Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant A second key legislative committee in 24 hours has approved a plan to simplify the transfer of residential insurance policies from a “pup” to the parent company or other transfers. There are major differences in the House and Senate proposals. The House plan (HB 805) passed the House Appropriations Committee…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The insurance omnibus bill, SB 454, moved a step closer to the end of its committee run on March 15, 2017. The bill has two committees left. Two amendments were added to the bill in committee. One amendment related to the minimum surplus required for property insurers writing…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A Senate committee bill opposed by the insurance industry and others to repeal the International Code (I Code) as the baseline building code in Florida and make the current Florida Building Code the baseline code passed its second committee on March 15, 2017. Although the bill was passed by…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 723 by Dr. Gonzalez received approval from its first House committee, Health Quality, on March 15, 2017. The bill would prohibit insurers from requiring physicians maintain board certification as a condition of payment. It also prohibits health care facilities and others from requiring maintenance of certification as a…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel House bill 421 expands entities allowed to form a public housing authority self-insurance fund. It unanimously passed its second committee on March 15, 2017 and has one committee left. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sean Shaw, a former Consumer Advocate with the Department of Financial Services. The…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A vote on the bill to repeal the premium tax salary credit was not taken by the Senate Finance and Tax Committee during its meeting on March 15, 2017. In fact, the committee never even brought the bill up for consideration and discussion during their meeting. Although the…
By: Sam Miller, FIC ConsultantCS/HB 601 Personal Delivery Devices — by WilliamsonSB 460 Personal Delivery Devices — by Brandes [Brandes Strike-all Amendment] rejected by the Senate Transportation Committee House and Senate committees have approved a package fostering development of sidewalks delivery drones, which may become common someday, but the Senate Transportation Committee rejected a…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel For the second week in a row, the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on his own bill during his committee meeting because he doesn’t have the votes to pass it. The postponed bill, SB 262, is a bill heavily supported by doctors and the trial…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On March 14, 2017, the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee spent over two hours on the House AOB bill, HB 1421, sponsored by Rep. Grant. Most of the committee time was spent discussing a delete everything amendment (#857069) that first surfaced the night before the committee meeting. That amendment…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A bill designed to update regulation of discount medical plan organizations (DMPOs) was approved by the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee on March 14, 2017. HB 577 now has one committee left. The Senate companion, SB 430, is also moving successfully through the committee process and has two committees…