Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Friday, December 20
Dec 20, 2013
To go directly to the section of your choice, click on a hyperlink below. Other hyperlinks to meeting information, bills and news are noted in bold type.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
There are no events scheduled for today.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Florida Office of Insurance Regulation gets extension for study on property insurance rates
Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has received a four-week extension from the office of Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater to complete a study about why property insurance premiums have not come down along with reinsurance costs, THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA reports via the Sun-Sentinel.
Safety advocates slam bill to raise highway speed limit
Raising the speed limit even five miles on rural stretches of Florida’s roads could lead to more fatalities and injuries, according to a law enforcement official, consumer group spokesman and safety council official, who held a press conference Thursday to oppose a bill that would increase limits in certain areas, the Miami Herald’s Rochelle Koff writes for the “Naked Politics” blog.
High court certifies need for new Florida judges
Florida’s court system needs at least 49 new judges, the state Supreme Court told Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature on Thursday, The Florida Current’s Bill Cotterell reports.
Proposal eliminates long-term care ombudsman program’s monthly public meetings
A plan to reorganize the state’s ombudsman program for long-term care would eliminate local district councils and their monthly public meetings where local advocates discuss problems they’ve seen at nursing homes and assisted living facilities, The Florida Current’s James Call reports.
Bipartisan support developing for statewide domestic partnership registry
A bill that would create a statewide registry for domestic partnership is drawing bipartisan support in Tallahassee. Lead sponsor Rep. Linda Stewart (D-Orlando) filed the bill this week and will be joined by Rep. Dave Hood, who signing on as the primary Republican co-sponsor, Peter Schorsch reports for SaintPetersBlog.com.
State agriculture officials are proposing a first set of voluntary wildlife “best management” practices to help landowners avoid having to get permits for possible harm to state-protected species, The Florida Current’s Bruce Ritchie reports.
Florida and Texas were responsible for majority of the 40 executions in 2013
Two states, Texas and Florida, were responsible for the majority (59%) of executions nationwide. Texas had 16 executions and Florida had 7, Mary Ellen Klas reports for the Miami Herald’s “Naked Politics” blog.
Throwback Thursday in Florida politics: LeRoy Collins on cover of TIME fifty eight years ago
On December 19, 1955, Florida governor LeRoy Collins was completing the first year of his term as Florida’s 33rd governor, SaintPetersBlog.com’s Karen Cyphers writes.
Marsh Reports Surplus of Capital Continues to Temper Property Rates
The surplus of capital among insurers and reinsurers continued to have an overall softening effect in the U.S. property insurance market through the third quarter of 2013, Insurance Journal reports on newly released information from Marsh.
Junk Health Insurance No Bargain, Some Say
Many who have health insurance policies that don’t meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act protested loudly when they learned their plans would be canceled Jan. 1. The protest forced the Obama administration to grant a one-year extension, but policyholders who take it may regret it, say some patients who learned the hard way, Health News Florida reports.
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