Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, May 11

House Speaker unveils new approach to property tax relief that could halve bill

TALLAHASSEE — Lawmakers are considering a new approach to property tax relief that would offer large exemptions for residential and business real estate alike and cut the average homeowner’s tax bill in half, House Speaker Marco Rubio said Friday.

The percentage-based exemptions would still require a state constitutional amendment, but Rubio said they are fair and simple and would eliminate many existing inequities of the current system.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-511propertytax,0,496037.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

 

 

Citizens skips sinkhole coverage in Pasco, Hernando

After Sept. 1, policies in those counties won’t include sinkhole coverage unless customers specifically ask for it.

When your homeowners policy with Citizens comes up for renewal after Sept. 1, look closely for the word “sinkhole.”

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/11/Northpinellas/Citizens_skips_sinkho.shtml

 

 

Crist to FPL Storm Center: `We can do better.’

Surrounded by video cameras, still cameras and reporters with pens poised over notebooks, the crew in the Florida Power & Light Command Center did a preseason ”dry run” Thursday, pretending a Category 3 hurricane named Max hammered the east coast near Jupiter and drove straight westward across the state.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/103127.html

 

 

Storm Model Firms Granted Extension

TALLAHASSEE – Two controversial catastrophe insurance models have requested extensions from a Florida commission charged with reviewing submissions.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBG622YJ1F.html

 

 

Allstate to stop insuring Calif. Homes

Allstate Corp. will stop writing new homeowners policies in California beginning in July, the company said Thursday.

An Allstate spokesman said the move was to help control its catastrophe exposure in the state, which is prone to wildfires and earthquakes.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.miamiherald.com/795/story/103368.html

 

 

Rich Robleto joins HMOs he regulated

Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation is losing a top administrator to the industry he regulates.

Deputy Commissioner Rich Robleto, on Friday the head of the agency’s Life and Health Forms and Rates Bureau, Monday became a lobbyist for the Florida Association of Health Plans.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/CD/20070508/CAPITOLNEWS/705080330/-1/capitolnews

 

 

Keep ‘no-fault’ system

State legislators face up to a certain automobile insurance problem the way most people face up to Tax Day: They procrastinate, but they can’t escape the deadline.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/opinion/epaper/2007/05/11/a10a_pip_edit_0511.html

 

 

State says firm misled elderly

Florida insurance regulators moved Thursday to shut down a company that buys life insurance policies from the elderly, saying it engaged in dishonest practices.

The state Department of Financial Services also is investigating brokers associated with Coventry First LLC, including Boca Raton insurance agents Barry Kaye and Howard Kaye.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.palmbeachpost.com/search/content/business/epaper/2007/05/11/a1d_lifeinsurance_0511.html

 

 

With 3 Strikes, 55 Indigents Out Of Health Program

TAMPA – Fifty-five people have been booted from the county’s indigent health care program because they’ve been convicted of committing three or more felonies in the past two years.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBTLQ70K1F.html

 

 

AIG profit rises 29%

Mega-insurer AmericanInternationalGroup’s ( AIG) profit rose more than 29 percent to $1.58 per share in the first quarter on strong growth in underwriting results and investment income.

Revenue was $30.65 billion, up 12 percent. AIG is seeking growth opportunities overseas.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.miamiherald.com/103/story/103130.html

 

 

Homestead exemption shoots up in House plan

TALLAHASSEE — Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio is crafting a new plan to cut property taxes by dramatically increasing the state’s homestead exemption and extending the break to all other property owners.

Under the concept, Florida homeowners would no longer have to pay property taxes on as much as 80 percent of the first $300,000 of their primary homes’ value.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-taxes1107may11,0,7558626.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state

 

 

Rubio ex-aide in tight spot on tax swap proposal

Involved in drafting the plan, he then joined a Senate race.

TALLAHASSEE — As House Speaker Marco Rubio’s top adviser, Richard Corcoran was immersed in crafting a bold but controversial plan to swap property taxes for higher sales taxes.

But as a candidate for the state Senate, Corcoran said Thursday he “opposes any new taxes whatsoever, and that includes the sales tax.”

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/11/State/Rubio_ex_aide_in_tigh.shtml

 

 

Kids in Program Once Insured Privately

WASHINGTON — As many as half the children who get health insurance through a popular government program have previously received private health coverage, a congressional report says.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-childrens-insurance,0,1419278.story

 

 

NCCI Reiterates “Optimistic but Cautious” Outlook for Workers Comp Market

The workers compensation calendar year combined ratio stands at 96.5 percent — the best underwriting result in at least 30 years and the first underwriting profit for the line since 1995 according to NCCI Holdings Inc.’s annual “State of the Line” workers compensation market analysis.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2007/05/11/79617.htm

 

 

U.S. Senate begins debate on massive water bill

The legislation holds more than $375M for Everglades restoration projects and would enhance habitat for Fla.’s endangered species

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mel Martinez tried to persuade his colleagues Thursday to support a vital water bill that holds more than $375 million for the Picayune Strand and other critical Everglades restoration projects.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/may/10/us_senate_begins_debate_massive_water_bill/

 

 

South Florida Water Management District Governing Board names new chairman

Miami attorney Eric Buermann was chosen today to takeover as chairman of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board, amid one of the worst droughts in history.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-0510watermanagement,0,7319822.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

 

 

Condo teardown bill exposes divisions between neighbors

To Joan Cunnison-Jahnke, a longtime resident and owner at Sarasota Harbour West, the new condo bill awaiting Gov. Charlie Crist’s signature paints a bull’s-eye on her bayfront abode.

By overturning the condo documents that require 100 percent approval before a tear-down at her place, the proposed law would turn Harbour East and West, both with otherwise impregnable takeover rules, into sitting ducks for a waterfront-hungry developer, in her view.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/BUSINESS/705110303

 

 

State kills hurricane ads

A contract for an awareness blitz with a media firm is canceled after two competitors protest.

TALLAHASSEE — With the start of hurricane season three weeks away, Gov. Charlie Crist’s administration suddenly canceled a $450,000 contract for a public awareness campaign after two media companies protested the award of the project to a third firm.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/11/State/State_kills_hurricane.shtml

 

 

Nation’s Insurers Urge United Front To Fight Fraud

Des Plaines, IL—Driven by an annual fraud loss of $30 billion, the nation’s property and casualty insurance companies are taking aggressive action to attack this problem based on a two-year, industry-wide review of their fraud fighting efforts.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.insurancenewsnet.com/article.asp?a=top_news&id=79364

 

 

Residents in western Palm Beach County can’t wait for cable TV competition

West Boca · Negotiations are usually tough when homeowner associations in western Palm Beach County negotiate a new cable contract.

But things could change if Gov. Charlie Crist signs into law a bill that would make it easier for other cable and video providers to enter markets now dominated by Comcast. Crist has until May 18 to sign the bill.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-pcomcast11may11,0,6378069.story?coll=sfla-news-palm

 

 

Former Florida Gov. Bush joins Tenet board

Jeb Bush, who tried to tackle rising Medicaid spending as governor of Florida, was elected Thursday to the board of Tenet Healthcare Corp., whose struggling Florida hospitals have become a drag on company profits.

The complete story can be found at:  http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070510/APN/705101805