Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Wednesday, May 1
May 1, 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
2:00 p.m.–Florida Workers’ Compensation Joint Underwriting Association Producer Committee teleconference meeting. To view the meeting notice, click here. To view the agenda, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Florida House removes rate increase provisions in Citizens insurance bill
After stripping a controversial property insurance reform bill of any hint of rate increases, the Florida House voted 111-6 on more modest changes that won’t hit pocketbooks as hard as a bill passed by the Senate, The Miami Herald’s Toluse Olorunnipa reports.
Blog: Senate President says House should choose between insurers and Florida motorists
Senate President Don Gaetz said Tuesday afternoon that he wants the House to take a direct vote on the Senate’s proposal to eliminate a $220 million-a-year tax break for insurance companies and use the savings to immediately reduce the vehicle-registration fees paid by Florida drivers, Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Garcia reports.
Unexpected Amendment Threatens Texting Bill
A bill banning texting while driving in Florida was sailing through the Florida Legislature, until Tuesday, SunshineStateNews.com‘s Dave Heller reports.
Blog: Thurston explains Democrats’ drastic stalling tactic over health care
Mary Ellen Klas of The Miami Herald reprints House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston’s explanations about deliberations over health care funds in the Florida House of Representatives.
- Session hits gridlock in final days
- Throwing away $50 Billion? Inside Florida’s Obamacare debate
- Thrasher urges cooler heads on Medicaid expansion
- House bill auto-reader becomes star
Former Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate Intent on House Seat
With Representative Betty Reed, D-Tampa, facing term limits in 2014, attorney Sean Shaw, best known for his time as Florida’s insurance consumer advocate and for being the son of former Chief Justice Leander Shaw, has emerged as a serious candidate to replace her in representing parts of Hillsborough County in Tallahassee, SunshineStateNews.com‘s Jeff Henderson reports.
Pension Bill Voted Down in Senate
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA’s Brandon Larrabee reports that efforts to overhaul the pension plan for public employees are dead for the 2013 legislative session after one of the most ambitious efforts to deal with retirement was rejected Tuesday on the Senate floor, supporters say.
Legislature approves $200 million foreclosure settlement spending package
The House unanimously passed SB 1852 Tuesday, spending $200 million that is part of a multi-state settlement with five large banks for fraudulent foreclosure practices, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Parent Trigger Bill Fails Again in Dramatic Tie Vote
Parent empowerment legislation once again stalled in the Florida Senate on Tuesday, as four Republican senators who backed parent empowerment in 2012 turned around and voted against it in 2013, SunshineStateNews.com‘s Jeff Henderson reports.
Senate nuclear bill ready for House vote
A bill revising the 2006 law allowing utilities to charge customers for nuclear power plants was amended Tuesday in the House and is ready for a vote, The Florida Current’s Bruce Ritchie reports.
Rising Seas Leave Salt Mark on South Carolina Shore
Rising sea level may be hard to notice in cities where seawalls and docks line the shorefront. But it’s easy to see down a winding coastal dirt road in South Carolina’s Georgetown County, Insurance Journal’s Bruce Smith reports.
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