Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Thursday, September 5
Sep 5, 2013
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
1:30 p.m.–Florida Automobile Joint Underwriting Association (“FAJUA”) Operating Committee meeting. Review proposed FAJUA Underwriting Manual changes for recommendation to the Board of Governors. To view the meeting notice, click here.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related News
Four finalists remain for Citizens’ watchdog job
Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet will select from among four finalists to be the new internal watchdog at the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, THE NEWS SERIVCE OF FLORIDA’s Jim Turner writes via the Miami Herald.
Rising flood insurance rates bearing down like a hurricane on Florida
However you characterize it, the letter sent to the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency makes it clear that a new flood insurance law will be a catastrophe in coastal communities, John Romano writes for the Tampa Bay Times.
People’s Trust Insurance eyeing move to Deerfield Beach
Boca Raton-based People’s Trust Insurance Co. wants to move its 300-person headquarters to a business park in Deerfield Beach, the Sun-Sentinel’s Paul Owers reports.
Photo Series: Summer Bay begins demolishing sinkhole-damaged buildings
Demolition began today at Summer Bay Resort on the remains of three structures that collapsed into a sinkhole last month, Stephen Hudak writes for the Orlando Sentinel.
St. Petersburg lawmaker files bill to ban red light cameras
It’s bill filing season again, so that can mean only one thing for red light cameras: another attempt to remove them from public streets, writes Michael Van Sickler for the Tampa Bay Times.
New York Times Editorial: Uninsured in Texas and Florida
A new Census Bureau report documents the alarming percentages of people in Texas and Florida without health insurance. Leaders of both states should hang their heads in shame, the New York Times Editorial Board says.
Court OKs $35 million award for Florida smoker’s widow
An appeals court has upheld a jury’s verdict awarding $35 million in damages to the widow of a longtime smoker who died in 1996 of lung cancer, the Associated Press reports via the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
As Syria decision looms, a coda on Florida’s contracts ban
Florida has given up its fight to uphold a 2012 law prohibiting state and local governments from contracting with companies with ties to Cuba and Syria, The Florida Current’s Gray Rohrer reports.
Scott continues parade of environmental announcements, faces criticism and skepticism
Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday went to Wekiwa Springs State Park near Orlando to announce that $10 million in the 2013-14 budget will be combined with $27 million from the Department of Environmental Protection along with cities, counties, utilities and other “partner” organizations to go toward springs improvement projects, The Florida Current’s Bruce Ritchie reports.
People no longer looking for work, or delaying their search, are the force behind nearly half of the drop in unemployment since late 2011, according to an economic overview published by the Florida Legislature’s nonpartisan economic forecasters, Matt Dixon blogs for the Florida Times-Union.
Republicans vying to replace Mike Fasano in District 36 House race square off in debate
The three Republicans looking to replace Mike Fasano in the state House squared off in a debate Wednesday, touching on issues from insurance coverage to standardized testing in schools, Rich Shopes reports for Tampa Bay Times.
Baxley says Stand Your Ground law was misapplied
State Representative Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said there is nothing wrong with the 2005 statute allowing law-abiding people to use any level of force, including gunfire, if they feel their lives or the lives of innocent bystanders are in danger of a criminal attack.
Blog: Miami-Dade won’t require logins, passwords to request absentee ballots online
Despite uncovering thousands of fraudulent absentee-ballot requests submitted online last year, Miami-Dade County will not follow recommendations made by a grand jury to make the elections website more secure by requiring user logins and passwords, Patricia Mazzei blogs for the Miami Herald.
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