Insurers have been trying for years to get lawmakers to give them the ability to hike auto insurance rates without state approval.

They succeeded this week in the legislative equivalent of the blink of an eye.

On Monday, a House subcommittee and later a committee agreed to tack an amendment onto a fairly innocuous Senate bill. The amendment would let insurers raise rates on all but the minimum required coverage without having to first get approval from State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine.

On Thursday, the House passed the amended bill 141-3 with little discussion. The sponsor told his colleagues what the original bill did, but didn't explain fully the changes and didn't answer questions. Less than two hours later, the measure won final passage in the Senate 43-10 while insurance lobbyists stood outside, shaking hands.

The bill now heads to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his signature.

Oxendine was outraged.

"They were definitely trying to sneak it through," he said.

The measure's House sponsor, Insurance Chairman Tom Knox (R-Cumming), said the proposal had been talked about the past few years and he argued that the speed of passage wasn't that unusual.

"Most of the people who are down there are not rookies," Knox said. "It was not a secret. ... I think people did know what they were doing."

Oxendine fears the change will propel Georgia back into the bad old days of the 1980s when the state's drivers saw skyrocketing auto insurance premiums.

"The insurance industry wants to make the change because they want more profits," Oxendine said. "I think rates will go up and I think Georgia consumers will pay for it."

But Gould Hagler, executive director for the Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia, called it "rate modernization."

"We believe competition is good for the consumers, and this bill enhances competition in the insurance industry," Hagler said.

Knox agreed. "I think it's a victory for consumers in Georgia," he said.

During the 1980s, the state allowed insurers to charge new rates before the commissioner approved them, but rising premiums brought a political backlash and became an issue in the 1990 campaigns.

Rep. Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta) remembers those days well.

"The consumers were irate that we allowed insurance companies to raise their rates," said Brooks, who was first elected to the House in 1980. "There was an outcry from people from all over Georgia."

The insurance commissioner at the time was ousted in favor of a candidate who promised to oppose rate increases while in office.

After that election, legislators changed the law so that the commissioner had to approve rate hikes.

Insurers have fought for years to change the law back, arguing that being forced to go through the commissioner to increase or lower rates was cumbersome and stifled competition.

The Internet has also changed the way people buy insurance. It's easy now to shop for the best rates and purchase coverage on line. Insurers argued that they needed the flexibility to quickly change rates.

Under the House amendment that was tacked onto Senate Bill 276 this week, the commissioner would still approve rates for the minimum mandatory liability coverage required by state law on all vehicles. Anything beyond the minimum would not require the commissioner's advance approval.

Oxendine said 90 percent of drivers have coverage that exceeds the minimum. He said the change will put "rates at the whim of the insurance industry."

Knox said there was a lot of pressure from insurers who wanted the state to get completely out of the rate-approval business, including for the minimum coverage mandated by law. Knox said he couldn't go along with that, arguing that if the state mandated coverage, it should have some control over the rates.

However, he said the state shouldn't be setting rates on coverage that is not mandated by law.

"We don't control the price of the cars, we don't control the price of food, we don't control the prices of rent, we don't tell banks what they pay on CDs or what they should charge for their services," he said.

"The insurance commissioner doesn't regulate health insurance rates, he doesn't regulate life insurance rates. Why should he regulate insurance people don't even have to have?"

Consumer advocates were stunned by the bill's speedy passage.

Initially, Allison Wall, executive director of the consumer group Georgia Watch expressed "cautious support" for the bill. By the time the Senate was voting on it Thursday afternoon, she had changed her mind.

"This is a bill that started out as a consumer-friendly bill and wound up as a consumer unfriendly bill," she said.

Brooks, who voted against the bill in the House, said, "I think there is going to be an outcry from people in Georgia. Consumers are going to say, 'wait a minute, what are we doing here?' "

Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon), whose legislation was used to tack on the rate amendment in the House, said he didn't have a problem with the changes

"I feel good about it," he said. "This bill combines choice for consumers and gives them the added protection that they will get what they pay for."

But Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), who opposed the measure, said, "I think we will be rightly accused of allowing insurance companies to raise rates."