Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Thursday, March 1
Mar 1, 2012
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
Florida’s 2012 Regular Legislative Session
- Click here for today’s Senate block calendar
- Click here for today’s House of Representatives block calendar
10:00 a.m.–House Session
- CS/CS/HB 119 relating to Motor Vehicle Insurance by House Economic Affairs Committee; Insurance and Banking Subcommittee; State Representative Jim Boyd
10:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.–Senate Session
- CS/CS/HB 245 relating to Depopulation Programs of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation by the House Economic Affairs Committee; the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee; State Representative Jim Boyd
- HB 4087 relating to Repeal of a Workers’ Compensation Independent Actuarial Peer Review Requirement by State Representative Ben Albritton
2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.–Senate Committee on Budget
- CS/CS/SB 1404 Relating to Title Insurance by Senate Committee on Judiciary; Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance; Senator Thad Altman
Legislators on Thursday will continue debating merits of “surplus lines” insurance bill
The Florida Senate will resume debate Thursday on a bill to move Citizens insurance customers to “surplus lines” companies whose rates are unregulated.
Florida May Change Citizens’ Property Insurance Policyholder Assessments
Funding for the Florida’s state-run property insurer is likely to change as state lawmakers are looking to access the insurer’s total assessment base quicker and give it more time to collect funds in the event of a deficit.
Florida House passes bill repealing septic tank inspection requirement
The Legislature in 2010 OK’d a statewide requirement for septic tank inspections, but it prompted a backlash among rural residents who viewed it as a government intrusion.
Florida Senate’s no-fault insurance bill heads to floor
Despite more than an hour of sometimes testy debate and flurry of proposed changes, a Senate plan to revamp Florida’s no-fault automobile insurance law left the Senate Budget Committee the way in came in, a more consumer friendly version than its counterpart across the hall.
Florida Senate panel rewrites changes to expert testimony rules
A Senate panel on Wednesday rewrote the bill that changes the state’s standards for expert testimony in court cases, placing it at odds with the version passed last week by the House.
Florida House likely to reject federal money for doctors
House budget negotiators appear likely to reject a Senate proposal to use federal money to increase Medicaid payments to primary-care physicians.
Blog: Medicaid bill fight could cost Florida counties
Florida counties stand to lose nearly $300 million in state revenue over the next few years, a punishment of sorts for what the state says are unpaid Medicaid bills.
Blog: Foreign law ban poised for House vote
Court or other rulings that uphold foreign law would be void under a widely-criticized measure poised for its final House vote Thursday.
Blog: Campaign trail runs through House at night – GOP uses memorials to blister Obama
The House worked late into the night Wednesday – mostly on non-binding memorials to Congress apparently designed to burnish the election campaigns of ruling Republican lawmakers.
Senate moves closer to transportation budget deal, but keeps tighter control of economic incentive
The Senate agreed not to pull tolling authority from the Mid-Bay Bridge Authority, which had been brought under the Florida Turnpike Enterprise in the original Senate budget.
Oral arguments begin in Florida redistricting case
The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday on the Legislature’s proposed redistricting maps for the House and Senate, less than two weeks before the March 9 deadline for the justices to rule.
- Justices ask how to handle maps
- Florida Senator Richter named by opponents as beneficiary of redistricting plan under Supreme Court review
Foreclosure speed-up bill passes House
A bill designed to reduce the hefty backlog of foreclosure cases in Florida courts passed through the House on Wednesday with a bipartisan 94-17 vote.
Florida Senate votes to raise judges’ retirement age
A ballot proposal raising the mandatory retirement age for judges and Florida Supreme Court justices from 70 to 75 has won Senate approval.
Internet café ban, school prayer bills to get final House vote
Opponents of the Internet cafe ban argued that it would undermine local governments that have regulated and taxed them.
Florida Senate amendment revives trails bill opposition while House passes African wildlife bill
The Senate on Wednesday created renewed opposition to a bill allowing sponsorship of state trails by amending the bill before final passage, while the House passed a bill allowing African wildlife on state lands.
Sanford judge: I’m moving Greer v. Florida GOP to Tallahassee
A judge today ordered Jim Greer’s law suit against the Republican Party of Florida moved to Tallahassee, saying that’s where it belongs.
Florida Senate’s “decorum memo” urges members to be considerate
A week after the dust-up over the 2014 Senate presidency fight that provoked teeth-clenching anger and charges of betrayal within the normally subdued Repubican caucus, Senate Rules Chairman John Thrasher has sent out a “Decorum Memo” to his fellow colleagues.
J.D. Alexander Bids Senate Farewell
Senator J.D. Alexander bid farewell Wednesday to his colleagues in the Florida Senate, saying “I am going to go home and raise oranges.”
Blog: State legislators pay tribute to departing Florida Senator Lynn
Though the legislative session isn’t scheduled to end for more than a week, state senators took time Wednesday to pay tribute to Evelyn Lynn, the Ormond Beach Republican who will be leaving because of term limits after a combined 18 years in the Legislature.
Miami Beach’s gay community is buzzing with talk that, for the first time in Florida history, an openly gay state legislator could win office and sit in the state House.
Alabama Seeks to License Public Adjusters
Alabama regulators and public adjuster groups are lobbying state lawmakers to pass a bill that would allow the state for the first time to license and monitor the actions of public adjusters. Insurer groups, however, are objecting to the proposal that they say will increase costs.
Dozens Charged in Massive Insurance Fraud Scheme in New York
Federal and local authorities in New York unveiled charges today against 36 defendants – including 10 doctors and three attorneys – allegedly involved in a systematic scheme to defraud auto insurance companies of more than $275 million under New York’s no-fault insurance law.
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