Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report–Monday, June 2, 2014
Jun 2, 2014
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
2:30 p.m.–Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association (“FWCJUA”) Rates and Forms Committee meeting. To view the agenda, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Florida riding a lucky streak as hurricane season 2014 opens
The last time a hurricane struck Florida, we were in the midst of a Shaq attack, largely oblivious to a phenom in Cleveland named LeBron becoming the youngest player to score more than 50 points in a pro basketball game. Jeb Bush was governor. And about 27,000 Miami-Dade first-graders hadn’t even been born, the Miami Herald’s Jenny Staletovich writes.
- 20 percent of Floridians would stay put for hurricane
- Florida counties lack space in hurricane shelters
- 20% Chance of Florida Landfall Predicted
- New map projects storm surge flooding potential
Should you bet against Florida hurricanes?
Citizens’ catastrophe bonds are rated “B” by Standard & Poor’s, according to www.artemis.bm, an East Sussex, United Kingdom, company that tracks these offerings, Gail Liberman explains in the Palm Beach Daily News.
Exodus of Citizens executives to companies with contracts raises questions
In the past three years, at least three senior executives at Citizens Property Insurance who were in charge of multimillion-dollar contracts awarded to private companies went to work months later for those same companies, the Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas reports via the “Naked Politics” blog.
Conflict Laws Different for Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance
A state law banning employees responsible for a contract from going to work for the contractor is applied differently at Citizens. One state senator says that needs to change, the Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas reports.
The steady drip of new revelations continued in the ongoing redistricting trial on Friday as a Republican Party of Florida official was called back to testify about a redistricting meeting at Republican National Committee headquarters with Florida legislators, the Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas reports via the “Naked Politics” blog.
Republican Party of Florida Chooses Leslie Dougher As Party Chair
It’s official: Leslie Dougher will be replacing Lenny Curry as the new chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Allison Nielsen reports for SunshineStateNews.com.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Resigns
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary Jeff Littlejohn offered his resignation on Friday after three years of running the agency’s regulatory arm, SaintPetersBlog.com reports.
Water Plan Moves Closer Despite Florida Lawsuit
A group representing a wide range of interests in the dispute among Florida, Georgia and Alabama over a shared river system said the quest for a solution has been slowed by Florida’s latest lawsuit in the so-called “water wars,” THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Margie Menzel reports.
When crafting the 2014-15 budget, lawmakers had a surplus of $1.3 billion in revenue to work with, which prompted the Legislature’s 140 members to increase their effort to get a piece of the pie, Florida Times-Union’s Matt Dixon reports via the “Political Fix Florida” blog.
Thrasher’s new competition: Ricky Polston, yes Supreme Court Justice
The chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court is applying to become president of Florida State University, the Miami Herald’s Mary Ellen Klas reports via the “Naked Politics” blog.
Many Florida incumbents safe, but few face tests this year
Close to half of this year’s state legislative races are no races at all, with incumbent lawmakers in those districts running unopposed for re-election, the Tampa Tribune’s James Rosica reports.
Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown got big stake in obscure Florida firm
An obscure company in West Palm Beach that markets itself as a firearms manufacturer made a splashy announcement last summer: It was appointing Scott Brown, the former Massachusetts senator, to its advisory board, the Boston Globe’s Noah Bierman and Todd Wallack report.
Starting at least as early as last November, as the Miami Herald was grilling the Florida Department of Children and Families on its problems in preventing the deaths of children under its watch, one branch of the agency deliberately kept as many as 30 deaths off the books – ensuring they would not be included in the published tally. The Miami Herald’s Carol Marbin Miller reports via the “Naked Politics” blog.
U.S. Senate Committee To Hear Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act Tomorrow
The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs will meet in an Executive Session to consider S. 2244, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014.
New Texas Windstorm Rules Establish Method for Issuing Bonds
New rules posted by Texas insurance regulators on May 23 implement a process by which bonds may be issued on behalf of the state’s wind insurer of last resort for properties along the Texas coast, Insurance Journal reports.
Colorado Poised to Become First State to Legislate Rules for Ridesharing Services
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is expected to sign legislation regulating ridesharing services such as uberX and Lyft, National Underwriter’s Steven Meyerowitz reports for PropertyCasualty360.com.
Kansas insurance commissioner race involves 5 Republicans, 1 Democrat
Six candidates are vying to become Kansas’ insurance commissioner as incumbent Sandy Praeger is not seeking re-election, The Associated Press reports via KWCH.com.
Spurred by health overhaul law, some states revisit rules to reflect how people use benefits
Prompted by the health care overhaul law, several states are updating their rules for insurance networks to better reflect who is covered and how people shop for and use their benefits, the Associated Press reports via SaintPetersBlog.com.
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.