Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, November 29
Nov 29, 2010
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Major property insurance revamp will be put on fast track
A comprehensive measure to revamp Florida’s property insurance market — which has been vetoed twice in the last two years by Gov. Charlie Crist — will be revived for the upcoming session and placed on a fast track.
Pasco leaders want sinkhole laws overhauled
Sinkhole damage claims are so abused they have become a bit of a game of chance offering a big jackpot, state and Pasco County leaders argue.
Florida Senate report: Fire district consolidation may save money
Consolidation of special districts like those handling Manatee’s fire service could increase government efficiency and save taxpayers money, a new report requested by Florida Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Bennett has concluded.
Federal habitat rule disqualifies Keys homewoner from national flood insurance
Unsuspecting buyer at risk of losing home
When Rupert Brimo bought a house on Big Pine Key in August, he thought he finally had a home for his family.
There has been a lot of talk of late about sinkholes and their impact on Florida’s property insurance industry.
I would like to offer clarification to an article that ran on Nov. 13 about property managers making money off condo insurance. The article does not address the real problem for Florida condominiums – the lack of competition.
Insurance Information Institute: Florida, Louisiana Property Insurers Lose Customers but Gain Risk
Florida and Louisiana have reduced the number of high-risk policyholders covered by their state-run property insurers of last resort since 2008 while still leaving non-coastal property owners vulnerable to paying for these same insurers’ potential coastal losses, according to the Insurance Information Institute’s recently updated Residual Market Property Plans: From Markets of Last Resort to Markets of First Choice.
WCI sale gives a glimpse of hidden tainted drywall
Since the issue of contaminated Chinese drywall first surfaced, one of the most difficult challenges has been to determine just how many homes and condominiums across the country had interior walls built with the Chinese-manufactured gypsum board.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officers on statewide lookout for derelict boats
Abandoned vessels pose hazard
If your boat is getting a little shabby, if disrepair has gotten to a point where it looks like a candidate for abandonment, you could end up on a statewide database.
Red light cameras still in place in Royal Palm Beach despite repeal
More than a month after Royal Palm Beach council members unanimously repealed the village’s red-light camera ordinance, a bright flash in the night still marks the remnants of the village’s abandoned experiment.
Editorial: Florida pension reform can start by adjusting deal for new hires
So far, the national pension reform wave hasn’t washed over Florida, where state and local taxpayers pour in more than $3 billion a year to fund public retirement benefits.
Florida legislators move to block health-care reform
On his first day as Florida’s new House speaker, Rep. Dean Cannon took a clear shot at President Barack Obama’s new health-care reform law.
Debate swirls around Florida Department of Health future
With the Florida Department of Health under fire in the Legislature, longtime public-health leaders are trying to help craft plans to avert what they fear will be a dismantling of the agency.
Florida’s medical loss rations
State seeks to defend private insurers’ high overhead
With one of every five Floridians lacking health insurance, the state government should welcome the opportunities presented by the federal health care reform law.
Florida’s AIDS medication program feeling strained
What has been readily available to many for 15 years is reaching limits.
High unemployment and the growing ranks of the uninsured have left a program that provides free medication to the state’s HIV/AIDS patients struggling to meet demand.
Editorial: Lawsuit break for doctors won’t help Florida’s Medicaid problem
Republican legislators want to reduce the $7.5 billion that Florida expects to spend on Medicaid this fiscal year by giving doctors who treat the poor immunity from medical malpractice lawsuits.
Governor Crist Appoints West Palm Beach Assistant City Administrator to Public Service Commission
Florida Governor Charlie Crist appointed West Palm Beach Assistant City Administrator Eduardo Balbis today to succeed Nancy Argenziano on Florida’s Public Service Commission.
Blog: Rick Scott announces transistion team aimed economy
The 76-member team is tasked with finding ways to reduce the size of government, cut regulation on businesses and find ways to attract new businesses to the state so the Republican governor-elect can fulfilll his promise of 700,000 new jobs in the next seven years.
Florida congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen to head House Foreign Affairs
She hung up on the next president, Barack Obama. Twice. She thought it was a prank.
Hillsborough GOP leader aiming for state party’s top post
At a luncheon in Orlando this month, Deborah Cox-Roush took her seat at a table with newly anointed U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster and Lt. Gov.-elect Jennifer Carroll.
Florida Dems seek new party head
Beaten to the edge of irrelevancy in the Nov. 2 election, the Florida Democratic Party is searching for an architect in a crucial rebuilding year.
Scott’s plan to cut prison funds meets opposition
When Gov.-elect Rick Scott unveiled his economic plan on the campaign trail this summer, there was a portion that caught many law enforcement professionals by surprise: a proposed $1 billion cut to the state’s corrections budget.
Federal agency may launch in-depth review of Lee-Collier rock mining
A dozen rock mines in the federal permitting pipeline in Southwest Florida could be getting a closer look by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Blog: Candidates in 2012 Florida races already spending campaign cash
The year was 2008, and a rumor that state Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, was in line to be appointed the senior U.S. diplomat in Bermuda sparked some early politicking by those who wanted to be next in line for Hill’s seat.
Judge rules against city in St. Petersburg Beach development dispute
The year was 2008, and a rumor that state Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, was in line to be appointed the senior U.S. diplomat in Bermuda sparked some early politicking by those who wanted to be next in line for Hill’s seat.
Haridopolos supports proposal empowering legislatures to overturn federal laws
‘Repeal Amendment’ Boosts States’ Rights
Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos is among the legislators leading the charge.
Focus now on Scott filling posts
Kit Martin had been a die-hard Bill McCollum supporter, even hosting a fundraising event in her home for the gubernatorial hopeful.
Florida laws will follow state Senate’s right turn
Tort reform, abortion measure are expected to sail through.
Conservatives have long called the Florida Senate the place where good policy ideas went to die.
Rick Scott’s most trusted adviser an unknown to most Floridians
She may be helping to shape the Sunshine State’s future, but to the majority of Floridians she’s a total unknown.
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary E. Johnson tests Florida waters for presidential bid
A self-made millionaire Republican is campaigning in Florida on a platform of spending cuts and less government.
Tribes angry, Everglades projects halt after workers dig up major burial ground but don’t tell
In May 2008, archaeologists began the tedious task of exhuming the remains of Native Americans at a remote site south of Lake Okeechobee and reburying them at another remote site, to make way for a man-made wetland needed to restore the Everglades.
Industry Continues To Support NCOIL Surplus Lines Approach Over NAIC Plan
Industry groups reiterated their support for a National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ proposal to implement a new surplus lines law, rather than a competing National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ proposal.
National Association of Insurance Commissioners Told to Cut Budget, Reserve
A proposed National Association of Insurance Commissioners budget of $75.4 million in expenses and $75.2 million in revenue for 2011 takes welcome steps to control costs but should do more to hold down expenses and a rising liquid reserve ratio, according to the insurance industry.
NAIC Committee Backs Flexible Framework for Health Exchanges
The NAIC Health Insurance and Managed Care Committee approved a model law for regulating insurance exchanges states will develop as part of the federal health reform law.
Texas to Insurers and Agents: Don’t Misrepresent Insurance Coverage
The Texas Department of Insurance issued a bulletin reminding insurance companies and agents that misrepresentation of insurance policies by failing to state a necessary material fact, or by making a statement in a manner that would mislead a reasonably prudent person to a false conclusion of a material fact is prohibited.
Editorial: Texas Legislature must cut homeowners insurance costs
This is one of those categories where Texas doesn’t want to be No. 1, but a recent survey confirmed the bad news: Texas has the highest homeowners insurance premiums in the country, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
State Farm falls in claims satisfaction survey
A new survey found State Farm Insurance is slipping faster than its peers in satisfying customers settling an auto claim, even as the company held its Top 10 ranking in the study.
Qualified Remodeler Magazine: When Disaster Strikes
Disaster/Insurance Restoration Work Offers Opportunities to Those Who Have What It Takes
Fire, floods, storms and other misfortunes are inevitable regardless of the economy or current fashion, so at first glance the disaster/insurance restoration niche of the remodeling industry looks like a sure thing.