‘Safari, limo, 5-star resorts: CA insurance boss’ taxpayer-funded travel, security raise questions’
By Katy Grimes
Katy Grimes, the Editor in Chief of the California Globe, is a long-time Investigative Journalist covering the California State Capitol, and the co-author of California’s War Against Donald Trump: Who Wins? Who Loses?
By Katy Grimes, October 2, 2025 5:03 pm
Where’s Ricardo? He’s not in his office, that’s for sure.
California’s elusive Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has built up a lot of frequent flyer miles while California homeowners have been getting hit with massive spikes in insurance premiums, or getting notices that their insurance is cancelled altogether, leaving only double or triple rate increases in the government’s last-resort FAIR insurance plan.
Insurance expert Stacy Korsgaden reported at the Globe in May, “What was once a department designed to foster fairness and oversight has morphed into a political weapon: slow-moving, expensive, and utterly disconnected from reality. It no longer serves consumers. It punishes businesses, bullies carriers, and micromanages private industry into submission. The result is chaos, uncertainty, and a chilling message to every company watching from the sidelines: stay out of California.”
Back in March, the Globe reported on the elusive Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s globe-trotting, courtesy of the California taxpayers, while the state’s insurance companies left California. Lara traveled to grand places – 15 different countries paid for by California’s taxpayers, according to KGO/ABC7.
Maybe Lara thinks he’s the California Travel Insurance Commissioner.
Lara enjoys traveling on the taxpayer dime, according to KGO/ABC7, who questioned Lara’s travel record since 2019:
“7 On Your Side obtained and analyzed hundreds of public records that detail at least 46 cross-country and international trips all over the world — including at least 11 taxpayer-funded excursions to places like Bogota, Paris, and Toronto. But after more than a month of questioning his office, Lara’s staff has been unable to identify the business purpose for nearly all of them.”
Well, that excellent reporting, as well as the ongoing insurance crisis, hasn’t slowed Lara down one bit.
Wednesday, ABC7 News said they have been requesting information about 48 of Commissioner Lara’s trips for more than nine months.
He’s up to 48 global trips now. It’s travel and includes a safari, limousines, 5-star resorts, and security protection, ABC7 said. Lara’s travel included a “luxurious 10-day trip to Dubai,” and “an extravagant trip to Cape Town, South Africa for an international insurance conference. The conference was only two days — yet receipts show taxpayers paid for his entire two-and-a-half-week stay.”
Lara’s office “has only identified a direct business purpose for seven of those trips, three of which included vague descriptions. Due to incomplete records, it’s unclear how many of these trips were taxpayer funded. Receipts show expenses for at least 13 pricey trips were on taxpayers’ dime.”
One non-insurance trip included “a five-star hotel stay in New York City for PrideFest that cost taxpayers more than $11,600. The four-day trip listed no insurance-related meetings on his calendar, but a VIP rooftop event with ‘DJ Kitty Glitter’ made the cut.”
ABC7 News continues: “Lara’s five-day trip to Bogota, Colombia for an ‘LGBTI Political Leaders Conference’ cost taxpayers more than $24,000. That’s five times more than previously recorded. No insurance-related meetings were listed on his calendar, but receipts show he spent more than $7,000 on ‘taxi fares.’ It turns out a private security firm was hired to accompany him at the conference.”
Where else did Ricardo Lara travel? Santiago, Chile. Japan. Paris. Hawaii. The UK. Egypt. Singapore. Alaska. Hawaii. Toronto. The list is long.
ABC7 posted an interactive graphic to facilitate understanding the epic travels the California Travel Insurance Commissioner has taken – in the name of insurance commissioning.
In addition to Lara’s $260,000 contract with California Highway Patrol in 2019 to provide protection services, the security for just two of Lara’s 2019 trips cost taxpayers more than $16,400. Former Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Palo Alto) “– an openly gay politician who worked closely with Lara — says the security costs may be warranted due to rising threats targeting the LGBTQ community.”
My bullshit meter just reached peak BS.
Perhaps Lara’s biggest problem is not just the travel and taxpayer expense, but that his staff can’t and/or won’t identify the business purpose for his trips.
That’s an abuse of office AND fraudulent use of taxpayer funds.
And, this was all taking place as major insurance companies were restricting policies, cancelling policies, or entirely pulling out of California, pushing the state to the brink of collapse.
“Recently, we learned that five carriers are reentering the California market,” insurance expert Stacy Korsgaden said this week. “While this is better news, the stark reality is, no matter how many companies return, we cannot thrive if the foundation of our state remains broken.”
Remember her name – Stacy Korsgaden is running for Insurance Commissioner.
ABC7’s article is deep and long. But read it in its entirety to understand the extent of Lara’s abuse of office, and fraudulent use of taxpayer funds.
Lara needs to be investigated, but can we trust California’s Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) or the California Attorney General to do it? I fear not. The Fair Political Practices Commission has been “assessing” a state complaint since March into California’s Insurance Commissioner. If ABC7 has the receipts, so does the FPPC.
originally published at https://californiaglobe.com/articles/48-global-trips-for-ca-insurance-commish-ricardo-lara-as-insurance-carriers-were-leaving-california/
