Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report – Thursday, March 31, 2016

 

State Farm Secrecy Ruling “Huge Blow,” Open Records Advocate says

A state court has ruled in favor of State Farm’s effort to make secret basic information available to the public for years on how many customers it has — or is dropping, Florida officials said Wednesday.  Charles Elmore reports for the Palm Beach Post’s “Protecting Your Pocket” blog.

  

Surprise!  Flood Insurance still a mess, so Rates are Going Up Again

Two years later, the flood insurance frenzy has died down. No one is shouting about inexplicable rate hikes or a real estate apocalypse.  Private insurers are slowly entering the marketplace, and FEMA is keeping a low profile, Tampa Bay Times columnist John Romano writes.

  

New Proposal coming to Regulate Uber, Lyft in Hillsborough County

Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission Chairman Victor Crist said he plans to offer a new proposal that would legalize and regulate app-based ridesharing companies in his county.  William March reports for the Tampa Bay Times.

  

Florida’s Safety Net Hospitals raise concerns about Trauma Center Recommendation

There are more trauma centers than needed in South Florida, according to state regulators who say Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties need just three centers in total.   Tampa Bay Times’ Michael Auslen reports via “The Buzz” blog.

  

Governor Rick Scott approves Elections Supervisors’ Pay Raise, more Public Record Shields

It was a good day for county supervisors of elections and a bad day for open-government advocates after Governor Rick Scott signed more than a dozen bills into law Wednesday.  Tampa Bay Times’ Michael Auslen reports.

 

Massive Fish Kill makes Florida Water Emergency difficult to ignore

Water surfaces were hidden under a startling expanse of mottled gray, as if someone had covered the lagoons with a Jackson Pollock abstract. It takes a moment for the eye (or perhaps the nose) to decipher the stippled tableau and understand that Space Coast waterways have been transformed into rotting cauldrons of dead marine life, the Miami Herald’s Fred Grimm writes.

  

Flores wants Senate review of Biscayne Bay Contamination

Senator Anitere Flores, R-Miami, wants Senate leaders to establish a select committee to review the recent discovery of a radioactive isotope in Biscayne Bay linked to a nuclear power plant in southeast Miami-Dade County.  THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Jim Turner reports via SayfieReview.com.

  

Texas Insurance Agency says more money needed for Fraud Investigations

State insurance regulators would need a big infusion of cash to handle injured worker fraud investigations if the Legislature puts an end to the controversial funding deal between Travis County and the largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance, officials said Wednesday.  Tony Plohetski and Jay Root report for the Ameican-Statesman and Texas Tribune

 

 

 

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