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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

Illinois Senators Vow To Fight Discrimination In Car-Insurance Pricing

Jessie Schlacks / WNIJ

Two Illinois State Senators are pushing to fight what they say is discrimination in car-insurance pricing.

The effort follows an investigation by Consumer Reports and ProPublica that found people in minority neighborhoods pay up to 30 percent more than drivers in white areas, even when they have the same accident risk.

Tanya Watkins is with the Chicago activist group SOUL — Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation.

“Families in low-income communities need that 30 percent to put food on the table," she said. "They don’t need to give it to an insurance company as an additional tax for being poor and black.”

Watkins spoke at a news conference in support of legislation to prohibit discrimination by zip codes. That’s being added to a bill that would bar insurers from using credit scores to set rates.

But the Illinois Insurance Association says more drivers get lower rates because of credit scores than the other way around, and that discrimination based on address, race and other factors already is
prohibited.

Brian Mackey formerly reported on state government and politics for NPR Illinois and a dozen other public radio stations across the state. Before that, he was A&E editor at The State Journal-Register and Statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.