Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 33 changes the current enforcement of the ban on texting while driving from secondary to primary offense which allows a law enforcement officer to stop a vehicle solely for texting while driving. The bill passed the House on March 1, 2018 by a vote of 112-2. It now…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A bill allowing auto organizations to condition insurance on membership in the organization is in position to pass this year. HB 533 passed the House on January 31, 2018 by a vote of 110-0 and was sent to the Senate. The Senate companion bill, SB 756 passed its…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel After languishing in its second committee for weeks, the Senate personal injury protection (PIP) repeal bill (SB 150) was heard the next to the last week of Session. During its meeting on February 28, 2018, the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee voted the bill down, then…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 33 changes the current enforcement of the ban on texting while driving from secondary to primary offense which allows a law enforcement officer to stop a vehicle solely for texting while driving. On February 28, 2018, the bill was heard on the House floor on special order and…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On February 1, 2018, the Senate President made the rare move of referring the Senate auto glass bill (SB 396) back to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. The move was likely because the bill was significantly changed in its second committee and the President wanted the substantive committee…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Bills (HB 33, SB 90) changing the current enforcement of the ban on texting while driving from secondary to primary offense are moving this Session. Changing texting while driving to a primary offense will allow a law enforcement officer to stop a vehicle solely for texting while driving. The…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 31, 2018, the full House heard HB 533 on the floor, rolled it to third reading, and passed the bill by a vote of 110-0. There were no floor amendments. The bill allows an insurer to condition the sale of insurance on the purchase of motor…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee approved a completely new version of the autoglass bill (SB 396) during its meeting on January 29, 2018. The changes came via a strike all amendment (add adopted strike all number) that was adopted by the Committee. The bill became controversial as a…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 29, 2018, the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee approved SB 756 with no amendments. The Senate bill has one committee stop left. The House companion bill, HB 533, has cleared its committees and will be heard on the House floor on Wednesday with a vote on final…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee killed the named driver exclusion bill, SB 518, on January 23, 2018 by a vote of 4-5. The “no” votes cast were bipartisan, with Sens. Bracy (D- Ocoee), Gainer (R-Panama City), Garcia (R-Hialeah), Taddeo (D-Miami), and Thurston (D-Ft. Lauderdale) voting against the…