Texas Gets an Insurance Commissioner — After a Year

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Cassie Brown to lead the state’s insurance department, which has more than 1,400 employees.

Her appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate, but she can take office and perform the duties of an insurance commissioner immediately.

Brown, who has been the commissioner in charge of the Texas workers’ compensation program since 2018, is on track to become the state’s first fully appointed insurance commissioner since Kent Sullivan, who served as commissioner for three years and left the post in September 2020.

Sullivan is now a member of the boards of Incline Insurance Group, a property and casualty insurance program company, and of Texans for Responsible Government, a political action committee.

Abbott, a Republican, will be up for re-election Nov. 8, 2022.

Brown’s own term as insurance commissioner is set to end Feb. 1, 2023.

The New Commissioner

Cassie Brown started out in public policy in Texas, as an aide in the administration of former Gov. George W. Bush. She later was a policy advisor to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

She began working for the Texas Department of Insurance in 2011, as deputy commissioner for regulatory policy. While at the department, she focused on property and casualty issues, such as windstorm regulation.

She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Edward’s University.

The Texas Department

The Texas Department of Insurance is the biggest insurance department in the United States in terms of employment, with 1,449 staff positions in 2019, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ latest available Insurance Department Resources Report.

The department ranks third in terms of its own annual budget, with a 2021 budget of about $120 million. It is also a significant source of revenue for its state: In 2019, it generated more than $2.4 billion in tax revenue.

Cassie Brown (Photo: Texas Department of Insurance)