Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Thursday, March 6
Mar 6, 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
9:00 a.m.–Florida State Board of Administration public meeting. Authorize the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund to file a Notice of Proposed Rule for Rule 19-8.013, “Revenue Bonds Issued Pursuant to Section 215.555(6),F.S.,” Rule 19-8.029, “Insurer Reporting Requirements,” and Rule 19-8.030, “Insurer Responsibilities,” and to file these rules for adoption if no member of the public requests a Rule hearing or if a Rule hearing is requested but no Notice of Change is needed. To view the meeting notice, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Pinellas lawmaker advances flood insurance legislation
The state House advanced a bill Wednesday to deal with Florida’s flood insurance crisis by encouraging more private insurers to write policies, Tampa Bay Times’ Steve Bousquet reports.
Senate panel moves on bill to shrink Citizens as 75,000 policies targeted for take out
Legislation to reduce the number of policies underwritten by the state-run insurance company is progressing in the Senate, but Gov. Rick Scott’s concerns that the proposal could raise rates for policyholders may be an obstacle, explains Gray Rohrer in The Florida Current.
Sinkhole repair bill falters in Senate panel
A bill that would create a sinkhole repair program for Citizens Property Insurance customers sunk Wednesday under the skepticism of a Senate panel, James Rosica reports for the Tampa Tribune.
Citizens Insurance has fewest policies since 2006
Years of aggressive efforts to shrink state-run Citizens Property Insurance by boosting rates and decreasing coverage have dropped the company’s policy count to the lowest level since 2006, but Florida lawmakers are not stopping there, Halifax Media’s Zac Anderson reports via the Ocala Star Banner.
Harsher sentences for Florida hit-and-run drivers get House committee OK
Stiffer sentences for drivers who flee fatal crash scenes were approved by a Florida House committee Wednesday, Tonya Alanez reports for the Sun Sentinel.
Florida joins federal lawsuit against BP for 2010 oil spill
Governor Rick Scott announced Wednesday that Florida is joining a federal lawsuit filed in Louisiana seeking damages from BP and others for the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, The Florida Current’s Bruce Ritchie reports.
Committee approves “non-euphoric” medical marijuana use
The House Crimminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday approved a medicinal marijuana bill which would allow patients suffering from severe seizures to get prescriptions for a “non-euphoric” marijuana extract, The Florida Current’s Bill Cotterell reports.
Bill to exempt development fees draws local government concern
Legislation that would exempt new developments from concurrency fees – revenues used by local governments to pay for the expanded roads required by the increased use the development would bring – brought sharp rebukes from members of the House Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Merchants challenging Florida’s law against credit card surcharges
Two law firms filed constitutional challenges today in Florida, Texas and California on behalf of merchants seeking to overturn the states’ law prohibiting credit card surcharges, Dave Hodges reports for the Tallahassee Democrat.
State Representative LaRosa Faces Challengers in Florida House Race
Mike LaRosa had a tough path to the Florida House in 2012 and things won’t come easy this year either as a new major opponent filed paperwork on Wednesday to challenge him, SunshineStateNews.com’s Jeff Henderson reports.
Click here to follow Colodny Fass& Webb on Twitter (@CFTLAWcom)
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an e-mail to Brooke Ellis at bellis@cftlaw.com.