Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Week Ending Sept. 7

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Fla. No-Fault Sunset Now Seems Assured

An Oct. 1 expiration of Florida’s no-fault auto insurance law now seems assured following a scheduling move Wednesday by the state’s legislative leadership, according to an insurance trade group.

 

Cost Factor Ties Up Action On TRIA Extension

WASHINGTON —House action originally scheduled for Tuesday on legislation to extend federal supports for terrorism insurance has been delayed to Oct. 17 in a wrangle over cost issues involved with the measure, sources said.

 

A longer public look at State Farm cuts

Insurer plans to drop risky coastal policies

State insurance regulators will take a longer and deeper look at State Farm Florida’s plan to crop its homeowners insurance coverage.

 

Vegas games a step closer

A draft proposal from Gov. Charlie Crist that would allow the Seminole Tribe to introduce Vegas-style gaming is almost wrapped up.

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist is nearing completion on a deal to give the Seminole Tribe of Florida the first Las Vegas-style table games in the state, along with slot machines, in return for up to $200 million a year that would be earmarked for education.

 

CFO Sink Announces My Safe Florida Home Fairs

Fairs to be held in Pensacola, Tampa, and Ft. Lauderdale

TALLAHASSEE – Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced the My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) program will partner with local government and non-profit organizations and businesses to hold fairs in three Florida cities with the intent of raising awareness about the MSFH program’s safety and financial incentives.

 

Editorial: Lawmakers have enough ideas to craft a solution — albeit an imperfect on — to PIP

ISSUE: Car insurance law set to sunset.

The special session has been delayed, but there’s still reason for lawmakers to trek up to Tallahassee and deal with a looming hole in auto insurance.

 

Fla. CFO Sets U.K Climate Impact Visit

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced she will visit London, England, to learn more about global climate change and its potential effects on insurance and financial markets.

 

Editorial: Saving PIP

Our view: Gov. Crist should step up to stop the end of no-fault insurance

This brings new meaning to the word irresponsible. Florida lawmakers Wednesday abruptly put a Sept. 18 special session on hold, saying they can’t reach consensus on how to slash more than $1 billion from the budget because of shortfalls in tax collections.

 

NAIC proposes change to reinsurer rules

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners is seeking comment by Sept. 21 on a new proposal to modify the regulation of non-U.S. reinsurers.

 

Catastrophe fund sparks conflict

South Florida members of Congress pick up some support for a national catastrophe fund but face opposition from the White House.

WASHINGTON — A Florida-led bid to trim homeowners’ insurance premiums by creating a national risk pool met with staunch opposition Thursday from the Bush administration and lawmakers from states who said they oppose subsidizing a beachfront lifestyle.

 

Land O’Lakes vet hopes to unseat Brown-Waite

He’d do a better job supporting troops, candidate Jim King says.

LAND O’LAKES – Jim King says he has had enough of the way the U.S. Congress neglects national security and the troops who are in the thick of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

House Dems see political win on SCHIP

House Democratic leaders will use legislation to renew a health insurance program for children to put President Bush and congressional Republicans on the defensive once the political turbulence surrounding forthcoming reports on the Iraq war subsides and the Congress refocuses on domestic issues.

 

Foti sues insurers over Katrina flood exemptions

He says Road Home took on their burden

Attorney General Charles Foti has filed a bold and broad class-action lawsuit against nearly every private insurance company in the region, claiming they misused flood exemptions in their homeowners policies to deny claims for about 150,000 hurricane victims, thereby shifting the burden to the Road Home program.

 

Bermuda’s Endurance Buys U.S. Crop Insurer

ARMtech Insurance Services, a Lubbock, Texas-based crop insurer, will be acquired by a holding company for Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., in Bermuda, a property-casualty insurance and reinsurance provider, it was announced.

 

Editorial: Flood protection that doesn’t protect enough

The California Building Industry Association, determined to keep constructing homes in floodplains behind substandard levees, has triumphed again.

 

New York Liquidation Bureau New Management Announced

The organization that operates insolvent New York insurance companies for the state has undergone a management shakeup at what an official said today was a “problem-plagued operation.”

 

Operation Vacation

Big Savings Have More Overseas Travelers Mixing Surgery With Sightseeing

On learning he needed heart surgery last spring, Larry Shaw’s first question was: How much?