HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

EDDIE A. PEREZ                                                         Telephone: (860) 543-8500

Mayor                                                                             Fax:               (860) 722-6606

MAYOR ASKS INSURANCE COMMISSIONER WHY JOB LOSS IMPACT IGNORED IN METLIFE APPROVAL

Hartford Corporation Counsel John Rose filed a motion for articulation today with Insurance Commissioner Susan Cogswell asking her to clarify the position of the Insurance Department concerning the permanent elimination of 580 Hartford based insurance jobs resulting from MetLife’s acquisition of Travelers Life and Annuity (TL&A).  In the Commissioner’s thirty eight page June 30^th, decision and order finding the MetLife acquisition did not violate the “public interest”, there was no mention or analysis of the unrefuted evidence presented by Dr. Fred Carstensen of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis (http://ccea.uconn.edu/) of the  $1.7 billion in damage done to the Hartford regional economy in the next ten years as a result of the job cuts.

“The Insurance Commissioner and the Rell administration have a set a new low for what is acceptable in these multi billion dollar mergers and acquisitions. Connecticut jobs are apparently given little consideration when profitable Connecticut insurance companies are swallowed whole by their competitors. This decision by the Commissioner breaks the precedent set in previous mergers where commitments to Connecticut jobs were given serious consideration. It is particularly disturbing, that though most of these jobs were held by suburban residents neither the Governor’s office nor the Insurance Commissioner did any analysis of the economic damage to Connecticut families by the planned $11.5 billion acquisition.

For the first time in many years, Connecticut’s unemployment rate is above the national average and economists at the FDIC have identified Connecticut as leading the nation in ‘stagnation in employment’.  It is time for the Rell administration to take a comprehensive review of our state’s dysfunctional economic development policy and put jobs first.  This means judicious use of the regulatory process to encourage companies to place a priority on Connecticut jobs and a clear and coordinated effort to attract business with incentives and education about our state’s workforce that encourages investment in our state.” Mayor Perez stated.