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Insurance Bill Sits Unheard in Senate

Posted on: Thursday, 4 May 2006, 12:04 CDT

By Stephanie Horvath, The Palm Beach Post, Fla.

May 4--With only two days left in the legislative session, the Florida Senate has yet to take up what is arguably its most important issue: property insurance.

Rumors of a potential special session to hammer out insurance reform are swirling around the Capitol. Gov. Jeb Bush, Senate President Tom Lee and House Speaker Allan Bense have said they won't rule out a special session for insurance.

"It is a significant enough issue," Bense, R-Panama City, said Wednesday. "If in fact I don't think we've addressed the issue to my personal satisfaction, it may take a special session."

The Senate was scheduled to debate the insurance bill on Wednesday. But in retaliation for Lee, R-Brandon, reintroducing a controversial bill about school vouchers, Democrats forced the chamber to read aloud two bills in their entirety, eating up about an hour.

"It's getting late," Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said Tuesday. If the Senate didn't get to the insurance bill by Wednesday evening "the likelihood of a special session will likely increase," he said.

But some folks are more optimistic. Sen. Rudy Garcia, R-Hialeah, the Senate bill's sponsor, said he doesn't think they'll need a special session. He has filed an amendment to the bill that would include creating a loan program for insurance companies.

The House sent its version of the property insurance bill to the Senate last week. But the Senate has spent almost seven hours over the past week debating controversial education bills and hasn't even brought its property insurance bill to the floor.

That might not be a concern if the House and Senate bills weren't so different.

The two have different ways of charging higher rates to seasonal residents and businesses insured by Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run insurer of last resort. They allocate different amounts to offset Citizens' $1.7 billion deficit: $920 million in the House and $750 million in the Senate. And they have wildly different amounts set aside for mitigation programs: $500 million in the House but just $55.5 million in the Senate.

Members of the two houses have been meeting to iron out differences.

Rep. Dennis Ross, the House insurance bill's sponsor, said the House had already given up a lot and would not give up its goal of getting the state out of the insurance business by shrinking Citizens. "I'm prepared to be here next week," he said.

Some Democrats are also prepared to spend another week on the property insurance debate.

"I don't think Sen. Garcia's going to take the House's version and they're not going to take the Senate's version," said Sen. Skip Campbell, D-Tamarac. "No property insurance bill is going to get passed this year anyway. We are so far apart on property insurance."

Senate Democrats have filed several consumer-friendly amendments, including one that would eliminate a state provision that lets insurance companies start collecting higher rates before regulators approve them.

Sen. Steven Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, said the Democrats have been left out of the negotiations and have formulated their own insurance plan in which the state would pay the first $100,000 of all windstorm damage. He said it has a slim chance of being heard.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Palm Beach Post, Fla.

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Source: The Palm Beach Post

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