State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer, center, surveys downtown Winthrop Monday (Oct. 19) from the eastern edge of the 83-acre Hamilton Fire, which threatened Winthrop in June.
Urges support of bills to protect homeowners
By Ralph Schwartz
State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer visited Winthrop Monday (Oct. 19) to promote two pieces of legislation that would combat increasing homeowner’s insurance rates and the wave of policy cancellations in the Methow Valley.
While the subject matter was serious, Kuderer started on a light note during a panel discussion at the Winthrop Barn.
“I have to say, this is my first visit to Winthrop and Twisp, and if I had known how beautiful it was I might have moved here a long time ago,” she said.
But not everything she saw was pretty. On Monday morning, Kuderer, her staff from the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC) and some members of the public stepped over blackened husks of sagebrush on a tour of the Hamilton Fire burn scar, led by Okanogan County Fire District 6 commissioner and volunteer firefighter Miles Milliken.
Milliken, who was among the volunteers fighting the blaze on June 28, described how gusty winds prompted the need for an air attack on the Hamilton Fire, and how those resources saved downtown Winthrop from the flames. Fortunately, the aircraft were readily available because it was early in the fire season, and the region’s several major wildfires hadn’t started yet.
“This valley keeps getting lucky, and most firefighters here know that,” Milliken said.
Focus on solutions
Kuderer has seen worse. She toured Spokane after fires there burned more than 800 structures, mostly homes.
“I can still see some of the faces of the people that we met with, and just how devastating that was,” she said.
“This is more than just losing your home. You lose a community,” Kuderer added. “Your community is forever changed when a wildfire rips through.”
During the panel discussion — which included Winthrop Mayor Robert Grim, Twisp Mayor Hans Smith, state Sen. Shelly Short, Winthrop planner Rocklynn Culp and Sam Israel of Fire Adapted Methow — Kuderer focused on solutions.
Two bills that passed the Senate earlier this year but died in a House committee will be reintroduced in the next state legislative session, which starts in January 2027.
One would provide money from an account funded by insurance companies to enable homeowners to harden their homes against wildfire, according to standards set by the Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). If the bill passes, insurers would not be allowed to cancel policies on homes certified to this standard.
The number of homeowner’s policy cancelations in the Methow Valley, for reasons other than nonpayment, surged from 11 in 2023 to 67 in 2025. Nonrenewals by insurers nearly doubled over the same period, from 94 to 177.
The typical cost of home improvements under the IBHS program would be $10,000 to $15,000, Kuderer said, although older homes could cost more to retrofit.
Much of the newer construction in the Methow is nearly compliant already, OIC Senior Policy Advisor David Forte said after taking the Monday morning tour, which included a drive through the North Village development just northeast of the Hamilton Fire burn scar. So far, two properties in the state are IBHS certified, including one in Winthrop.
The second bill returning to the Legislature in the next session would require insurance companies to tell policyholders their wildfire risk score and provide information on how they can improve it. Homeowners would also have the right to appeal their score.
Get involved
The two bills passed with broad bipartisan support in the Senate before failing to get out of a House committee. If there is any bright spot to the tragic outcomes of the Spokane Complex Fire and other wildfires in the state, it’s that they may have raised awareness among lawmakers of the importance of hardening homes against fire.
“Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a tragedy for the Legislature to sit up and take notice,” Kuderer said.
She encouraged valley residents to testify in support of the bills when they come before their House or Senate committees. Updates on the bills’ progress will be provided on the OIC website, insurance.wa.gov. The public can testify remotely from home.
“The personal stories that you hear, of how this impacts you, makes a big difference,” Kuderer said. “It’s really, really important for legislators to hear your voice.”
Sen. Short echoed Kuderer’s point, saying that the voices of Washington residents can sometimes counter those of the lobbyists who roam the halls in Olympia and “want to see things fail.”
“Please stay involved,” Short said. “You’re living this. You can you can help us get these across the finish line.”
