Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Monday, October 24
Oct 24, 2011
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
- Daily Florida Insurance-Related Bills Filed for 2012
- Daily Insurance-Related News
Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
There are no insurance-related events scheduled for today.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related Bills Filed for 2012
SB 638 relating to (the repeal of) Florida Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Authority by Senator Alan Hays
SB 638 would repeal provisions relating to the Florida Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Authority. Effective Date: July 1, 2012
HB 4085 relating to Workers’ Compensation by State Representative Matt Caldwell
HB 4085 would abolish Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Administrator and delete an obsolete transitional requirement for certain policies of the Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association. Effective Date: July 1, 2012
HB 4087 relating to the Repeal of a Workers’ Compensation Independent Actuarial Peer Review Requirement by State Representative Ben Albritton
HB 4087 would repeals a provision of law relating to the duty of Financial Services Commission to contract for a periodic report regarding actuarial peer review and analysis of the ratemaking process of any licensed rating organization that makes rate filings for workers’ compensation insurance. Effective Date: July 1, 2012
Opinion: State should not change standards that protect insured
You’re in good hands. Your insurer is on your side, because it’s like a good neighbor.
Wall Street Journal Editorial: Hurricane Blinders–Florida Republicans pray the wind doesn’t blow
The Atlantic hurricane season is winding down without a disaster for Florida, but evidence continues to build that the state’s taxpayers will get walloped sooner or later.
Coastal homes lack flood insurance because of maps
Despite the sweeping Gulf of Mexico view from Tony and Kathy Zumbano’s ground-level kitchen – and the fact that a hurricane could pummel it with crashing 10-foot waves – the federal government does not consider their home a high flood risk.
Tampa attorney takes pride in his battles with insurers
Wherever there’s a hurricane, Tampa lawyer William F. “Chip” Merlin is there.
Joan Collier’s Florida People, Places, & Products-October 2011 Round-Up
Florida-based homeowners’ insurance provider Security First Insurance Co. has received approval from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to begin offering renters insurance in Florida.
Florida driver’s license revocations spike
Florida lawmaker seeks to modify Real ID requirements for driver’s licenses.
Florida State University analysis contends public hospitals cost more than other hospitals
Data analyzed by a Florida State University suggests that government-run hospitals may more expensive to run, but some members of a commission created to study the issue want additional analysis done of the data.
Florida’s two budget shortfall pictures derive from differing projections
On Thursday, the Senate Budget Committee heard the latest budget projections, which have it working with a shortfall of $2 billion.
Florida’s unemployment inches down to 10.6 percent in September
The leisure and hospitality sector drove job gains but 977,000 Floridians remain unemployed.
Florida companies got millions — but Florida got no jobs
Florida’s economic-development agency has paid $37.9 million to six companies for thousands of jobs that were never created and is now attempting to renegotiate their contracts in the hope of still saving some of them.
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA: Judicial Panel Urging Improvements to Florida Foreclosure Mediation
A statewide program established in 2009 to require mediation in residential foreclosure cases isn’t working and should be significantly changed, a panel set up by the Florida Supreme Court concluded Friday in a report that warns of another deluge of foreclosure cases.
Settlement for South Florida tomato pickers leads to dispute among their advocates
Life for migrant farm workers in the United States, including in South Florida, has always been pretty slim pickings.
Facing a session that will start two months earlier than usual, lawmakers ramped up their fundraising efforts in the third quarter of this year, especially in the House.
Florida business groups clash over online travel sales tax, unite to fight casinos
The fight between the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and the Florida Chamber of Commerce centers on how much sales tax online travel companies should pay for the rooms they sell in the state.
Blunt-talking Genting Americas president determined to close gambling casino deal in Tallahassee
It is a lazy, rainy day in Tallahassee and Colin Au, the president of Genting Americas, has arrived in town on a mission – to meet with every one of the state’s 180 legislators to explain why Miami needs a “destination resort” with one of the world’s biggest casinos.
Florida Internet cafes stir heated debate
State lawmakers are again wading into the debate over Internet sweepstakes cafes, even as local officials weigh their own proposed ordinance to ban the facilities in Hillsborough County.
Jim Donelon re-elected as Louisiana insurance commissioner
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon is retaining his elected post.
Lawsuit: State Farm denied Texas claims for Hurricane Ike-damaged shingles
A Houston lawmaker on Friday called for an investigation of State Farm after homeowners alleged in a lawsuit that the insurer wrongfully denied more than 100,000 roof-related Hurricane Ike claims.
Mortgage insurer subsidiary seized by regulators
Insurance regulators in Arizona have seized the main subsidiary of private mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc., which will begin paying claims at just 50 percent.
Years after NAFTA, first long-haul Mexican truck enters U.S.
The first Mexican truck bound for the U.S. interior crossed at the international bridge at Laredo, Texas, on Friday, carrying electronic equipment destined for suburban Dallas and fulfilling a controversial provision of the 1994 North American Free Trade Act.
New York Times Editorial: Even Worse Than Citizens United
The Justice Department is right to defend as essential the century-old ban on direct corporate contributions to political candidates for federal office.
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