Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Monday, March 10

Mar 10, 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


There are no events scheduled for today.

 

 

Daily Florida Insurance-Related News

 

Florida Lawmakers Turn Attention to Privatizing Commercial Business in Citizens

One year after enacting reforms designed to reduce the amount of homeowners business in the state’s insurer, state lawmakers are now looking to further shrink Citizens Property Insurance Corp. by targeting its commercial lines business, Insurance Journal’s Michael Adams reports.

 

Flood insurance increase hits hard on Florida commercial properties

A bill to rollback unaffordable flood insurance premiums on homeowners across the country that passed the U.S. House of Representatives may go before the Senate this week, Tampa Tribune’s Josh Boatwright reports.

 

Brewer Joins St. Johns Insurance Board

Hugh Brewer has been appointed to Orlando-based St. Johns Insurance Co. board of directors, Insurance Journal reports.

 

Low insurance premiums encourage development of state’s most vulnerable areas

No one can deny the appeal of living beside or near Florida’s fabulous beaches and coastal areas, writes 100 Friends of Florida in this Miami Herald editorial opinion.

 

Parasail rules aim to ensure safety

The Sunshine State’s commercial parasailers have flown free of oversight for too long, say those who have lost loved ones in horrifying accidents, Tonya Alanez reports for the Sun-Sentinel.

 

House committee files bill to keep currently operating trauma centers open

The ongoing legal battles over trauma centers across the state have now made it to the Florida Legislature, SaintPetersBlog.com’s Peter Schorsch reports.

 

Florida House race early test of fall campaign strategy for both parties

Democrat Alex Sink and her allies in the spirited race to replace the late Rep. Bill Young in the U.S. House have spent millions of dollars on TV ads ahead of Tuesday’s special election painting Republican David Jolly as an extremist who wants to privatize Social Security and gut Medicare, Associated Press’ Michael Mishak writes for U.S. News and World Report.

 

Bad poll numbers make GOP nervous about Rick Scott’s chances

The state of Gov. Rick Scott’s poll numbers is . . . sorry, explains Marc Caputo in the Miami Herald’s “Naked Politics” blog.

 

2 Republicans face off in primary to fill Precourt’s House seat

Republican voters in southwest Orange County will pick a nominee Tuesday for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives – a choice that eventually could have implications for the rest of the state, Jason Garcia reports for the Orlando Sentinel.

 

Florida spent millions on flawed fingerprint system

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s troubled 5-year-old automatic fingerprint identification system is experiencing technical problems that are causing delays in investigations and arrests across the state. It has also cost far more to maintain than it did to design and build.  The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting’s Tristam Korten reports via the Miami Herald.

 

Boards lack diversity as they decide who gets water

Appointed by the Governor, members of state water boards not only don’t resemble Florida’s population, they are much less diverse than the heads of many local water authorities, Kevin Spear reports for the Orlando Sentinel.

 

Florida speed trap city accused of corruption, threatened with extinction

How off-the-charts corrupt do you have to be to capture somebody’s attention in the Sunshine State?  CNN’s Ann O’Neill answers the question in her report about the City of Hamption.

 

Five Questions for Enterprise Florida’s Gray Swoope

As chief executive officer of Enterprise Florida and the state’s commerce secretary, Gray Swoope leads efforts to draw businesses to Florida, THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Margie Menzel reports via SunshineStateNews.com.

 

U.S. Senate Delays Action on Flood Bill

The U.S. Senate on Thursday delayed action until next week on legislation passed by the House that effectively scraps a flood insurance premium structure imposed by a 2012 law and replaces it with an entirely different scheme, National Underwriter’s Arthur Postal reports for PropertyCasualty360.com.

 

PCI Provides NCOIL List of Key Elements on International Issues

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators took positive steps this weekend during its spring meeting outlining key areas where state legislators and regulators can impact the international dialogue on insurance regulation,” according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America

 

Rand Study:   TRIA Expiration Could Hurt National Security

Allowing the federal terrorism risk insurance act to expire could have negative consequences for U.S. national security, according to a new study from the RAND Corporation, National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com reports.

 

Albert Betts to lead Insurance Council of Texas

Albert Betts will become executive director of the Insurance Council of Texas beginning April 1, according to a news release issued by the organization.

 

Mississippi City Looks for Ways to Firm Up Fire Code

Oxford has had fire codes for decades, aimed at protecting businesses and citizens.  However, there’s been no way to enforce the codes other than some nudging and prodding from the fire inspector, Insurance Journal reports.

 

 

 

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