COVID, condos among bills filed
Speaker-Designate Ceremony before the Florida Legislature, September 21, 2021
There is other action to report from the Florida Legislature’s first week of committee meetings, including new bills filed on insurance coverage for at-home COVID-19 tests and requirements for condo board members, along with a renewed push for data-privacy. Plus of course, some of the pomp and circumstance that goes with the return of lawmakers to Tallahassee!
The Florida House Republican Conference chose Representative Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) as Speaker-Designate during a colorful ceremony in the House chamber on September 22. The attorney and former Navy Commander will become House Speaker after the 2022 elections. Senator Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples) will be formally designated as the next Senate President later this month.
While hearings began on the big task facing lawmakers this session – redistricting – there are other issues relevant to insurance interests at play. House Speaker Chris Sprowls made it clear that he’ll again be pursuing a comprehensive data privacy bill to give residents more control over the personal data that companies collect, use, and share on them, including over the internet. The bill would give consumers the right to personally sue companies that violate the law, Sprowls told Florida Politics, in an effort that’s drawing opposition from insurance companies and other businesses. He championed the 2020 effort that made Florida the first state in the country to shield residents’ genetic information from life insurance companies, through passage of HB 1189.
Among other bills recently filed, are two that impact insurance interests:
- SB 328 by Senator Ana Maria Rodriguez (R-Miami) would require health insurance companies and HMOs to cover 100% of costs for at-home COVID-19 test kits. It has an identical bill in the House with HB 129 by Rep. Ardian Zika (R-Pasco). It follows reports of some labs in the country charging up to $14,000 for such tests, which insurance companies complain is clear price gouging.
- SB 394 also by Senator Rodriguez would revise certification and education requirements for board directors of residential condominium associations, cooperative associations, and homeowners’ associations. It follows the June collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Florida that killed 98 residents. In essence, the bill requires board members file an affidavit affirming their compliance with certain statutory duties, rather than the simple written notice under current statute. Affidavits include a sworn oath when executed, so falsifying that information would bring more serious consequences. The bill presently has no House companion.
LMA Newsletter of 10-4-21
