Proposed legislation would require more than 1,500 private insurance companies operating in California to disclose their investments and dealings in oil and gas companies. Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-Marin County) introduced Assembly Bill 1694 (AB 1694) on Jan. 25. The bill would require insurers would take effect Jan. 1, 2024, and would require insurers to disclose annually their “investments in fossil fuel-related entities and the fossil fuel-related companies and projects it underwrites or otherwise insures.” The legislation would also require the California Department of Insurance, headed by the state’s insurance commissioner, to publish this information on its website before April 1 each year beginning in 2024. The bill would authorize the commissioner to take regulatory action to prohibit or restrict fossil fuel-related investments and underwriting. Insurance companies “are facing unprecedented threats to their solvency and ability to write insurance policies throughout California due to the increase in frequency and severity of …