Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, April 6
Apr 6, 2009
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Florida House committee approves hurricane insurance bill
With less than four full weeks left in the 2009 session, lawmakers started moving legislation Friday aimed at reducing a multibillion dollar property insurance risk politicians have laid on Florida consumers and taxpayers.
Florida Senate debates wind insurance measure
A Florida Senate committee is taking another look at a proposal to cut down on the state’s property insurance risk by reducing its catastrophic insurance exposure.
Senator Justice Passes Bill to Continue My Safe Florida Home Program
Legislation sponsored by Senator Charlie Justice (D-St. Petersburg) which not only helps Floridians fortify their homes against storm damage, but fortifies their wallets by lowering property insurance won unanimous passage today in the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.
Column: Reneging on insurance promises
Lawmakers are putting Citizens’ customers on a glide path out of the state.
Shield Our State Coalition: Dangerous winds still blowing
Bold action needed to fix Florida’s ongoing insurance crisis
If you live in Florida, you likely have seen reports warning that our property insurance market is teetering dangerously on the brink – possibly one major hurricane away from disaster.
Crist asks EPA, CDC for help with Chinese drywall
Gov. Charlie Crist has sent requests to the Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asking for help with problems attributed to tainted Chinese drywall.
Allstate Hiring Agents, Adding Offices in Florida
As some insurers reduce their presence in Florida, Allstate has launched a campaign to hire new insurance agents and add 100 new offices in the Sunshine state by year’s end.
Charges dropped against Florida firm accused of hail scam
Prosecutors have dropped insurance fraud charges against a Florida-based repair company accused of faking hail damage to drum up business after a 2006 storm.
Florida Medicaid plans’ scores low
Florida pays managed-care plans $2.5 billion a year to make sure Medicaid patients in the state get taken care of properly, but new research from 2008 shows Florida’s Medicaid managed-care plans, while doing marginally better than in 2007, still fell significantly below the national average on standardized scores accepted by the industry.
Small steps can save big on workers’ compensation fees
Although the Florida House of Representatives has voted for a bill that would cap attorneys’ fees in workers-compensation cases, premiums for the insurance rose more than 6 percent on April 1.
Bill Cotterell: Now for the fun part
Expect action in second half of session
Legislative sessions have been likened to that other form of March madness, basketball, because the most excitement comes when they cram 95 percent of the action into the final 5 percent of the time.
Florida Senate proposes closing corporate tax loopholes
Toys R Us could be forced to stop shielding its Florida income from taxes. American Airlines could pay taxes based on the number of flights that land in Florida. And Bank of America’s international banking division could lose a big tax break.
Money shortage causing tension among Florida lawmakers
A flare-up between a Miami representative and the Florida House speaker underscores tensions in a year when money is tight.
In a year of little money and mounting tensions, tempers flared anew in the Florida Legislature on Friday when a Miami state representative accused the leader of the Florida House of being ”undemocratic.”
Florida lawmakers feel pain over no-tax-hike pledge
The idea of increasing fees and imposing new taxes is creating high anxiety in Tallahassee. Many Republican lawmakers signed Grover Norquist’s pledge opposing tax increases.
It’s the read-my-lips moment that some Florida lawmakers dread: having to break a pledge not to raise taxes.
Officials Sidestep Fla. Tax Reform
Florida’s lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist are prepared to ask a few Floridians to help carry the entire state over a $6 billion budget hole, ignoring long-term fixes for a tax system that critics call an unfair and antiquated factor in the state’s dire fiscal crisis.
Crist Facing Conservative Uprising
Florida Republican Party circles are hearing increasing talk of conservative dissatisfaction with Gov. Charlie Crist and a possible primary challenge if he runs for the U.S. Senate next year.
Meek begins expensive, time-consuming petition drive to enter Fla. Senate race
It’s more expensive and way more time consuming, but U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek plans to qualify for the U.S. Senate race by petition.
McCollum: GOP Will Rebound Next Year
Attorney general of Florida may be facing CFO Alex Sink in bid for governor.
The Republican Party will rebound nationally in the 2010 elections, Florida Attorney Gen. Bill McCollum said Saturday. And under certain circumstances he could be in that election, running for governor rather than his current post.
Report: State pension funds, including Florida, weigh toxic assets
Representatives from at least 15 U.S. states, including Florida, discussed with a federal regulator the possibility of using their pension funds to buy troubled loans and securities, or “toxic assets,” the Bergen County Record in New Jersey reported.
‘Accidental speaker’ now man of House
Until two months ago, state Rep. Larry Cretul might have blown through Florida’s history with the force of a late spring breeze off Orange Lake.
Jorge Labarga Invested as Florida Supreme Court Justice
Governor Charlie Crist today celebrated the investiture of jurist Jorge Labarga to the Florida Supreme Court. Labarga was Governor Crist’s third appointment to the seven-member high court and has been serving since January 6, 2009.
Insurance Regulators May Reduce Use of Rating Firms
U.S. state insurance regulators may reduce their dependence on firms including Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service, saying they are looking into ratings “shortcomings.”
State Legislators Join Forces To Oppose Optional Federal Charter, Ask Feds To “Do The Right Thing”
Three dominant state legislative organizations-the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), and the Council of State Governments (CSG)-joined Monday in strong opposition to an OFC.
CEO At Gen Re Subsidiary Banned By FSA
The UK Financial Services Authority announced today that a tribunal has upheld its decision prohibiting the former chief executive at a General Reinsurance Group unit from working in financial services.
AIR Worldwide First to Model $10 Billion in Catastrophe Bonds
AIR Worldwide Corporation (AIR) Monday announced that it has provided risk modeling and analytical services for more than $10 billion in insurance-linked securities since 1996 and over 56% of total issuances since 2007.
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