Tallahassee’s Blooming Flowers and Legislators
It is an exciting time of the year for Tallahasseean’s as we welcome our springtime and our legislators. We love our beautiful flowers and trees and we love the hard work of our public servants in the state legislature. As one of our esteemed journalists aptly stated this past week in the Tallahassee Democrat, there are only two seasons in Tallahassee, legislative season and football season.
Legislative Season
The first week of our legislative season began with the tradition pomp and circumstance that included the joint session bringing spring time inside with a chamber full of flowers of every kind. As in many years past, I joined the throngs of celebrators as we welcomed the governor’s walk and opening session remarks. Governor Scott’s theme of “It’s working” promises to be his mantra as he moves toward the 2014 gubernatorial election. We certainly will continue to support Governor Scott’s work to growing jobs in our state.
My Mama Taught Me
My mother was wise in so many ways and taught me all the truly important things about life. She sprinkled her lessons to me and my siblings with lots of memorable phrases to live by. One I remember well and can certainly apply during our legislative season is, “There are three kinds of people in the world: Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen, and those that wonder what happened AND you need all three.” So, who made it happen this week….
…In the Senate
All eyes were on Chairman David Simmons who leads the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. He has passionately worked with all parties – Democrats, trial lawyers, insurance company executives, lobbyists, legislative staff, the governor’s office, (and I bet his family and law partners) to formulate a bill to get Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to a better place and that is primarily, out of the business of competing with our good property insurance companies. On Thursday morning, March 7, we witnessed what some were calling the most “harmonious” senate committee they had witnessed in over ten years. The meeting was “harmonious” because Chairman Simmons (a Republican) and Senator Gwen Margolis (a longtime Democrat – been in the house/senate on/off for almost 25 years) worked TOGETHER to craft a bill that could, with a little more tweaking , secure 21 of the 40 senate votes when it hits the floor most likely in the next four weeks.
At the end of the meeting when the bill passed unanimously, Chairman Simmons called Senator Margolis the “Grand Dame of the Senate” and gave her a great big hug! I am happy to share with you what’s in the bill but it’s an easy read (pay attention to the underlined bill language and click the tab that says “bill text.”)
Line 771 in this bill starts a passage that sums up the direction the Senate is headed: “The Legislature further finds that when Citizens Property Insurance Corporation offers rates that are not adequate to cover the average costs that are generated from the claims filed by its policyholders, the deficiency may create a financial burden on all other state policyholders who must purchase their own insurance from private insurers at full actuarial cost and pay an added fee to cover a portion of the cost for claims filed by policyholders of the corporation. The Legislature intends that the corporation not act as a barrier or competitor to the private insurance market but be available to residents of this state only if there is no private market coverage available at rates determined reasonable by the Office of Insurance Regulation.”
The bill is specific that there must be no private market offer of coverage at a premium of five percent or less of the Citizens renewal policy. It reduces the maximum value of homes eligible for Citizens coverage from $1 million to $500,000 implemented over a six-year period. Chairman Simmons made this bill happen (with help from some of us who spent two+ hours with Senator Margolis the night before the meeting).
…In the House
The day before the Senate “harmony,” the house insurance meeting was lively as well. Representative John Wood, who is not on the committee but passionate about property insurance reform and hails from Haines City/Winter Haven, introduced a bill that has provisions which do the following:
• creates an inspector general for Citizens who reports to the Financial Services Commission;
• precludes Citizens’ policyholders from renewing insurance with Citizens if an insurer in the private market will insure the property for a premium up to five percent more than the Citizens’ renewal premium;
• precludes Citizens from insuring property with a dwelling replacement cost or a condominium unit that has a dwelling and contents replacement cost of $500,000 or more, implemented over a six-year period (identical to the Senate version), and;
• precludes Citizens from insuring newly constructed property seaward from the coastal construction control line starting July 1, 2014.
…In the World of Medicaid
The Medicaid debate promises to be THE hot topic of this legislative season. During the first week the shocker was the Republican defeat of the Governor’s Medicaid expansion effort that occurred in the House Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act Committee. The vote to NOT expand Medicaid was split 10-5 along partisan lines, with Republicans opposing expansion and Democrats supporting it. Conservative groups such as the James Madison Institute oppose the expansion, while the Florida Hospital Association is lobbying heavily for it.
In each of these meetings, throngs of Florida residents attend and give passionate speeches about why Florida should provide Medicaid coverage to them. Sure wish we had more folks showing up at property insurance meetings to encourage lawmakers to reform Citizens and other market mechanisms!
At the center of the debate is whether or not Medicaid expansion will inhibit employers from growing their employee ranks, providing appropriate benefits to their employees, and expanding their businesses. As of 2013, Florida has over 1.6 million small businesses. We all know that if our small businesses don’t prosper our state doesn’t either. We are confident our legislators will work diligently to meet the needs of the uninsured population while balancing that with the growth of small business in our great state.
…And The Last, (But Really the First), “Make it Happen”, is Florida’s Budget
As we all know, by law the only item the Legislature is required to pass is the state budget. In late January, the Governor released his Proposed Budget for $74.2 billion, the largest budget in the history of our state (I have been in this process for 35 years and remember when it was 1/4th of that!) The Governor’s “record state funding for education” includes a $1.2 billion boost for public schools. In addition, he has recommended a reduction of 3,600 state jobs and cited Florida’s growing private business sector as the basis for his budget projections.
The next step is for the House and Senate to release their budget numbers by the end of March and then the negotiations begin.
Approprations
To follow budget and appropriations activities, please see the following links to the House and Senate full appropriations committee:
• Senate Appropriations
• House Appropriations
…You make it happen every day
Stay tuned for future newsletters featuring special topics of discussion. We’ll talk about the past, present and future of a topic and we’ll rely upon you, as always, for feedback, insight and perspective.
Stay in touch! Lisa
