For Immediate Release
November 6, 2020
Contact: Tess Badenhausen
(732) 201-4133
FORMER NCOIL PRESIDENT, NY SENATOR JOHN DUNNE, DIES AT AGE 90
Manasquan, NJ – NCOIL responded today to the passing of former NCOIL President, Senator John Dunne of NY. “We at NCOIL are saddened by the loss of Senator Dunne and invite you to keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers at this time,” said NCOIL CEO, Commissioner Tom Considine.
Dunne served as a New York State Senator for 23 years, then went on to serve as Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights during the George H.W. Bush administration.
After graduating from Georgetown University and Yale Law School, Dunne served in private practice for several years as a partner in the law firm of Rivkin, Radler, Dunne & Bayh. He later worked as senior counsel to the firm of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna LLP in Albany.
During the 1971 Attica riots, Dunne, then chairman of the Corrections Committee, entered the prison with Asm. Arthur Eve to negotiate with inmates and seek a peaceful resolution for them and their hostages. Dunne later became instrumental in addressing prisoner reform issues.
Senator Dunne served as NCOIL President in 1982, where he told the NAIC that model laws would have a better chance of passage if legislators were involved earlier with the development of their “exposure draft.”
Current NCOIL President Matt Lehman, IN, says, “We are lucky to have someone like Dunne as a part of NCOIL’s history. He made a large and lasting impact during his life and we know he will be missed by all who knew him.”
Senator Dunne was 90 years old and passed away in his home. Dunne was married to his wife, Denise for 62 years and they have 4 children together.
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NCOIL is a national legislative organization with the nation’s 50 states as members, represented principally by legislators serving on their states’ insurance and financial institutions committees. NCOIL writes Model Laws in insurance and financial services, works to preserve the State jurisdiction over insurance as established by the McCarran-Ferguson Act seventy four years ago, and to serve as an educational forum for public policymakers and interested parties. Founded in 1969, NCOIL works to assert the prerogative of legislators in making State policy when it comes to insurance and educate State legislators on current and longstanding insurance issues.