Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Thursday, April 25
Apr 25, 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
Florida’s 2013 Regular Legislative Session
- Click here for today’s Senate block calendar
- Click here for today’s House of Representatives block calendar
10:00 a.m.–Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association Safety Committee teleconference meeting. To view the meeting notice, click here. To view the agenda, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Blog: Senate postpones action on Citizens Property Insurance overhaul bill again
The Florida Senate once again postponed action Wednesday morning on a bill to uncap rates for some new Citizens insurance customers, with the insurance committee chairman saying he hopes to bring it to a vote for final passage Thursday, reports Charles Elmore of the Palm Beach Post.
Hillsborough homeowners question whether sinkhole damage law is on their side
Thousands of people are living with sinkholes underneath them, and they are scared and angry, questioning whether Florida law is on their side, reports Doug Smith, WTVT FOX 13 Investigative Reporter in Tampa Bay.
Bill to End No-Fault insurance likely dead for now
SB 1888 moving away from a no-fault system and into mandatory bodily injury coverage for auto insurance isn’t likely to make it to Governor Scott’s desk, reports The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer, but could return next year if an injunction against HB 119 from last year is upheld by the courts.
Senate unanimously approves vehicle fee cut, insurance tax break repeal
The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports that SB 1832, which would repeal a $220 million tax break for the insurance industry to pay for a reduction in vehicle registration fees cleared the Senate on a unanimous vote Wednesday.
Terry Anderson and Dino Falaschetti, scholars at the Property and Environmental Research Center in Bozeman, Montana, report that while private investment in green energy was down 34 percent between 2011 and 2012, proponents of subsidies for R&D are struggling to make their case.
Blog: Yellow Dot first responder program to help crash victims gets second nod in House
The House again approved a program that calls for a yellow dot sticker to be placed on the left corner of the rear-window of a vehicle, reports The Miami Herald’s Rochelle Koff. The yellow dot is a signal to first responders that the driver keeps medical records, a photograph and emergency information in the car’s glove box — including a list of current medications and preexisting health conditions, emergency contact information and identification.
Florida House Democrats to support Fasano health amendment
The Florida Current’s James Call reports that State Representative Mike Fasano is bucking House leadership and will propose amending the House health care plan to closely resemble a Senate proposal. It would draw down billions of federal dollars, a funding scheme the House has rejected. “Fasano is an unusual guy. He’s a hybrid,” said Representative Elaine Schwartz, D-Hollywood.
Blog: Health Insurance Standoff Shows No Signs of Ending
There are still no signs that Florida lawmakers will bridge the gap dividing them over whether to tap into federal money to provide uninsured Floridians access to health insurance, reports the South Florida Business Journal’s Christine Jordan Sexton.
- Health News Florida Asks: Why Doesn’t House Take the Medicaid Money?
- Medicare Denial Cuts Florida Hospital Funds
Ethics, campaign-finance bills are moving
Bills moving on Wednesday would double the size of campaign contributions state lawmakers can accept, strengthen powers of the Ethics Commission and curb some of their lobbying influence after they leave the House or Senate, The Florida Current’s Bill Cotterell reports. The timing of the bills is important because the Governor has said he opposes raising the $500 limit on individual campaign contributions.
Blog: House votes for tighter legislative controls for Florida High School Athletics Association
The nearly century-old organization that oversees high school athletics in Florida may be entering its final years of eligibility, reports Jim Turner of THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA in SaintPetersBlog.com.
Heritage Bank of North Florida shut down by federal regulators
Heritage Bank of North Florida was closed April 19 by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC as receiver, reports Clay Today–Clay County’s local newspaper. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into an agreement allowing FirstAtlantic Bank of Jacksonville to take over all of the bank’s deposits.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council meets today amid signs that the first designation of an insurer as systemically significant is imminent, reports Arthur Postal and Elizabeth Festa of PropertyCasualty360.com.
Bermuda’s Reinsurance Industry Mourns Unsung Hero
The late Bala Nadarajah is considered by many in the insurance industry to be the man who laid the groundwork for the Island’s rise as a leading global reinsurance centre, reports the Royal Gazette’s Marcia Breen.
Building up to Code not Your Insurer’s Problem
Most standard home insurance policies don’t cover the expense of bringing the house up to current codes if the structure didn’t meet the latest regulations before disaster struck, reports Barbara Marquand of My FOX Business.
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