Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Friday, September 13
Sep 13, 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 insurance-related events scheduled for today.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Florida senator wants to roll back auto registration fees
Senator Joe Negron pursued an auto registration fee rollback bill during the 2013 legislative session, saying it could save vehicle owners about $230 million. But the bill died, at least in part because it would have been funded by eliminating a tax break that benefits the insurance industry.
Hole in roof reveals hole in loan modification insurance coverage
Rosemary Toliver completed a mortgage modification in 2010 and was convinced she had crossed every ‘T’ and dotted every ‘I.’ But a hole in her roof revealed that there’s a hole in her loan modification plan, Ken Amaro writes for First Coast News.
American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research: Cat Fund Folly
Some families are still hoping for a solution to hurricane Sandy’s devastation, but some politicians are using the destruction as an opportunity to propose a national catastrophe fund (Cat fund), writes American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research CEO Steve Pociask in this Huffington Post editorial opinion.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary to make stops in Florida for health care law
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ visit to Orlando on Friday comes days after Florida health officials ordered county health departments across the state to ban counselors trained to help sign people up for health insurance from conducting outreach on their property, the Associated Press reports via WPTV-Orlando.
Appeals court says challenge to HCA trauma centers should proceed
A state appeals court Thursday sided with hospitals in the Tampa Bay and Jacksonville areas in part of a long-running battle aimed at shutting down new trauma centers approved by the Florida Department of Health, reports THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Jim Saunders via SaintPetersBlog.com.
Another lawsuit filed against Pratt, Palm Beach Aggregates over Acreage cancer cluster
A seventh lawsuit has been filed against Pratt & Whitney and Palm Beach Aggregates, claiming the industrial giants are responsible for a brain tumor that afflicted yet another person in The Acreage, Jane Musgrave reports for the Palm Beach Post.
Fewer Florida banks rated seriously weak, another sign of improving economy
Only 17 Florida-based commercial banks are rated “zero star,” or the weakest on a 0-5 scale of financial health, a sign that the state’s banking industry continues to strengthen from the darker days of the recession, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Battle over drug contract rages 2 years after lawmakers demanded it rebid
Two companies are fighting to be the go-to vendor for Florida agencies to purchase pharmaceuticals two years after the Legislature mandated the contract be competitively bid, Gray Rohrer reports for The Florida Current.
Joint Legislative Budget Commission Approves spending to divert Lake Okeechobee discharges
Florida’s Joint Legislative Budget Commission on Thursday approved a $2.7 million budget amendment that will help divert about one-third of the Lake Okeechobee water now flowing into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, The Florida Current’s Bruce Ritchie reports.
Budget panel OKs economists’ outlook; Negron still eyes license fees and tax breaks
Lawmakers tentatively cheered the news of a significant budget surplus projected by state economists for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, but cautioned that cuts to favored programs and tax carve-outs could still be coming next year, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Blog: Scott broadens his campaign theme–blame Florida’s recession on Crist
Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday told a gathering of Florida business and political leaders that the recession that befell Florida under the watch of his predecessor “never should have happened,” the Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas reports for the “Naked Politics” blog.
Jim Waldman Could Run for State Office or Face Skip Campbell in 2016
Jim Waldman faces term limits in the House next year. But things are about to get interesting for this Coconut Creek Democrat, who could wind up running for state office or taking on Skip Campbell for a Florida Senate seat in 2016, Jeff Henderson reports for SunshineStateNews.com.
Weatherford wants state tops in on-line classes
Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford may have been a day earlier than the agenda but on Thursday he proposed a “big hairy audacious goal” for education at the Florida Leaders Summit. He wants the state to assume national leadership in on-line education, James Call reports for The Florida Current.
Will Third Time Be the Charm for National Producer Licensing Bill?
Insurance groups and lobbyists in Washington are hoping so, after the House of Representatives this week overwhelmingly passed a bill (H.R. 1155 ) to streamline the insurance producer licensing process, Andrew Simpson reports for Insurance Journal.
Congress Expected to Act Late on “Critical” TRIA Renewal, PCI Says
Policy expert Robert Gordon with the Property and Casualty Insurers Association of America says he is “not overly optimistic” Congress will move promptly to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act before it sunsets next Dec. 31, Arthur Postal reports for National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com.
U.S. Spent $62 Billion on Disaster Relief in Fiscal 2011 and 2012
The U.S. government spent nearly $62 billion on disaster relief in the two-year period ending Sept. 30, 2012, to help Americans recover from severe storms, droughts, heat waves and wildfires, a new analysis of federal data has found, Reuters’ Deborah Zabarenko reports for National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com.
Insurance Pros in Politics: Being an Agent Prepared Tennessee Senator Ketron for Politics
Insurance was a great training ground for now State Sen. Bill Ketron, who has been a member of the Tennessee Senate since 2002 while also serving as president of his own independent agency founded by his late father, Andrew Simpson reports for Insurance Journal.
Click here to follow Colodny Fass& Webb on Twitter (@CFTLAWcom)
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an e-mail to Brooke Ellis at bellis@cftlaw.com.