Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Presents 2010-2011 Legislative Budget Requests To Governor

During an October 30 public hearing, the Office of Florida Governor Charlie Crist reviewed presentations from various Florida regulatory agencies regarding their 2010-2011 Legislative Budget Requests. 

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”), which was among the agencies to present, reported that, a result of increased statutory responsibilities and a reduction in staff, all of the OIR’s resources are now concentrated on performing “mission critical” duties.  The OIR representative who presented noted that the agency is funded by the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund, rather than Florida’s General Revenue Fund.

In its presentation, the OIR requested two budget items:

• $600,000 for “Core End,” which is an internal computer system that needs updating.  The funds would be used to analyze ways to make the system more efficient and make system updates.
• $934,000 for professional position staffing.  The OIR representative stated that, in order for the OIR to continue to perform its mission-critical functions adequately, this staffing expenditure was necessary.

Governor Crist will use the requests as a guideline in formulating his proposed budget, which then will be presented to the Legislature in January, 2010.  As provided by Florida’s Constitution, the Legislature will use the Governor’s budget as a guideline in determining the 2010-2011 State Budget.

Should you have any questions or comments, please contact Colodny Fass.

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