The Florida Senate readied a grab bag of bills Wednesday for a final vote Thursday, ranging from insurance reforms to the privacy of gun owners to outlawing public funds for abortion.
A reworking of insurance provisions got the most attention, with controversial amendments taking up most of the time. SB 408, offered by Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, is mostly a retread of SB 2044 from last year that made it through the Legislature but was vetoed by former Gov. Charlie Crist, but it also seeks to do away with the requirement for property insurers to offer sinkhole coverage in their policies.
An amendment from Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, who has led a crusade to dilute SB 408 and other insurance bills this session, would have reinstated the sinkhole coverage requirement.
I can assure you that the insurance companies of this state, that if they dont have to offer sinkhole coverage, well guess what? They arent going to offer sinkhole coverage, Fasano said.
But for Richter, the bill was mainly about limiting the governments role in the insurance industry. Mandates for coverage and then having veto power over a private insurers rates through the Office of Insurance Regulation, which approves rate increases.
Its about not having the government tell them that they have to sell something and then tell them what the price is, Richter said.
Fasano noted that the intent of the bill and others dealing with insurance reform was to move customers away from the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp., whose lower rates have enticed homeowners to go to the company in droves, increasing the risk to the company and to taxpayers in the event of a catastrophic hurricane. He argued the bill would move more people into Citizens, but the amendment failed in a 20-12 vote.
Richter was more successful in getting a controversial amendment on the bill, running a change that allows insurance companies to offer dual home and automobile insurance by combining the required time a company must give a customer before ending their policy coverage.
Currently, state law allows for insurers to give property insurance policyholders 180 days notice before ending coverage and auto insurance policyholders 45 days before ending coverage. Richters amendment evens out the time period by requiring a 90-day notice for both types of policies. He added that the amendment was intended to draw in a particular national insurance company, that is interested in the Florida market, that offers policies with dual home and auto coverage. That boast brought a torrent of complaints from other senators.
My thing is, I dont think we ought to be dong something like this for a specific company, Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, said.
Other senators chafed at the late insertion of the amendment.
So what were going to do is a secret amendment for a secret company? Sen. Steve Oelrich, R-Cross Creek, said.
Richter felt besieged, and fought back against the criticism.
If I sound dumbfounded by the questions, its because I am. Its an opportunity to bring more capital, more underwriters to the state of Florida, Richter said.
Ultimately, Richters amendment made it onto the bill via a voice vote. SB 408 is scheduled to receive a vote on the Senate floor Thursday.
Also ready for a final vote is a bill preventing doctors and physicians from asking patients whether they own guns, unless it is deemed medically necessary by the doctor. The patient, however, would not be required to answer. Bills preventing federal or state taxpayer dollars from funding abortions are also set for a final vote.
Other controversial bills that were on the schedule Wednesday but didnt make the cut were the paycheck protection or union dues bill and legislation that clamps down on pill mills.
SB 830 would prevent public-sector unions from automatically deducting dues from worker paychecks for political purposes, and require unions to get annual approval from members to use their dues for partisan purposes.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said that because that bill has proved controversial, even among Republicans, he didnt want the legislation to monopolize the time in order to give other bills a chance to move. Also, the support needed to pass the bill may not be there in the Senate.
Were not sure if we have all the votes yet or not. I wanted to get through some bills that I thought would be more successful, Haridopolos said.
Fasanos pill mill bill ran into some amendments from Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, that would require law enforcement agencies to obtain subpoenas and warrants before gaining access to the new prescription drug monitoring database.
The bill was postponed in order to give Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has targeted pill mills and unscrupulous doctors that liberally prescribe powerful pain medications, a chance to weigh in on the amendments.
With so little time remaining in the legislative session and much work left to be done, Haridopolos said the Senate could run into the weekend.
We might be meeting on Saturday, he said, speaking of a full Senate session.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
