Capitol to Courthouse Daily Florida Insurance Report: Tuesday, March 1
Mar 1, 2011
To go directly to the section of your choice, click on a hyperlink below. Other hyperlinks to meeting information, bills and news are noted in bold type.
- Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
- Daily Florida Insurance-Related Bills Filed for 2011
- Daily Insurance-Related News
Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
- Office of Economic and Demographic Research: Self-Insurance Estimating Conference; 1:30 p.m.
- Risk Management Trust Fund
Daily Florida Insurance-Related Bills Filed for 2011
No insurance-related bills have been filed.
Shifting ground may be partly responsible for rise in sinkhole claims
When some Florida home insurers make the case for higher premiums, they give one key reason: Homeowners are claiming sinkhole damage at unprecedented rates, often to make a fast buck.
Florida Approves Lower Collateral for Reinsurer Tokio Millennium
Florida has approved lower collateral payments for another Bermuda reinsurer, the eighth foreign reinsurer to be granted this approval by the state.
Colodny Fass’s Katie Webb in Florida Trend: What Business Interests Want From Florida’s Legislature
The Legislature will have no shortage of input from business groups in the 2011 session.
Doug Buck, director of governmental affairs for the Florida Home Builders Association, says that dismantling the Department of Community Affairs won’t mean anything unless the state makes significant changes to the overall growth management system.
Hurricane forecasts, warnings reviewed in Miami this week
Hurricane experts are meeting in Miami this week to discuss updates in storm forecasts.
Governor: “We’ll be working on moving Citizens to an insurer of last resort”
Interview with Florida’s Governor Rick Scott
My father was a truck driver. My parents struggled their whole life.
Crash Liability Bill Fast-Tracked Along With Larger Reforms
A bill that would allow juries to hear more evidence and consider the fault of all parties when considering damages in a product liability case is getting the same treatment as other, more comprehensive reform bills in the state Senate.
Blog: SunPass Thwarted by High-Tech Windshields, Leaving Drivers With Thousands in Fines
SunPass may want to rework its slogan from “the less stressway” to “just add to my stressway,” as more Floridians find themselves with thousands of dollars in fines, a suspended license and registration — even behind bars — due to unpaid toll violation tickets.
Florida Holocaust survivors to protest on unpaid insurance
Aging survivors of the Nazi Holocaust intend to protest outside a fundraiser featuring President Barack Obama to bring attention to an estimated $20 billion in Jewish insurance policies they say were never paid.
Opinion: Consolidating fire districts cost taxpayers more, not less
The News-Press has asked for my input on a number of fire control issues, and I’ll do my best to address them.
Scott Hires Mississippi Economic Development Head for Florida
Governor Rick Scott is hiring Mississippi Governor Haley Barbours economic development chief to take over leadership of Enterprise Florida.
Blog: Voters head to the polls in special election in Florida Senate District 33
Voters in Miami-Dade County head to the polls in the State Senate District 33 race between former Representative Oscar Braynon II and former North Miami Mayor Joe Celestin.
First Coast Republican Aaron Bean Heavy Favorite to Return to Tallahassee
GOP leadership rallies behind veteran Nassau County leader to take Steve Wise’s Senate seat
With Senator Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, set to retire in 2012 due to term limits, Republicans from across the state have rallied behind former Representative Aaron Bean’s bid to replace him.
Tea Party to Block Budget Protest at Capitol
Out-organized and out-voted in 2010, left-wing groups are taking aim at Governor Rick Scott and Republican lawmakers on March 8.
Former Governor Crist gets new gig as board member of reconfigured St. Joe Company
The state’s largest private landholder, St. Joe Co. has let go some of its top honchos at the urging of its largest shareholder, the Fairholme Fund, a series of Fairholme Funds, Inc.
Utility-backed renewable energy legislation returns in the Senate
State Senator Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, has introduced a bill similar to a measure that passed the House last year but died in the Senate, which would have allowed private utilities to charge customers for renewable power.
Two judges leaving embattled 1st DCA
Two longtime judges are leaving the embattled First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.
South Carolina chair makes Florida convention threat
South Carolina’s outgoing GOP chair says Florida should lose the party’s convention if the state doesn’t fall in line with the rules and move back its early primary date.
Fasano camp to Scott on Drug Monitoring Program repeal: You got a better plan?
In an interview Friday with The Florida Independent, state Senator Mike Fasano’s legislative assistant said that he was looking forward to hearing what Governor Rick Scott would put in place of Florida’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, which Scott wants to repeal: “If the governor has a better plan, I’d love to hear it.”
Scott to travel in the cold to promote Florida tourism
Governor Rick Scott is looking to capitalize on the cold weather in the North and will embark on a four-city, two-day tour in an attempt to promote tourism in Florida.
State senator to cops: Clean up the way you do police lineups
State Senator Joe Negron is on the Innocence Commission of Florida, a panel working to make sure more innocent people are not sent to prison, but the board is not moving fast enough or aggressively enough for him.
Three Central Florida House members and a powerful Jacksonville-area state senator are sponsoring a series of bills that could spark Wisconsin-style labor protests at the state Capitol when the 2011 legislative session convenes next month.
The Freshman Class: Trend’s Legislative Preview
The 2010 elections gave Republicans a veto-proof majority in the Legislature. In the Florida House, Republicans hold an 81-39 majority
Blog: Movers and Shakers – Cannon, Rubio bring in new staffers
Two departures in House Speaker Dean Cannon’s office have set off a wave of reassignments and new hires.
Blog: Texas insurance commissioner takes over windstorm association
Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin has determined that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, commonly known as TWIA, is “in a condition that makes its continuation in business hazardous to the public or to its policyholders.”
European Union’s court bans insurance sex discrimination
The European Union’s highest court on Tuesday barred the insurance industry from charging different rates for men and women, saying the widespread practices amounts to sex discrimination against millions.
North Carolina Senate Panel Alters Malpractice Awards Cap Bill
A legislative committee debating a measure that would place limits on awards in medical malpractice lawsuits and change some rules for the litigation could vote on the measure early this week.
Google backs weather insurance startup
Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and Google Ventures have invested $42 million in a start-up run by former Google employees, which helps insure farmers against losses from increasingly volatile global weather.
Industry Files Dog Exclusions for Homeowners Policies
A national insurance advisory organization is filing three endorsements to allow insurers to exclude personal and umbrella liability coverage for injury or damage arising from dogs.
To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please send an email to bellis@cftlaw.com.