What are the consequences of removing political donation limits? The Insurance Company sponsored bill to run the legal funding industry out of Tennessee provides the perfect example. One industry with limitless resources outgunned another industry serving Tennessee consumers for years without incident. Did the legislation move through the Tennessee Senate and House with merit for its consumer protection provisions?
No, HB 1242 moved out of the Tennessee State House today because it had the US Chamber of Commerce behind it, HB 1242 gave the Insurance Industry the poison pill provisions it wanted to eliminate an industry it sees as a threat, and elections are coming up with candidates that owe their seats (and Republican majority control of the Tennessee General Assembly) and future prospects to the cash the US Chamber of Commerce has and can put behind their candidacies.
When looking Tennessee legislators in the face, the Legal Funding Industry has little in the way to offer to compete with these advantages other than providing consumers with economic choices when faced with financial pressures the Insurance Companies put on them. No way to make donations that could make an economic impact.
That and a buck fifty will get you a ride on the downtown train...
Legal funding is a solution in search of a problem. Consumers have not complained in Tennessee, but Insurance Industry companies (such as State Farm and Allstate) have because they want a clean shot at the consumers they are litigating against.
Well, the Insurance Industry and The US Chamber of Commerce got to exercise their "Free Speech" by employing cash (which does not sound so free), and the clear loser is the Tennessee consumer.