Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Wednesday, February 15
Feb 15, 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.–Florida Board of Employee Leasing Companies Board meeting. Teleconference: (888) 808-6959; conference code: 9226020. To view the meeting notice, click here.
12:30 p.m.–House Session
- HB 4169 relating to Insurance Company Excess Profits by State Representative Daniel Davis
- HB 4181 relating to Workers’ Compensation by State Representative Matt Caldwell
- CS/HB 941 relating to Commercial Lines Insurance Policies by House Economic Affairs Committee; State Representative Doug Holder
- CS/CS/HB 643 relating to Title Insurance by House Economic Affairs Committee; House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee; State Representative George Moraitis Jr.
- CS/HB 789 relating to Workers’ Compensation by the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee; State Representative H. Marlene O’Toole
Citizens Property Insurance’s Welfare Changes Game
It’s almost heresy in the Capitol, but one conclusion leaps out in the debate surrounding Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in certain committee rooms this year: Florida’s much maligned state-run insurer is in solid financial shape.
As a senior manager for a site development company, Hernando Beach resident Phil Rubin knows a few things about construction jobs.
Cost of sinkhole stigma in Hernando County is no joke
For a while, it seemed, the list was complete. We thought we knew all the villains in those two big, life-altering crashes in property values and property tax revenues.
Blog: Angered Citizens Property Insurance policyholder releases folk song, in protest
This gives public outcry a whole new meaning.
Appeal court reverses punitive damages in smoking case
An appellate court has reversed a $40.8 million punitive damage award won by the widow of a lifelong Florida smoker against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Former Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy settles compensation case after golf cart accident
A Broward Sheriff’s deputy had to resign from the agency and on Tuesday settled her workers’ compensation case for $40,000, all because of an accident in a Broward Sheriff’s Office golf cart.
Woman works for Hinson Insurance for 50 years
The insurance industry has changed substantially over the last 50 years. Applications are larger, coverage is broader, and agencies that once focused on one specific type of insurance are focusing on another.
Corporate Tax Exemptions Spark Partisan Spat on House Floor
Governor Rick Scott’s proposal to expand corporate tax exemptions touched off a partisan fight on the House floor Tuesday, with Republicans linking the extra tax breaks to nonunion businesses.
- Tax cut package ready for House vote after partisan tangle
- GOP adds anti-union rider to Florida tax break bill
Florida Senate votes down prison privatization
A divided Florida Senate on Tuesday voted down a plan to privatize correctional facilities in 18 South Florida counties.
“Biggest Real Estate Flipping Trial in Florida History” Gets Underway
Prosecution describes “investment scheme on steroids”
One of the biggest flipping fraud trials in Florida history got under way Tuesday afternoon with the government arguing that the three remaining defendants in the case did not just commit mortgage fraud — “they participated in a real estate investment scheme on steroids.”
Environmental groups sue state conservation panel on open-meetings issue
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is accused in a lawsuit of violating the state’s open-meetings “Sunshine Act.”
Ethics bill dies in Florida Senate committee
A proposed revamp of state ethics laws died in a Senate committee on Tuesday.
Offshore Insurer Tax Proposal Back On in Obama Budget
The Obama administration today reinstated its call for a new tax on offshore insurers, but under a formula greater than that proposed by the administration in past years.
41 U.S. Senators Urge Action on Flood Insurance Reform
Forty-one U.S. senators from both parties have signed a letter urging the Senate to schedule a vote on legislation to reform and extend the federal flood insurance program “as expeditiously as possible in February or very soon thereafter.”
Louisiana Department of Insurance Recovers $5.3 million in 2011
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon announced that the Louisiana Department of Insurance aided Louisiana insurance consumers in receiving more than $5.3 million in insurance payments from consumer complaints in 2011.
Scientists a step closer to predicting tornadoes
For decades, meteorologists have been able to forecast the severity of hurricane seasons several months ahead of time.
Blog: Southwest Austin cave collapse allows for unusual research
How quickly is water traveling along the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer?
Utah Leaps Ahead with 69 New Captives in 2011
Organizations from a number of states representing various industries formed 69 captive insurance companies in Utah in 2011, according to the state’s captive insurance director.
National Association of Insurance Commissioners Names 2012 Committee Leadership
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has named its 2012 committee chairs and vice chairs, and assigned members to the organization’s standing committees.
Aspen Looking for New Chief Financial Officer
Hamilton, Bermuda-based reinsurer Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. says it has initiated a search for a new chief financial officer to replace Richard Houghton, who will be leaving the company effective February 29 to pursue other opportunities.
New York Times: Weighing Benefits and Costs of Unemployment Insurance
As politicians have debated expansions and contractions in the unemployment insurance program, many commentators, as well as reports by the Congressional Budget Office and other government agencies, have asserted that the unemployment program increases aggregate spending, and by that channel even helps people who are not unemployed.
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