Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Monday, May 6
May 6, 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 Florida insurance-related events scheduled for today.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Faced with skyrocketing premiums, thousands of Florida homeowners have been dropping sinkhole coverage they get through Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the Tampa Bay Times’ Susan Taylor Martin reports.
Blog: Top 25 Florida Property & Casualty Insurance Companies
A Tallahassee-based firm ranked first on the South Florida Business Journal’s list of the top 25 Florida property and casualty insurance companies, the South Florida Business Journal reports.
Palm Beach County complex settles drywall dispute for $24 million
Residents of Villa Lago Renaissance Commons in Boynton Beach who worried for years that the walls of their condomiums were making them ill will finally see some relief, reports Jane Musgrave of the Palm Beach Post.
Editorial: Cooler heads prevail in Florida Legislature on Citizens Property Insurance
The Bradenton Herald’s Editorial Board says we can breathe easier now that wiser heads have prevailed on the potentially damaging impact of huge premium increases from Citizens Property Insurance Corporation.
Blog: Top South Florida Insurance Agencies
A West Palm Beach-based firm ranked first on the South Florida Business Journal’s list of the top insurance agencies, the South Florida Business Journal reports.
Blog: Florida rejects Medicaid expansion, leaves 1 million uninsured
In Florida, where one in five non-elderly residents lack insurance coverage, the consequences are especially large, the Washington Post’s Sarah Kliff reports.
- Democrats wait for Governor to lead on health care
- James Madison Institute Praises Florida House For Holding Ground On Health Reform
- Blog: No Medicaid expansion means businesses will pay
Villages get nursing home; Gaetz, a trauma center
The Florida Legislature found compromise on three health-related issues during the session’s final hour, The Florida Current’s James Call reports. The vehicle delivering the priorities of leading lawmakers was HB 1159.
Florida assisted living facilities reform dies again
Reform of the assisted-living facilities industry died in the Legislature for the second year in a row, The Florida Current’s James Call reports.
Florida Legislature adjourns 2013 session
Sixty days of debate, argument, agreement and compromise end with the drop of two handkerchiefs in the Capitol rotunda to signal the completion of the 2013 legislative session, Bill Cotterell reports for The Florida Current.
- Blog: Florida’s 2013 Session Herald/Times interactive list of what passed and failed
- Top Legislative Losses of Florida’s 2013 Session
- 2013 Session: Republican Domination in Tallahassee
- Blog: Governor has a good legislative session
- Blog: 2013 Legislative Winners And Losers – Senator Wilton Simpson Has A Great First Session
- Freshman legislator Rodrigues reflects on first Session success, surprises
- Special-interest successes mark 2013 Session
- Say Goodnight, Mary
Elections re-reform package sent to Governor
Racing toward adjournment, Florida legislators sent Governor Rick Scott a package of election-law changes intended to prevent the long lines and voter frustration that marred the 2012 elections — and get the state out of the monologues of late-night television comics, Bill Cotterell reports for The Florida Current.
Business relocation incentives confidentiality law throws elected leaders for a loop
Presented with an opportunity to lure a Fortune 500 company headquarters to Lee County, commissioners were asked to vote on a $4.6 million incentive package this week. The only hiccup – they don’t know what company they’re luring, Naples Daily News’ Maryann Battle reports.
Teachers, state workers get pay raise in $74.5 budget passed on Session’s final day
Some House Democrats dropped their budget protest over Medicaid expansion, and Governor Rick Scott got his top two priorities of a teacher pay raise and manufacturing tax cut, reports The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer.
Blog: No Dolphins stadium upgrades planned for now
The Miami Dolphins do not intend to pay for even modest upgrades to Sun Life Stadium now that the team’s push for a subsidized renovation to the 1987 facility have failed, reports Patricia Mazzei for Naked Politics.
Legislature agrees on permitting bill despite sustained opposition
The Florida Chamber of Commerce says HB 999 is among the bills that will make Florida more competitive economically. But environmentalists still didn’t like it after getting fertilizer and wetlands language removed, The Florida Current’s Bruce Ritchie reports.
New Jersey Insurance Commissioner says Those With Unresolved Sandy Claims Can Turn to Mediation
New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Ken Kobylowski said on May 1 that New Jersey residents with unresolved non-flood insurance claims related to Superstorm Sandy can have their cases mediated through the American Arbitration Association, the Insurance Journal reports.
Court of Appeal Upholds California Insurance Commissioner’s Authority in Mercury Homeowners Suit
The California Court of Appeal upheld a Los Angeles Superior Court ruling on Thursday by dismissing Mercury Insurance Company’s lawsuit challenging Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones’ authority to decrease the insurer’s homeowners rates, the Insurance Journal reports.
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