Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, July 27

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AIF forms insurance council

Group aims to tackle financial-service issues

Associated Industries of Florida (AIF), one of the state’s most influential business groups, has formed a Financial Security Council, whose primary goal is to develop public-policy recommendations on property insurance.

 

Hurricanes taught insurers prudence

Suggestions from Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty that insurance companies aren’t passing along their Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund savings to policyholders are serious charges, but they skirt the real issue. There is more at stake here than premium reductions.

 

Federal plan would cover windstorms

A bill beginning to move through the U.S. House could dramatically change the way windstorm insurance is sold in Florida and other hurricane-prone coastal states.

 

Report uninsured motorists, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says

Q What is being done about the outrageous number of uninsured motorists that shamelessly use our roads? It is an unfair financial burden for those who play by the rules.

 

Lobbyists to appeal ruling on gift ban

Lawyers for lobbyists Brenda Dickinson and Vicki Woolridge are appealing the decision by a state court judge last month to toss their challenge to the law banning freebies for lawmakers and forcing lobbyists to report their pay.

 

Editorial:  Straight to the point–Auto Insurance

Come Oct. 1, driving could become even more dangerous. That’s when the state’s auto-insurance law expires, leaving drivers free to legally drop coverage altogether. That’s sure to increase the already high number of uninsured drivers in South Florida — along with the cost of uninsured-motorist coverage for responsible drivers who continue to buy insurance. Everyone else will pay the price when hospitals see a jump in the number of accident victims without any heath coverage.

 

State utilities: Florida no California

When it comes to harnessing the sun or wind for powering homes and offices, Florida is no California.

 

OP-ED:  Results predictable if no-fault sunsets

Florida motorists should be alarmed by the Democrat’s July 15 editorial “Goodbye, no-fault,” which laments that because of legislative inaction, “it’s time to accept” the sunset of our state’s no-fault auto insurance laws on Oct. 1.

 

GOP, conservatives balk at Crist’s call to cut emissions

Gov. Charlie Crist’s call to cut emissions from Florida tailpipes and smokestacks is stirring a pushback from conservatives in his party, impacted industries and utilities.

 

FTC Credit Score Hearing Called Off

WASHINGTON —A hearing scheduled for today to discuss the Federal Trade Commission’s findings on use of credit scores in setting insurance rates has been unexpectedly delayed.

 

RIMS Supports New OFC Bill

The Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. said it will work to secure passage of recently introduced legislation that would create a dual federal-state system of regulation and supervision for insurers, agents and brokers. 

 

New Insurance Holdings Group Formed

Two insurance industry veterans have announced the formation of Synercon Insurance Holdings, a new company they said is intended to “acquire and build a network of independent insurance agencies.”

 

Insurers Balk as House Panel Votes to Add Wind Coverage to Flood Program

Private insurance companies are balking at a decision by a key House panel to expand the federal flood insurance program to include wind coverage.

 

Rubio widens a GOP divide

The speaker of the House publicly challenges Gov. Crist on gambling and global warming.

TALLAHASSEE — Seven months into a term marked by moderate positions, Gov. Charlie Crist is facing the first substantial criticism from a leader of his own party: House Speaker Marco Rubio.

 

Worth less, but taxed more?

It could happen under new rules legislators approved.

The latest pitfall in the state’s battle against skyrocketing property taxes is, quite simply, a matter of timing.

 

House speaker prefers sales tax over property tax

If there is, indeed, a property tax crisis in Florida, those suffering the most are the owners of nonhomesteaded property.

 

More Auto Insurance Buyers Willing To Abandon Agents

A new survey has found that a growing number of consumers are willing to purchase auto insurance without consulting an agent first.

 

State utilities: Florida no California

When it comes to harnessing the sun or wind for powering homes and offices, Florida is no California.  But it does have lots of crops.

 

Wall Street readies for shifting D.C. landscape amid murmurs of tax hikes 

Wall Street, which has conducted business as usual during the first seven months of the Democratic 110th Congress, soon may be forced to address a shifting tide on tax and regulatory legislation.

 

GOP uncorks lavish bash

House Republicans are asking donors to pay as much as $100,000 to attend an elaborate fundraiser this weekend in Coral Gables and Miami Beach.

It sounds like a South Florida dream vacation: a yacht cruise, salsa dancing lessons, dinner at the famed former Versace mansion in Miami Beach, and even a personal concierge who will “be available 24 hours a day to ensure your comfort.”

 

Crist to build largest waste-wood biomass plant
 
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist and two energy executives announced plans today to build the nation’s largest waste-wood biomass plant in Liberty County.

 

Civil Rights Group Opposes N.H. Public Space Insurance Requirement

The New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union says requiring $1 million in insurance to hold events on public property in Jaffrey violates constitutional free speech rights.

 

Teenage smoking battle is back on

Remember those not-so-subtle ads? Expect some sort of a return.

TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s once-heralded youth antismoking program is coming back.  Lawmakers had gutted the program’s budget in recent years, but last year voters forced the program back into relevancy. Voters in November changed the Florida Constitution to require the Legislature to put 15 percent of the state’s tobacco settlement dollars into the program each year, just under $58-million in the current year.

 

Supplier to Pay $50M to End Big Dig Case

BOSTON — A concrete supplier for the Big Dig has agreed to pay $50 million to end civil and criminal investigations into whether it supplied inferior concrete used in the massive highway project, authorities announced Friday.