The ruling hinges on the authority of a State Securities Bureau hearing officer, and if he had the power to impose precise operating standards for the former Local Government Center that aren’t specified in law.
The Local Government Center -- or LGC -- which provides insurance to cities and towns, has argued that hearing officer Don Mitchell violated its rights in a 2012 order compelling it to return money to its members, and for its Property-Liability Trust to repay its HealthTrust $17.1 million.
The LGC’s main argument is that the laws governing risk pools don’t spell out the standards Mitchell imposed in his order. LGC lawyers have also said forcing a $17 million dollars transfer between its pools would put the property and liability trust out of business.
This legal battle has been going on since 2009.
Last year the Local Government Center reorganized. It did so, in part, to satisfy regulators. It also hired then-State Senate President Peter Bragdon to a one year contract to oversee its risk pools.
Bragdon and the LGC board originally planned for Bragdon to keep leading the Senate while running the LGC.
Amid criticism, Bragdon, stepped down as Senate President, but he kept his district 11 seat, and his LGC job.
