New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo has no intention of leaving his post in the wake of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's announcement today that he will resign, Mr. Dinallo's spokesman said.
Mr. Spitzer, after reports of his being a regular customer of a prostitution service, said today that he will step down Monday and be replaced by Lt. Gov. David Paterson, New York's first black governor.
Asked for comment concerning whether Mr. Dinallo would be continuing with the new administration, the superintendent's spokesman, David Neustadt, responded by e-mail that "he has no plan to resign."
Mr. Paterson's immediate public reaction to the governor's announcement was to issue a statement that, "It is now time for Albany to get back to work as the people of this state expect from us."
He said also that, "Like all New Yorkers I am saddened by what we have learned over the past several days. On a personal level Gov. Spitzer and Silda [Spitzer] have been close and steadfast friends. As an elected official, the governor has worked hard for the people of New York."
He added that, "My heart goes out to him and to his family at this difficult and painful time. I ask all New Yorkers to join Michelle and me in prayer for them."
Mr. Dinallo was appointed by Gov. Spitzer in 2007, and took his post last April. He is a longtime friend of Mr. Spitzer and was a member of the governor's inner circle in Albany.
When Mr. Spitzer was New York State attorney general–spearheading investigations into misconduct within financial services, including the insurance industry–Mr. Dinallo was chief of the securities bureau.
After serving with Mr. Spitzer from 1999 to 2003, he joined the private sector. At the time of his nomination he was the general counsel for the Willis Group Holdings insurance brokerage in New York.
Yesterday, Mr. Dinallo was busy at work in Washington giving testimony before the House Financial Services Committee about conditions in the municipal bond market, and the impact of the problems in the bond insurance industry on that market.
Richard A. Poppa, president and chief executive officer of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York, said he would be surprised if the change in governors led to "any wholesale changes."
For the insurance industry, he said that "long term, I don't see this having any impact. Short term, there will be a period of transition that will impact the legislative process and also the regulatory process as the new governor sorts through the issues and provides the guidance department heads will need. There probably won't be any a significant shift."
As to whether Mr. Paterson would want to change the players in his administration, Mr. Poppa said he had no knowledge on that point, but "my opinion would be he will probably want to keep the team intact as much as possible."
Asked for her reaction to the change in administration, Ellen Melchionni, president of the New York Insurance Association, said that "we, like the rest of New York, are saddened by the recent events. During the governor's short tenure we are thankful he was able to accomplish workers' compensation reform. We look forward to working with the new governor and his administration to accomplish the many items on our agenda."
A representative of a third insurance trade group, when asked for reaction, agreed to comment but asked for anonymity, saying it was too early and would be inappropriate to speak on the record. "We don't even have a new governor yet. It's hard to say. It's so surprising."
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