforms needed to make homeowners insurance more affordable in the areas of Mobile and Baldwin counties most threatened by hurricanes. The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Ben Brooks, R-Mobile, would allow the owners of homes that meet international building codes to receive a discount on their insurance premiums.

But hold the euphoria over this minor victory: The bill still has to make it through the House, which, following the example of the Senate, has recently been tied in knots by dueling partisan filibusters over matters unrelated to insurance.

However, coastal homeown ers can find some encouragement from the fact the bill made it through the Senate without being challenged by the likes of Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, who warned last month that north Alabama lawmakers would frown on subsidizing the Gulf Coast.

The homeowners' premium credit isn't a "subsidy" of any kind; it's an incentive for hurricane-resistant building that promises to reduce the cost — to homeowners, insurers and state and federal taxpayers — of major storms.

This is a small but welcome step toward stabilizing the coastal insurance market. Other proposals pending in the Legislature would provide additional help, including a bill to allow homeowners to set up tax-deductible savings accounts to cover their insurance deductibles. The best long-term hope for reducing homeowners' insurance bills lies in measures that promote competition among insurers.