Peter Schorsch
Sixty Days — A prime-time look at the 2018 Legislative Session
The Last 24
Good Tuesday evening. Senators considered deleting Confederate holidays, and gambling legislation may come up ‘snake eyes’ this year. Sixty Days can’t say it ‘knows what your cards are by the way you hold your eyes.’ Here’s your evening rundown.
Fold ‘em? The Senate’s point man on gambling issues said he sees “a way forward” on a grand gambling bargain — but also suggested lawmakers may have to walk away from the table.
Cultural divide: A proposal that would eliminate state holidays honoring Confederate figures cleared its first Senate committee, but not before opponents called it “cultural genocide.”
Plate debate: A proposed license plate dubbing UCF Football as “National Champions” is drawing concerns about truthfulness.
Speech squabble: The Senate version of the “Campus Free Expression Act” cleared its first panel on a party-line vote over opposition of the state’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter.
Physician pushback: A bill to let pharmacists test and treat for the flu was shelved after opposition and concern from physicians.
Retroactive review: A proposal to expand the number of prisoners on Death Row who could have their sentences assessed by a jury was approved by a Senate committee.
Data block: A bill that could soon require law enforcement officers in Florida to get warrants in order to access a suspect’s mobile location tracking device advanced in its first Senate committee.
More for CFO: A Senate bill that would put a constitutional amendment expanding the Chief Financial Officer’s duties on the ballot cleared its second committee.
Quote of the Day
“It is just asinine that this is even being considered at this point. I would strongly urge all of you to go against perhaps what you think is an easy ‘yes’ vote and just consider voting this down.” — Rep. Halsey Beshears of Monticello, who attended FSU and UF, speaking on a bill that would create a specialty University of Central Florida ‘National Champions’ license plate.
Bill Day’s Latest
3 Questions
A Property Casualty Insurers Association of America study made a splash last week in Tallahassee by suggesting repeal of Florida’s no-fault auto insurance system would produce significant increases in motorists’ premiums. The findings contrast those of a similar study last year by Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, which estimated repeal of personal injury protection (PIP) would save policyholders 8.1 percent in liability coverage rates, but only 5.6 percent overall, as exposure shifts to lines including medical insurance.
Legislation has been introduced in both chambers to do away with no-fault. We talked about the legislation with Michael Carlson, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, which represents major carriers including Allstate, Farmers, Geico, State Farm and Progressive. (Questions and answers edited for length and clarity.)
Q: Did the study results strike you as out of line?
Carlson: No. It struck me as — and I haven’t read the whole report — they appear to have dug down into the actual company data. They really drilled down into where you might have significant impact. They also looked at the bad-faith cost. It’s when the insurance company puts its own interests ahead of its insured in the handling of a claim. That can take many forms. Classically, it’s when you have an insured who you know is liable for an injury or death arising out of an accident and you deny the claim — unless you have good-faith reason to understand that, “Hey, my guy is not liable; we didn’t cause this.” Commonly, though, the bad-faith law is used to position an insurer for liability above the contract amount.
Q: What have you told legislators?
Carlson: We’ve said as to PIP repeal, “Look, Legislature, if you are considering a major policy change, include some reasonable bad-faith reform so that you can defray the cost.” We would have to pass that lower cost on in the form of a rate. If you’re having an increase in cost over here because you’re adding more generous BI (bodily injury), let’s say, but you’re also helping to lower costs (through bad-faith reform), you should have rates that maybe will not be as high as they otherwise might be. The Legislature has not grabbed onto that notion.
Q: What does this report do politically in terms of the PIP bill?
Carlson: We hope the report, taken seriously, will kill the bill. We are opposed to the Senate bill. We think it’s the wrong direction. It’s a rate increase for many, many Floridians. We think that the medical payments coverage mandate is almost a tax for those Floridians who have medical coverage elsewhere. The lack of consideration of some meaningful bad-faith reform — however reasonable and common-sense we can get it to be — means that you’re not even going to try to reduce those cost impacts of higher BI limits and medical payments coverage.
Lobby Up
An Illinois-based medical marijuana company also doing business in New York has hired a Florida lobbyist for the remainder of the 2018 Session.
Flagler Strategies’ Michael Cantens, formerly with the Corcoran & Johnston firm, is representing PharmaCann as of Feb. 2, according to state lobbying reports.
Its subsidiary is PharmaCannis, “a medical cannabis provider under the New York Compassionate Care Act … (and) the Illinois Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act,” its website says.
“Our mission is to cultivate and deliver medical cannabis to registered patients in accordance with the highest standards for quality of product, services, patient safety and public safety,” the site adds. “Our industry is growing quickly, and it’s full of new opportunities.”
“We have an interest in understanding the Florida landscape when it comes to Florida’s intriguing medical cannabis legislative framework,” said Jeremy Unruh, PharmaCann’s Director of Public and Regulatory Affairs, in an email. “As a general matter, establishing a relationship with a local lobbyist is one of the ways we generate some visibility into a new market.”
PharmaCann’s corporate office is in Oak Park, Illinois.
Cantens, who started out as an aide to Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose “Pepe” Diaz and went on to work for former state Rep. Marcelo Llorente, also was Legislative Affairs Director for the Department of Health, which now regulates medical marijuana.
Breakthrough Insights
The Next 24
The Senate Democratic caucus will meet ahead of a floor session. That’s at 9 a.m., 200 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.
The full Senate will take up a proposed budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. That’s at 10 a.m., Senate Chamber, The Capitol.
Reps. Emily Slosberg, Rick Stark and Randy Fine and Sen. Daphne Campbell will join members of the Jewish Legislative Caucus to announce Jewish Heritage Week. That’s at 1 p.m., 4th-Floor Rotunda, The Capitol.
Controversial political operative and author Roger Stone will speak at an event hosted by the Capital Tiger Bay Club. That’s at 11:30 a.m., Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, 505 West Pensacola St., Tallahassee.
The full House will take up a proposed budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. That’s at 1:30 p.m., House Chamber, The Capitol.
The Senate Rules Committee will consider a series of bills seeking to curb the state’s opioid crisis. That’s at 4 p.m., 110 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.
