The Senate is set to accept the House’s trimmed-down effort to overhaul Citizens Property Insurance, a move that could avoid some of the rate increases feared by coastal lawmakers, reports Jim Turner of the News Service of Florida.
Sen. David Simmons said Wednesday afternoon that a deal has been reached for the Senate to approve a less assertive House measure that has been tacked onto his bill (SB 1770).
The bill wouldn’t go as far as the Senate wants in making sure Citizens brings in enough money to pay claims in the biggest of storms – thereby protecting other Florida residents from assessments to bail the company out. But the House’s plan wouldn’t allow for the rate increases that would accompany the Senate proposal.
The compromise legislation would create an inspector general for Citizens, prohibit coverage for new structures seaward of the coastal construction control line, require policy holders to sign a statement that acknowledges an understanding of their liability risk, and establish a clearinghouse with the intention of shifting more than 200,000 of the least risky policies into private companies.
The proposal must still be approved by the Senate before returning to the House for a final reading.
“We have a deal, and we’re going to do Citizens reform. I consider it a win-win, we have to get the clearinghouse,” Simmons said. “It’s certainly not what we wanted, but we’ve committed that we’re going to work together to try to get actuarially soundness for these Citizens policies.”
Simmons, who has pushed to get Citizens rates more competitive with the private market and reduce the risk from coastal wind-only policies, said he is considering a trio of amendments for the bill. But those measures could hold until the 2014 session because of an on-going slowdown in the House, where Democrats have forced the process to slow down in their push for a bill extending health care coverage to more people.
If the Senate approves the 75-page bill as it currently stands, the measure would return to the House. The session is scheduled to end Friday.
“We understand the impediments,” Simmons said.
The Senate approved Simmons’ 101-page proposal on a 24-15 vote on April 25.
The House replaced the language of the Senate bill with its own 75-page proposal (HB 909) on Tuesday.
Senate proposals that wouldn’t advance under a slimmed down compromise could include: lifting of Citizens’ exemption from bad faith litigation; requiring all non-residential policies to be actuarially sound; reintroducing coverage for screened enclosures and carports on mobile homes with a minimum insured value of $3,000; requiring members of the Citizens board of governors to be confirmed by the Senate; and changing Citizens’ president from a board of governors’ appointment into an executive director position selected by the governor and chief financial officer.
The deal would also lower the maximum value of property that could be covered from $1 million to $700,000, rather than $500,000 as the Senate had proposed.
