Arizona lawmakers are debating whether the minimum rate on auto insurance premiums should rise.

If SB1111 is approved, Arizona drivers would pay an average of $80’s more a year. That money would bump liability coverage up from $15,000 to $25,000 per person injured in an accident.  

Phoenix Republican Senator Kate Brophy McGee introduced the bill and noted the last mandated adjustment was back in 1972. 

"Back in the day, cars didn't cost what they cost now, hospitals didn't cost what they cost now,'' she said.

The bill's harshest critic was Mesa Democrat Senator David Farnsworth.

"Poor people can't afford lobbyists,” Farnsworth said.

He is concerned that extra $80 could force some drivers to drop coverage altogether.

“We have a lot of folks out there right now that are faced with the choice of keeping their lights on or paying their auto insurance,” he reminded fellow lawmakers.

McGee sees a bigger hardship for Arizona motorists who opt for current minimum coverage and get into a serious crash.

"When they follow the law and purchase the insurance, they find through hard experience that they do not have sufficient insurance," McGee said. She pointed out that once their insurance is exhausted, they are personally liable for anything above that.

Lobbyists for the Property and Casualty Insurers Association testified earlier this year that an increase could push the 10.6 percent of drivers who go without insurance even higher. 

The measure already passed the Senate and waits for the House to consider it.