Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Monday, September 23
Sep 23, 2013
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Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
There are no Florida insurance-related events scheduled for today.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance to shift to more in-house staff
Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is in the midst of a transition away from outsourcing much of its work to third-party vendors to having more done in-house by staff even as it relies heavily on other companies to complete major ongoing projects vital to the company, Gray Rohrer reports for The Florida Current.
Citizens racks up millions in attorneys’ fees as it denies claims
Between January 2011 and June 2013, Citizens has spent more than $16 million on lawyers from 177 different law firms who have successfully challenged the state’s largest insurance company on behalf of policyholders. Citizens collects $2.2 billion in annual premiums and has an administrative operating budget of $205 million, Mary Ellen Klas reports for the Miami Herald.
Brandes calls for hearing on flood insurance rate hike, as local realtors raise concerns
Sen. Jeff Brandes is calling on the chair of the Banking and Insurance Committee to schedule a hearing to assess impending changes to the National Flood Insurance Program, Linda Hersey reports for SaintPetersBlog.com.
Three Named to Study Florida Employee Benefits
Senate President Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) announced that the Benefits Study Task Force will evaluate the impact of state laws pre-empting local governments from mandating health and benefit levels for private sector companies in their jurisdictions, a Florida Senate news release announced.
Column: “Socialism,” Obamacare and fickle Florida voters
Why would Florida, a state with so many uninsured and so many Democrats (who outnumber Republicans by 500,000) twice vote to elect Barack Obama president – only to also vote for Gov. Rick Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio, who want to scrap Obamacare? Because it’s about politics, writes Marc Caputo for the Miami Herald.
Lawmakers return to Tallahassee for committee week
State lawmakers descend upon the Capitol this week to ostensibly vet policies and legislation, one of nine “committee weeks” they’ll attend between now and March, when the 2014 session opens, Michael Van Sickler reports for the Miami Herald.
Blog: Mike Fasano Digs into Bill Gunter
Mike Fasano took aim at Bill Gunter on Sunday evening, taking to Twitter to bash the Republican candidate hoping to succeed him in the House District 36 race, Alison Nielson reports via SunshineStateNews.com.
GOP Primary Heats Up for Miami-Dade House Seat
With Rep. Eddie Gonzalez, R-Hialeah, facing term limits next year, two Republican candidates are already off-and-running for his House seat which represents parts of Miami-Dade County, Kevin Derby reports for SunshineStateNews.com.
Florida’s unemployment rate dips to 7 percent despite losing jobs in August
Florida’s jobless rate dropped 0.1 percent in August to 7.0 percent even though the state lost 4,700 jobs, according to numbers released Friday by the Department of Economic Opportunity, Gray Rohrer reports for The Florida Current.
Brise, Graham re-appointed to the Public Service Commission
Gov. Rick Scott on Friday kept the Florida Public Service Commission intact, reappointing commissioners Ronald Brise and Art Graham to four-year terms, according to Jim Saunders of THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA, SaintPetersBlog.com notes.
The Dream Defenders camped out at the Florida Capitol for 31 days and even slept over in front of Gov. Rick Scott’s office to protest the controversial Stand Your Ground law in Florida, but if it’s up to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, that won’t be happening again any time soon, Alison Nielson reports via SunshineStateNews.com.
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