Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Thursday, April 10
Apr 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
10:00 a.m.–Florida Workers’ Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association Board of Directors meeting. Orlando, Florida. To view the meeting notice, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
House preps Citizens sinkhole bill for final vote
House member Wednesday readied HB 129, which requires Citizens Property Insurance Corp. customers to choose from contractors approved by the company to conduct sinkhole repairs, for a final vote that could come as soon as Friday, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Security First to Offer Ironshore’s Primary Flood for High-Value Properties in Florida
Security First Managers, LLC, a Florida-based managing general agent for high value homeowners programs, is expanding the flood coverage it offers utilizing Ironshore insurance capacity, Insurance Journal reports.
Business owners gird for new flood insurance battle
Commercial property and second home owners have been overlooked by a much-celebrated “fix” to the flood insurance crisis approved by Congress last month, Tampa Bay Times’ Jeff Harrington reports.
House advances evacuations gun bill
A bill allowing gun owners to pack their weapons when fleeing a hurricane or other emergency is moving swiftly in the Florida Legislature, The Florida Current’s Bill Cotterell reports.
Senate tucks Weatherford’s driver license bill into transportation package
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development amended an omnibus transportation bill Wednesday to include a measure pushed by House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, to make it easier for suspended drivers to get their licenses back, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Political headscratcher: Prominent Democrats invited to Rick Scott event
A number of prominent Tampa area Democrats have been puzzling over invitations they got to a fundraiser last week for Republican Gov. Rick Scott. Topping the list was former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Tampa Tribune’s James Rosica reports on PoliticalFixFlorida.com.
No budget talks during holiday break, says Senate President
Since Florida lawmakers will be taking next week off for Passover and Easter, final budget talks will not resume until lawmakers return to Tallahassee, SaintPetersBlog.com’s Peter Schorsch reports.
A bill forbidding public schools to collect “biodata” on students advanced Wednesday in the Florida House, The Florida Current’s Bill Cotterell reports.
Senate, House differ widely on water projects spending
The Senate has proposed spending $43.3 million on 84 local water projects around the state while the House proposes $100 million but has no list yet, The Florida Current’s Bruce Ritchie reports.
Florida’s orange production is declining
This year’s Florida orange crop is approaching the fruit’s lowest harvest in decades, and experts say a deadly bacteria that’s infecting the trees is to blame, Associated Press’ Tamara Lush reports.
U.S. Warns Businesses on Major Web Technology Bug “Heartbleed”
The finding of the so-called “Heartbleed” vulnerability, by researchers with Google Inc. and a small security firm Codenomicon, prompted the U.S. government’s Department of Homeland Security to advise businesses on Tuesday to review their servers to see if they were using vulnerable versions a type of software known as OpenSSL, Reuters reports via Insurance Journal.
N.Y. Regulator Subpoenas 4 Insurers in Iran Sanctions Probe
New York State’s top insurance regulator has sent subpoenas to four U.S. insurance companies as part of a probe of potential sanctions violations involving Iran, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, Reuters’ Karen Freifeld reports.
Uber Creates Insurance Gaps, California Regulator Says
Car-booking services run by Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc. and Side.Cr LLC are creating “serious” gaps in coverage for drivers, passengers and pedestrians, California’s insurance regulator said. Bloomberg News reports.
Arthur Postal’s Washington Report: TRIA Bill Taking Shape in Senate Banking Committee
Congress plans to tackle reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act starting in early May with Senate Banking Committee action. The panel appears ready to act through legislation that would extend the program along lines the insurance industry wants, National Underwriter’s Arthur Postal reports for PropertyCasualty360.com.
Christie Asks FEMA for Another 6-Month Sandy Claim Extension
N.J. Gov. Chris Christie today asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to grant N.J. residents and businesses that suffered property damage or destruction in Superstorm Sandy an additional six-month extension to file a complete flood insurance claim, or proof of loss, in connection with the storm, according to a statement from his administration, National Underwriter’s PropertyCasualty360.com reports.
Mudslide Insurance is Rare, Expensive
Mudslide coverage is not only expensive, it’s difficult to purchase, NPR’s Chris Lehman reports.
Titanic insurance claim to be sold
The U.K. Telegraph reports that the most senior officer to survive the Titanic attempted to downplay the iceberg collision to secure a £3 million insurance payout, documents suggest.
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