Smart’s Insurance Bulletin (1953–early 2000s)

Event Date: 1953–early 2000s Category: Trade Press • California Market Culture • Regulatory History • Workers’ Compensation

Summary

For half a century, Smart’s Insurance Bulletin (SIB) was one of California’s most trusted sources of insurance intelligence. Founded in 1953 by former Maine legislator Art Smart, the Bulletin chronicled the state’s insurance market with a mix of shoe‑leather reporting, political insight, and regional familiarity that no national publication could match.

SIB evolved dramatically over its lifespan. Under Art Smart, it was a walk‑the‑halls San Francisco newsletter. Under later owners — including Darrell Heppner, Carlos Kaslow, and finally James Whitaker — it became a modern regulatory and political journal. With Fred Pilot as editor from 1992, SIB captured the drama of the post–Proposition 103 era: the battles between insurers, Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, and consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield.

SIB expanded into workers’ compensation reporting, survived multiple market cycles, and ultimately succumbed to the Internet‑driven commoditization of insurance news. Its archives now reside at the Insurance Library at St. John’s University, preserving a unique record of California’s insurance history.

Origins: Art Smart and the Birth of SIB (1953–early 1980s)

Smart’s Insurance Bulletin began in 1953, founded by Art Smart, who had served in the Maine legislature before moving to California. Smart brought a political reporter’s instincts to the insurance beat.

His style was pure mid‑century journalism:

• He walked the halls of San Francisco’s insurance offices.
• He interviewed branch managers and carrier presidents in person.
• He covered Sacramento with the eye of someone who understood legislative nuance.
• He treated the California insurance market as a small town — because in many ways, it was.

SIB was weekly, hyper‑local, and deeply trusted. It was the working agent’s intelligence briefing long before that phrase existed.

Transitions: Heppner and Kaslow (early 1980s–1990)

In the early 1980s, Art Smart sold the Bulletin to Darrell Heppner, an East Bay agent. Heppner held it briefly before selling it to Carlos Kaslow, an attorney with Deans & Homer — one of California’s oldest E&S brokers and a fronting carrier for several personal‑lines programs.

Kaslow brought legal precision and E&S sensibility to the publication. He kept SIB alive during a period when many regional newsletters were already fading.

A New Era: Whitaker’s Ownership (1990–early 2000s)

Carlos sold SIB to James Whitaker in 1990, marking the beginning of the Bulletin’s modern era. Under Whitaker’s stewardship, SIB expanded its editorial mission, sharpened its analysis, and adapted to a rapidly changing regulatory landscape.

Fred Pilot Joins as Editor (1992)

In 1992, Fred Pilot became editor — and the timing could not have been better. California was entering the most politically volatile period in its insurance history and Pilot relished covering the skirmishes.

Proposition 103 had passed in 1988, and John Garamendi had become the state’s first elected Insurance Commissioner under the new law. The Bulletin suddenly found itself covering a regulatory battlefield filled with:

• rate rollbacks
• prior‑approval filings
• intervenor challenges
• public hearings that bordered on political theater

Fred thrived in this environment.

The Prop‑103 Wars

Prop 103 created a three‑way struggle:

1. Insurers, fighting the rollback and the new regulatory regime
2. Garamendi, aggressively enforcing the law
3. Consumer advocates, led by Harvey Rosenfield, demanding strict adherence

Rosenfield — founder of Consumer Watchdog and author of Prop 103 — became the most influential intervenor in California rate cases. His organization routinely challenged filings, often successfully.

Fred’s reporting chronicled:

• Rosenfield’s battles with insurers
• his clashes with Garamendi
• the industry’s frustration with the intervenor process
• the political theater surrounding Prop 103 implementation

This was the golden age of California insurance journalism, and SIB was at the center of it.

Expansion: Smart’s California Workers’ Comp Bulletin (1990s)

As workers’ compensation became the state’s most volatile line — with insolvencies, rate shocks, and legislative upheaval — Whitaker launched Smart’s California Workers’ Comp Bulletin, a weekly publication dedicated entirely to comp.

Interim Ownership and Reacquisition (1997–1998)

In 1997, Smart’s Insurance Bulletin and the California Workers’ Comp Bulletin were sold to Insurance West during a period of consolidation in regional trade publishing. When Insurance West was acquired by National Underwriter the following year, NU chose not to continue the publications. Insurance West therefore sold them back to Whitaker at a nominal price. Throughout this ownership detour, Fred Pilot continued as editor, providing continuity through both transitions.

A Final Decade of Profitability (1998–2007)

After reacquiring the newsletters, Whitaker and Pilot continued publishing them as profitable, stable publications for nearly another decade. Circulation and advertising remained strong well into the 2000s, with sales not beginning to soften until the late 2000s, as the economics of regional newsletters shifted under the pressure of free online content. At that time:

• carrier bulletins went digital
• regulatory updates became instantly accessible
• agents expected real‑time information
• advertising dollars evaporated

The value of curated, regional reporting — once SIB’s greatest strength — was no longer recognized by the market.

The End of an Era (2007–early 2010s)

The final chapter began after Pilot’s departure in 2007. An interim editor from outside the insurance industry produced a short run of issues, followed by Ted Huntington, a seasoned Insurance Journal writer, who assumed ownership of SIB in lieu of outstanding editorial payments. Huntington published one final edition before Smart’s Insurance Bulletin quietly ceased operations.

When Smart’s Insurance Bulletin shut down it was one of the last true regional newsletters to fall.

Preservation: The St. John’s Archives

A few years after shutting down the Bulletin, Whitaker shipped the archives to the Insurance Library at St. John’s University in New York City — one of the few institutions capable of preserving this kind of regional insurance history.

Those archives now contain:

• Art Smart’s original reporting
• the Heppner and Kaslow eras
• your decade of stewardship
• Fred Pilot’s Prop‑103 coverage
• the Workers’ Comp Bulletin

It is one of the most complete records of California’s insurance culture from the mid‑20th century to the early digital age.

Legacy

Smart’s Insurance Bulletin left behind:

• a half‑century chronicle of California’s insurance market
• a unique blend of political, regulatory, and regional reporting
• the definitive record of the Prop‑103 implementation battles
• one of the earliest dedicated workers’ comp publications
• a model of regional journalism that no longer exists

SIB wasn’t just a newsletter. It was a California institution, and its archives preserve a world that has largely disappeared.

Related Entries

• 1950s–1990s — Underwriters Report and the Pasini Era — the dominant West Coast trade publication whose editorial culture paralleled and predated Smart’s Insurance Bulletin
• 1980s–1990s — CompLine, Workers’ Comp Executive, and the Birth of California Workers’ Comp Data Intelligence — the data‑driven comp‑market reporting ecosystem that evolved alongside SIB’s own Workers’ Comp Bulletin
• Proposition 103 (1988) — the regulatory earthquake that defined SIB’s most politically charged reporting era (forthcoming)
• Harvey Rosenfield & Consumer Watchdog — the consumer‑advocacy force behind Prop 103 and a central figure in SIB’s coverage of rate hearings and intervenor battles (forthcoming)
• John Garamendi, First Elected Insurance Commissioner — the political figure whose clashes with insurers and consumer advocates shaped SIB’s 1990s reporting (forthcoming)
• Collapse of Regional Trade Publications (1990s–2000s) — the industry‑wide decline driven by digital distribution, shrinking ad revenue, and the commoditization of insurance news (forthcoming)