Explorers recently discovered an entirely new species of leopard in Borneo: the clouded leopard. So, in the jungle at least, leopards can change spots.

But after years of stalled bills, can New Yorks Legislature change its spots and pass needed fraud laws clamping down on some of the states costlier insurance predators " staged accident rings?

Squabbling and turf wars among the legislative leaders have made Albany a bone yard for even modest auto fraud reforms. Meanwhile, crash rings continue bilking insurers with fake injury claims on an almost industrial scale. Fraud fighters have had some success in recent years, and auto premiums have begun dropping in New York. But premiums still remain among the nations highest, and crash rings continue to be a large drain on insurers. Anti-fraud efforts arguably could be farther along if prosecutors had a larger arsenal of focused laws to wield against accident ring members in court.

Key is a measure making it a specific crime both to be a runner " or recruiter " for staged accident gangs, and for a rings kingpins to hire runners. By dangling potential jail time and stiff fines at runners, prosecutors hope runners will turn in a rings leaders in exchange for leniency. And armed with a law making it a crime to hire runners, prosecutors also could convict ring kingpins more easily.

So whats different in 2007? Not much, so far. The same lack of consensus between the Assembly and Senate still exists today. Its also too early to know if Governor Eliot Spitzer will try to help break the logjam. He spent much of the winter pushing through his first budget and workers compensation reforms, so the priority he places on such auto fraud reforms is publicly unknown.

Another bill under consideration in Albany would help deter lower-level ring operatives by suspending for one year the license and registration of anyone convicted of auto-insurance fraud. A similar measure failed last year.

Albany also is aiming at another auto scam thats quietly piling up large fraud losses: frustrated drivers are dodging full premiums by lying about where they garage their vehicles. When drivers apply for or renew auto coverage, they give their insurer an address at an outlying locale where premiums are lower.

The problem is especially acute in New York City. Drivers might fraudulently register their vehicles at their vacation homes in the Catskills, or with relatives upstate in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Pennsylvania is another favorite place. In fact, more than 1,650 New York City vehicles are registered to 14 addresses in Pennsylvania " an average of 120 vehicles for each address, a legislative commission recently found.

The Assembly recently passed a bill requiring the Insurance Department to report related trends to the governor and Legislature. The Senate now is examining it. Full passage would be a modest step, but would bring much-needed focus on this costly stealth swindle.

While the Legislatures dedication to curbing auto insurance fraud is questionable, theres no doubt it feels differently about workers comp scams. Albany recently put the squeeze to businesses that illegally lower their workers compensation premiums. The large-scale comp reforms that New York lawmakers put onto the books included provisions punishing firms that defraud their insurer.

Firm owners could face jail and fines for failing to buy state-required comp coverage. They also could be nailed for lying to their insurer that their workforce is smaller than it really is, and for lying that employees perform lower-risk work than they really do. A crooked builder, for example, might say its roofers are desk clerks. And in one state, a demolition firm told its insurer that it was a pavement company.

N.J. and Conn. Measures

Over in New Jersey, lawmakers have aimed their crosshairs at entrenched staged-accident rings as well. Trenton is debating making it a specific crime to stage crashes. A first offense could mean up to 18 months in prison plus fines. Causing a death or injury could mean up to 10 years in prison plus up to $150,000 in fines. Maryland and Florida already have passed similar laws, and other states are considering such measures. The prospects for passage in New Jersey this year is not great.

In Connecticut, the Legislature is debating requiring vehicle owners to give permission before outsiders can access the event data recorders " or black boxes " in many vehicles sold today. The data can help fraud investigators determine if a suspect is truthful about a crash, but privacy advocates argue the vehicle owner has a right to control access to the data. At least nine states are debating similar bills in this growing privacy trend.

Howard Goldblatt is director of government affairs for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. For more information, visit www.InsuranceFraud.org.