Advertising Federation of Greater Fort Lauderdale Edition: PIP/No-Fault Insurance

 

Making news today, Wednesday, Aug. 22 are two State Representatives with whom the Advertising Federation of Greater Fort Lauderdale chapter has a relationship:

House Majority Whip Ellyn Bogdanoff yesterday spearheaded the release of a House proposal to pre-empt the imminent no-fault/PIP sunset. 

A copy of the House PIP bill, along with a letter and talking points from Representative Bogdanoff can be viewed by clicking here.

Earlier this year, Representative Bogdanoff was the recipient of the Ad Fed of Greater Fort Lauderdale’s first annual legislative award.

Below, Senator Jeremy Ring, who participated with the 4th District fly-in earlier this year and addressed Ad Fed participants at the Capitol, was featured today in the Sun-Sentinel article below.

Because of dwindling revenue sources, Florida’s sales tax exemption policy is expected to be addressed in the upcoming Legislative Special Session on the State budget shortfall.  The Special Session is scheduled to begin on Sept. 18, 2007.

Ad Fed members may wish to contact their respective House Members and Senators to indicate their opinions on Florida’s sales tax exemption policy as it pertains to the advertising industry.

There is also speculation on whether the PIP issue will be taken up during the Sept. 18 Special Session.

Please call Ad Fed of Greater Fort Lauderdale Legislative Chairman Jennifer J.H. Pierce at (954) 892-0817 if you have any questions or comments.

 

Florida Democrats want no-fault auto insurance law renewed
Insurance law assures care in emergencies
By Linda Kleindienst, Tallahassee Bureau Chief

August 22, 2007

TALLAHASSEE House Democrats on Tuesday urged Gov. Charlie Crist and Republican legislative leaders to keep Florida’s no-fault insurance law alive for another year.

The no-fault law, which requires every car to be covered by $10,000 of personal injury protection, is set to expire Oct. 1. Unless it is re-enacted, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has said it will no longer require motorists to show proof of insurance for yearly vehicle registration.

“We’re playing the game of chicken with someone’s health and that’s just wrong,” said House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber, of Miami Beach. “The worst policy alternative is the one we’re headed for, to [let it expire] without a replacement or reform. And we’re doing that because special interests have really weighed in, in a large way.”

State Farm, the state’s largest auto insurer, has led the drive to get rid of no-fault, claiming the system is riddled with medical fraud and has resulted in higher rates.

Gelber said House Democrats plan to file a bill to extend no-fault for one more year. However, the bill will only be considered if Crist or legislative leaders add it to the agenda of a special session of the Legislature scheduled next month to trim the state budget.

Last spring, the House and Senate were unable to agree on how to change the rules on car insurance. Legislative leaders have continued talks through the summer but have yet to reach a consensus.

“I know the time is short. I’m still hopeful we’re going to get there,” said Sen. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. “But I think history shows if you don’t come up with relatively solid conceptual agreement between both sides going into a special session, you end up not getting anything done.”

Late Tuesday, Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, the lead House negotiator, unveiled a counteroffer.

The House Republican proposal would continue to provide $10,000 in coverage for emergency transport from an accident, emergency treatment in a hospital within three days of an accident, surgery and surgical aftercare and lost wages. It would limit nonemergency and nonsurgical care, where reviews have shown the greatest risk of fraud occurs, to $5,000 or what is left after emergency care is offered. Consumers would not have to pay a deductible or co-pay.

A major hang-up is expected to be the House’s insistence on capping some attorney fees, which senators have refused to accept. And while the Senate may be willing to extend no-fault as it is for one year, House Republican leaders have indicated they want a revamp or nothing.

Linda Kleindienst can be reached at lkleindienst@sun-sentinel.com or 850-224-6214.

Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

 

2 Democrats looking to shake up Fla. Senate
By Anthony Man

Sun-Sentinel.com

August 22, 2007

Faced with majority Republicans’ insistence on closing a state budget shortfall by whacking programs instead of considering ways to increase tax revenue, two South Florida Democrats want to shake up the collegial, let’s-all-get-along style of the Florida Senate.

State Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Parkland, said it’s nice that senators of both parties work together on most issues, unlike the more partisan House, where the Republican majority often ignores the minority party.

But, Ring said, the looming budget cuts coming in a special legislative session next month, are too important to avoid the toughest choices.

For Democrats “last year was a nice year. It was kind of Kumbaya. We worked kind of well together,” Ring said. “No more. We’ve got to stand up now. We’ve got to stop being this Kumbaya.”

The current approach favored by Senate leaders involves across the board cuts to the state budget to close the gap created by a shortfall in expected tax revenue to the state.

“What we’re afraid of is they’re going to cut some real money out of education and cut real money out of health care [and] cut real money out of social services,” Ring said at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Broward Democratic Party.

He said the possible $1.5 billion in budget cuts shouldn’t be implemented without first considering the $12 billion a year the state loses because of sales tax exemptions.

State Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, also called for examining “sales tax exemptions, which benefit a narrow group who happened to have the right lobbyist at the right time.”

Ring cited charter fishing as an example. If fishing charters are subject to sales tax, Ring said, “People are still going to come to Florida and use our charter fishing boats.”

“They don’t want to talk about cutting sales-tax exemptions. They want to cut about 4 percent across the board,” Ring said.

Democrats need to be different, he said.

“No more of this Kumbaya up in the state Legislature. We have got to realize it is our job. We are the last defense to protect our children, our senior citizens, and our disabled.”

Deutch said the budget needs to be balanced. But he said it makes no sense to simply cut $400 million from education and more than $400 million from health care without legislatures “engag(ing) in the difficult task to find out if there are any other options for increasing our revenue.”

Ring and Deutch are both freshmen, elected to the Legislature last year without holding any other elected offices. Both are in Democratic districts — Ring in Broward and Deutch in Broward and Palm Beach counties — unlikely to see serious Republican challengers in future elections.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4550.

Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel