Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report–Thursday, September 11, 2014
Sep 11, 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 Department of Revenue Rule (“DOR”) Development Workshop. Tallahassee, Florida. Proposed amendments to Rule 12B-8.0016, “DOR Electronic Database,” would provide reference to updates to instructions for the DOR’s Address/Jurisdiction Database used for assigning premiums and policies to local tax jurisdictions. Proposed amendments to Rule 12B-8.003, “Tax Statement; Overpayments,” would adopt changes to forms used by the DOR in the administration of insurance premium taxes, fees and surcharges. To view the Workshop notice, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Florida’s new insurance sector may be “accident waiting to happen”
As Florida seeks to revive its private home insurance market after almost a decade without a hurricane, homeowners are pouring $6 billion a year in premiums into a new generation of small, in-state insurance companies with an unproven record of withstanding a major hurricane. Barbara Liston reports for Reuters.
Florida Ranks Number One by Risk of Damage from Natural Hazards
Florida, Rhode Island, Louisiana, California and Massachusetts are the top 5 states for exposure to multiple natural hazards, according to an analysis by CoreLogic, a property data and analytics firm. Insurance Journal reports.
Florida economic report casts doubt on feasibility of Scott’s tax cut plan
The housing crash still haunts Florida’s economy, state economist Amy Baker told legislative budget leaders. Florida is still No. 1 in foreclosure filings. Construction isn’t projected to return to peak levels until 2022. Homeownership is at 65.3 percent, the lowest level since 1990. Tampa Bay Times’ Michael Van Sickler reports via “The Buzz” blog.
Legislators approve projects to aid springs
Florida legislators are signing off on a long list of projects that are intended to aid the quality of several of the state’s springs, the Associated Press reports via SaintPetersBlog.com.
Appeals court rules write-in candidate law unconstitutional
An appeals court looking at the conflicting rulings rendered by judges Reynolds and Dempsey has some new legal authority upon which to rely. It’s not definitively binding, but it has some weight, SaintPetersBlog.com’s Peter Schorsch explains.
Ex-Miami Lakes mayor takes Scott to Florida Supreme Court
Governor Rick Scott is a defendant in a case before the Florida Supreme Court involving the former mayor of Miami Lakes who wants his old job back after being acquitted of criminal charges, Tampa Bay Times’ Steve Bousquet reports via the “Naked Politics” blog.
Wedged over vouchers, Charlie Crist sides with teacher unions over school-choice pastors
Charlie Crist has made education policy a centerpiece of his campaign, but it’s also a wedge issue dividing two Democratic constituencies: teacher unions and black ministers who support school vouchers, the Miami Herald’s Marc Caputo reports.
FSU Faculty Senate takes stand against Thrasher
Florida State University’s Faculty Senate, the legislative body representing the institution’s roughly 2,000-member instructional force, has officially come out against state Senator John Thrasher becoming the school’s new president.
Texas lieutenant governor suggests looking at ending state windstorm insurance agency
The second highest elected official in Texas advised senators to look at phasing out the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the windstorm insurance provider for areas of the Coastal Bend, reports Matthew Waller for the Corpus Christi Caller Times.
The nation’s crop insurance program’s cost has come under scrutiny while budgetary pressures have been increasing, the U.S. Government Accountability Office explains.
NAPSLO launches new Web site with improved navigation
NAPSLO’s debuts website with new look and new navigation design, National Underwriter’s Hannah Bender reports for PropertyCasualty360.com.
Meet America’s 18 “very high risk” volcanoes
Recent rumblings around Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming have raised concerns that the local supervolcano (like a sharknado, but a real thing that in no way involves sharks) could be waking from its slumber, explains National Underwriter’s Tim Sprinkle in PropertyCasualty360.com.
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