Michael Alan Hatch (born November 12, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer. He was the Attorney General of Minnesota from 1999 to 2007, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce from 1983 to 1989, and chair of the Minnesota DFL Party from 1980 to 1983.
Early life and career Hatch is a 1966 graduate of East High School in Duluth. In the 1960s, he attended the University of Minnesota, Duluth before dropping out and serving 18 months in the Merchant Marine. There he earned $1.91 an hour shoveling coal into the engines of ore boats crossing the Great Lakes, and made stops in the ports of Rust Belt cities along the shores of the Great Lakes."Profile: Mike Hatch," Brian Bakst, Associated Press, Oct. 26, 2006. He was in port in South Chicago during the riots after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968 and witnessed the clashes between Vietnam War protesters and police during the 1968 Democratic convention."Don't Mess With Mike," Law and Politics, April–May, 2001. He got mugged at a port in Milwaukee."A Search for Direction, Followed by Relentless Drive," Star Tribune, Oct. 15, 2006. Hatch later said of this time in his life, "I wasn't political at the time, but I was awakening to this stuff." He got into a scuffle with a ship's officer who made a derogatory comment about Robert F. Kennedy's defense of African Americans. "And that is when I became a Democrat," Hatch said."A Search for Direction, Followed by Relentless Drive," Star "Tribune, Oct. 15, 2006. He hitchhiked to Cleveland, called his father for money to return to Minnesota, and returned to the University of Minnesota Duluth to finish his degree with honors. Of the problems in the Rust Belt cities he saw while working the boats, Hatch has said, "There was despair. I took an interest. I thought, 'you know what, I'm going to do something about it.'"
Hatch earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1973. He was a trial lawyer in private practice in the 1970s and became State Chair of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) in 1980. In 1983, Governor Rudy Perpich appointed Hatch commissioner of the state Department of Commerce, a position he served in until 1989. In 1998, he was elected state attorney general, a position to which he was reelected in 2002, receiving more votes than any previous candidate for any statewide office.
State Chair of the DFL (1980–1983) In 1976, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) was Minnesota's dominant political party. In 1978, the DFL suffered devastating losses in what is known as the "Minnesota Massacre." The two U.S. Senate seats and governorship went Republican, Republicans picked up an additional Congressional seat, and the DFL lost its majority in the state House, ending up with a 67–67 tie. The Minnesota Senate was not up for election in 1978.
The DFL State Chair was elected at the state party convention, conducted in June of each election year. In 1980, the prevailing issue was how the DFL could recover from the devastating loss in 1978. There were six candidates for chair, all but one of whom had significant interest groups or officeholders supporting them. Hatch, the one candidate without significant support from an interest group, ran a geographically based campaign focused primarily on the support of county and congressional district chairs. The convention was tumultuous, with various interest groups opposed to each other over abortion, labor, and farm issues. Hatch, who had the least amount of political experience, campaigned as a centrist who focused on economic issues and promised to elect more Democrats in the 1980 election."Don't Mess with Mike," Law & Politics, April–May, 2001 He was elected chair on the third ballot."Profile of DFL Challenger Mike Hatch," Pioneer Press, Nov. 2, 2006
At the time of his victory in June 1980, the mortgage on the party headquarters was in default and the party had no campaign funds for the 1980 election. Under Hatch, the DFL became the first state Democratic party to acquire a computer and jet printer. He published a monthly newspaper that was printed on the computer and mailed to each contributor of a "Sustaining Fund." In spring 1981, Hatch invited Vice President Walter Mondale and Senator Ted Kennedy, the likely Democratic presidential candidates in the 1984 election, to a "Jefferson-Jackson Day" dinner. Inviting Kennedy to a dinner in Mondale's home state was controversial, but the dinner, with 5,000 in attendance, was the largest and most profitable in DFL Party history.
In 1980, the DFL Party was deeply divided over issues ranging from abortion to gay rights to gun control. The party rules encouraged division by requiring delegates to be elected from "sub-caucuses" organized around specific issues or interest groups.McCartney and Salsbury, "Hatch Claims His Policy is to Regulate." St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch In 1981, Hatch printed political buttons, posters, and letterhead under the name "The Centrists", promoting the idea that the party had to stand for more than just a conglomeration of interest groups. Feminists, pro-lifers, gun control organizations, and gay rights supporters opposed the Centrists, who tried to end the sub-caucus system but were defeated by a coalition of pro-life and pro-choice activists.Ellison, "Two Years Later, Hatch Wins Fight," Mankato Free Press
Hatch "ran the party with a focus on winning elections and an intense dislike of its internal squabbles." By 1982 the Centrists began exerting influence on party affairs, and the interest groups began to focus on Hatch for organizing the group. Nonetheless, the Centrists remained an influence in the 1982 elections, stifling the intraparty fights between the interest groups during an important election campaign.
A longtime political reporter said of Hatch's tenure as chair: "He worked to rebuild the bitterly divided, debt-ridden DFL Party after its disastrous 1978 election losses. He showed his prowess, both at raising money and organization building. He raised $50,000 to pay off the mortgage and head off the foreclosure on the party headquarters in south Minneapolis, scrounged up another $50,000 to buy a state-of-the-art, 5-megabyte computer the size of a piano, and raised a total of $1.2 million. The DFL is believed to be the first Democratic Party in the country to use the technology of computers, direct mail and telemarketing."
The DFL had a banner year in 1982. It won two additional Congressional seats (5 out of eight), the House of Representatives (77 of 134 seats), the State Senate (42 out of 67) and the governorship. In September 1982 Hatch was instrumental in getting the DFL Party to endorse Rudy Perpich, who defeated DFL-endorsed candidate Warren Spannaus for governor in the primary election. It was the first time that the DFL endorsed a candidate for statewide office who had defeated the convention-endorsed candidate.
In January 1983, Perpich appointed Hatch commissioner of Securities and Real Estate.
Commissioner of Commerce On December 7, 1982, Perpich appointed Hatch commissioner of the Department of Securities and Real Estate.Wilson, Perpich Plan for Hatch Brings "Cronyism" Charges", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, December 8, 1982, p. 3B Hatch's first task was to reorganize the Department of Insurance, the Department of Banking, and the Department of Securities and Real Estate into one Minnesota Department of Commerce.Wilson, "Perpich Names Policy Advisor Triplett to Head Planning Agency", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, June 8, 1983, p. 2B The reorganization was completed in July 1983.
Insurance company accountability The Minnesota insurance industry was largely unregulated in 1983. The Associated Press wrote, "Hatch vigorously embraced the role of consumer advocate." One of his first actions as commissioner was to create an enforcement division that eventually handled 40,000 complaints a year from the public."Attorney General Hatch is Taking on Insurance and Big Grain Companies", John Sundvor, Fargo Forum Hatch proposed a series of regulations to protect insurance policyholders. Several dozen new standards to provide fair processing of insurance claims were enacted.Blade, "State, Insurance Industry Agree on Claims Handling Regulations", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, March 23, 2084, p.7B These provisions are collectively called the Unfair Claims Practices Act. Legislation providing that insurance agents and companies may not sell policies unsuitable for the policyholder was also enacted. To limit the arbitrary cancellation of automobile policies, Hatch established a point system to determine when an insurer may cancel an automobile policy.Feyder, "Insurance Industry Changes May Benefit Consumers", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, September 12, 2983, p. 5B He also implemented a set of regulations to stop misleading statements in insurance solicitations.Blade, "State Asks Tougher Rules on Insurance Advertising", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, December 16, 1983, 7B Hatch adopted rules requiring that agents holding themselves out as "financial planners" owe their clients a fiduciary duty.Blade, "Disclosure by Financial Planners Proposed," Minneapolis Star and Tribune, October 31, 1984 President Barack Obama proposed a similar provision over 30 years later at the federal level. Hatch also proposed that commercial insurers give 30 days' notice of any change in the terms of a commercial policy or increase in rates.Blade, "Rules Require Notice on Insurance Change", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, October 17, 1985
Farm crisis Hatch was commerce commissioner during the 1980s farm crisis. In 1983 Minnesota had over 430 banks and savings and loan associations. Most were in rural areas and depended on the success of the rural economy. Interest rates were at record levels, with some banks paying up to 15% annual interest on some deposits. The combination of volatile interest rates and the failure of rural farms affected the banking industry. Farmers could not repay loans, falling grain and land prices shrank the value of collateral, and double-digit interest rates on deposits put banks in an impossible squeeze. Bank examiners forced banks to write down the value of the loan collateral, which resulted in more banks being labeled insolvent and subject to liquidation. This accelerated foreclosures. The depth of the rural recession resulted in few buyers willing to buy used equipment or land at auction, causing further depreciation of farm assets.
Hatch helped enact several laws to help farmers. One was the mandatory Farmer-Lender Mediation Act of 1986, which required lenders to offer mediation with farmers before beginning a foreclosure.Scholarship program law.missouri.edu Hatch also created an "Interest Buydown Program" in 1985 to pay a portion of the farmer's interest on farm loans.Von Sternberg, "Perpich Revives Subsidy to Farmers", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, April 27, 2986, p.14A To lessen the regulatory pressure from bank examiners, Hatch directed them to allow banks to value collateral at the appraisal made at the time of the loan.Blade, "Farm Sector is Weakening State Banks, Hatch Says", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, February 10, 2987, p. 8B Minnesota also established a rural farm advocate program to assist farmers through the loan process and instituted a voluntary mortgage foreclosure moratorium.Von Sternberg, "Perpich Endorses Voluntary Farm Plan." Minneapolis Star and Tribune, November 25, 1985
Despite these programs, the Commerce Department shuttered over 25 financially unstable Minnesota banks between 1984 and 1989.Blade, "Farm Sector is Weakening State Banks, Hatch Says", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, February 10, 2987, p. 8B; St. Anthony, "Some Buyers of Failed Banks Aren't Reinvesting in Community, Hatch Says", Minneapolis Star and Tribune, March 15, 1987, p.2D
Commercial insurance