Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Thursday, February 16
Feb 16, 2012
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 2012 Regular Legislative Session
- Click here for today’s Senate block calendar
- Click here for today’s House of Representatives block calendar
8:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.–Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance
- SB 1372 relating to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund by Senator J.D. Alexander
- SB 2082 relating to Open Government Sunset Review/Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association, Inc. by the Senate Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability
9:00 a.m.–Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation Rule Development Workshop. Proposed amendments to Rule 69L-7.501 would adopt by reference the 2012 Florida Workers’ Compensation Reimbursement Manual for Hospitals, which will incorporate a fee schedule for certain hospital outpatient services within defined geographic areas in Florida utilizing Current Procedural Terminology® line level charge data. To view the hearing notice, click here.
10:00 a.m.-Florida Governor Rick Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater Witness Staged Traffic Crashes. Florida Highway Patrol Colonel David H. Brierton and the Coalition to Put the Brakes on Accident Fraud will host Governor Rick Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater as they witness a series of staged car accidents first-hand. Special agents from the National Insurance Crime Bureau and a representative from the Insurance Information Institute will also be in attendance.
(CANCELED) 10:00 a.m.–Florida Surplus Lines Service Office National Clearinghouse meeting. To view the meeting notice, click here.
10:00 a.m.–Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association Operations Committee meeting. To view the meeting notice, click here. To view the agenda, click here.
11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.–House Economic Affairs Committee
- CS/HB 409 relating to Alien Insurers by House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee; State Representative Ed Hooper
- CS/CS/HB 1011 relating to Warranty Associations by House Government Operations Appropriations Subcommittee; House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee; State Representative Joe Abruzzo
- CS/HB 1065 relating to Annuities by House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee; State Representative Doug Broxson
11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.–House Judiciary Committee
- CS/HB 1013 relating to Residential Construction Warranties by House Civil Justice Subcommittee; State Representative Frank Artiles
11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.–House State Affairs Committee
- HB 7105 relating to Open Government Sunset Review/Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association by the House Government Operations Subcommittee
1:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.–Senate Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability
- SB 1232 Relating to Open Government Sunset Review/Personal Injury Protection and Property Damage by the Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance
3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.–House Session
- HB 4077 relating to Actions For Damages by State Representative Larry Metz
- CS/HB 941 relating to Commercial Lines Insurance Policies by House Economic Affairs Committee; State Representative Doug Holder
- CS/CS/HB 643 relating to Title Insurance by House Economic Affairs Committee; House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee; State Representative George Moraitis Jr.
- CS/HB 789 relating to Workers’ Compensation by the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee; State Representative H. Marlene O’Toole
Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal: Gyongyosi v. Miller
This case arises out of a liquid propane gas explosion which occurred at a couple’s vacation home.
Column: Insurance premium is for the dogs
The 28 percent increase in Lorraine Renosis homeowners’ insurance premium got her attention.
An abrupt about-face by the Florida Medical Association is helping to keep malpractice reform legislation alive, but at least one group of physicians is calling the move “irresponsible.”
Excess profit ban is lifted for workers’ compensation carriers
A pair of workers’ compensation bills cleared the House on Wednesday but there are no companions to either measure in the Senate.
Governor Rick Scott orders broader look into law-enforcement crashes
Prompted by a three-day investigative series in the Orlando Sentinel, the Florida Highway Patrol will begin work immediately with Florida’s sheriffs and police chiefs on how to prevent police-vehicle crashes, Governor Rick Scott’s office announced Wednesday.
Governor Rick Scott to view live staged automobile accidents
Governor Rick Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater are getting a first-hand look at the kind of staged automobile accidents that are costing Floridians millions of dollars on their insurance bills.
Florida Senate panel signs off on $70.8 billion budget
Senate panel quelled early tensions over planned cuts to universities and unanimously signed off on its nearly $70.8 billion budget proposal at an eight-hour meeting on Wednesday.
House passes $121 million business tax cut package
Governor Rick Scott had pushed for the main tax cut included in the bill, HB 7087, which increases the corporate income tax exemption from $25,000 to $50,000 and reduces the number of businesses paying the tax from 15,000 to 11,500.
Blog: With redistricting lawsuits pending, legislators wants broad immunity in lawsuits
Florida legislators have traditionally had to fend off lawsuits that attempt to subpoena them and their staff to talk about the sausage-making of the legislative process.
Florida 5th most financially distressed state, index shows.
Florida ranks fifth nationally for households likely to be in financial distress, a report in the Jacksonville Business Journal says.
House OKs bills extending alternative water supply permits and authorizing statewide wetlands permit
Bills that would create a statewide wetlands permit and would extend the length of alternative water supply permits passed the House on Wednesday.
Blog: After dying in House, Constitutionally-questionable drug-testing bill revived
A proposal to authorize random drug tests for state employees has come back to life, after a last-minute measure to rescue the dying bill before the casket closed on Wednesday.
Unions sue over plan to privatize prison health care system
Two labor unions have filed suit against the state Department of Corrections in an effort to prevent privatizing health care for all 100,000 inmates in the Florida prison system.
Bill to tax “roll your own cigarettes” advances
With higher taxes forcing smokers to pay more for their favorite cigarettes, a roll-your-own industry has popped up across Florida.
Florida Chamber of Commerce official fears legislative session moving too slowly
David Hart, a former executive with WCI Communities in Bonita Springs and now the executive vice president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said legislators may not get all of their work finished on time.
Rising insurance cost along coast comes under scrutiny
Insurance companies arent avoiding Georgias coast, but they are raising prices there and across the whole state for homeowners policies, according to data the Georgia Insurance Department gave the Coastal Caucus Wednesday morning.
Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today announced that 20 states have now signed a multi-state agreement that the California Department of Insurance and six other lead states, negotiated with Prudential Life Insurance Company Group.
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