A New Jersey legislative panel will take up a controversialmeasure Monday that would prohibit auto insurers from usingmotorists' jobs or education to rate them as risks.

The bill up for discussion by the Senate Commerce Committee issponsored by its chairperson, Sen. Nia H. Gill, D-Montclair. Herspokesman, Vince Matthews said the senator believes the use ofeducation and occupation has a racially discriminatory anddisparate impact.

Insurers have voiced strong opposition to the measure.

Mr. Gill said the Monday session, which follows a public hearinglast June, will hear more testimony before a vote is called.

Mr. Gill could not say at this point if the measure has thesupport of enough senators to move it out of committee because allof the panel members have not committed themselves.

The committee hearing last June, heard Department of Banking andInsurance, New Jersey United Reciprocal Exchange, GovernmentEmployees Insurance Company (GEICO), New Jersey Citizen Action,Insurance Council of New Jersey (ICNJ), National Association ofMutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) and Property Casualty InsurersAssociation of America.

GEICO, according to a recent article by Sen. Gill, charges apostal clerk with high school education 67 percent more than anadministrator with a college degree. She noted that 82 percent ofthe state's African Americans and 87 percent of Latinos are withoutcollege degrees.

Richard Stokes, a lobbyist for PCI, said the industry wouldargue that taking away insurance companies underwriting freedomlimits a competitive open marketplace and the bill is a step backfrom auto insurance reforms approved in 2003.

Limiting actuarially justified factors in rating he said will"stifle innovation and force consumers to pay more."

He noted that use of education and occupation has repeatedlybeen approved by state regulators.