Recent editorials from Florida newspapers:
May 6
The Miami Herald on Citizens Property Insurance:
There's nothing wrong with Citizens Property Insurance wanting to cut 678,000 customers from its rolls to improve its financial position.
When another big hurricane hits the state, everyone in Florida with an insurance policy will be on the hook for billions of dollars if the state's publicly held insurance company can't meet its obligations to its 1.4 million customers.
But the way Citizens is going about meeting that goal should cause every one of its policyholders to worry. Some of the policy changes are too drastic, and many Citizens customers could find themselves paying more for less coverage. The problem is not the goal itself, but rather the way the company is going about it.
Florida has not managed to establish a viable, affordable windstorm-insurance system in the private sector since Hurricane Andrew hit the state in 1992. ...
Enter Citizens. Designed to be the insurer of last resort, it has become instead the largest property-insurance company in the state, and it has never been able to create reserves or reinsurance funding strong enough to cover another Andrew, or a series of back-to-back storms.
Citizens has a duty to try to avoid the havoc that would result if that were to happen. Making its rolls smaller gets it there.
As reported in The Miami Herald, however, the aggressive "depopulation" plan is flawed in several ways.
Most Citizens policies cover both windstorm and homeowners insurance. A major problem is the decision to limit personal liability coverage from $300,000 to $100,000 in new Citizens homeowners' policies because this amount is completely insufficient. ...
A second problem involves re-inspection for mitigation credits. There was widespread fraud in the original inspection process, but honest homeowners find it next to impossible to contest the results of a re-inspection that results in steeply higher premiums, even if they're ultimately proven right.
Nor is it fair to charge customers for the initial mitigation inspections — not to mention the cost of improvements — and then change the rules in order to raise premiums. If re-inspection uncovers flaws in the first review, a higher premium may be required. If not, the rate should stay the same. Homeowners struggling through tough economic times should not have to bear this burden.
For 20 years, private companies have been fleeing high-risk areas where they believe it makes no sense to underwrite homes. Citizens is unlikely to lure big, financially sound companies back into Florida just by tossing their own customers out of the state pool and hoping they can find coverage somewhere else.
Online:
http://www.miamiherald.com
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May 7
The News Herald, Panama City, Fla., on recent governor decisions:
Gov. Rick Scott was on target with two recent executive decisions.
First, he was right to refuse Tampa city officials' request to ban concealed handguns outside the Republican National Convention in August.
A state law passed in 2011 prohibits cities from implementing gun regulations different from the state's. Florida allows residents to carry concealed handguns with a permit. Mayor Bob Buckhorn and the Tampa City Council asked the governor to suspend the concealed carry law in downtown Tampa during the Aug. 27-30 GOP convention.
The Secret Service will prohibit firearms inside the convention hall, but the city wanted the "Event Zone" that extends well beyond to be gun-free as well. Officials said they were concerned that anti-government protests in that area could turn violent if guns were part of the mix. ...
"I have come to believe that hazing is a term for bullying. It's bullying with a tradition — a tradition that we cannot bear in America," Lamar correctly declared.
Scott is correct. He understands that citizens have a fundamental right to self-defense, one that can't be taken away whenever the circus is in town. ...
Also, Scott announced he was creating "Project Sunburst," which will make public all the governor's emails and those of his top staff. They will be posted online within seven days of receipt, although the goal is to make them available within 24 hours. Eventually, other agencies in the executive branch will be included.
Project Sunburst is a welcome response to the missteps Scott and his staff made when he took office in January 2011. Then, several emails made during the transition were deleted — a violation of open-records laws.
It's fair to ask just how many important issues the governor — any governor — and his staff discuss via email. The most-sensitive material probably won't have a paper trail (analog or digital). Still, it's good anytime you can make government more accessible to the public.
Online:
http://www.newsherald.com
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May 6
Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel on Trayvon Martin case:
Justice's wheels notoriously grind slowly.
And the case of Robert Champion — the fallen Florida A&M Marching 100 drum major who was beaten and kicked to death on a charter bus by his band mates in a brutal hazing ritual — has proven no exception.
More than five months after Champion's Nov. 19 death, Orange-Osceola State Attorney Lawson Lamar finally pointed an accusatory finger.
"I have come to believe that hazing is a term for bullying. It's bullying with a tradition — a tradition that we cannot bear in America," Lamar correctly declared.
Thirteen individuals allegedly involved in the 26-year-old's demise were charged — including 11 defendants slapped with felony hazing charges.
Finally.
However, FAMU officials would be sadly misguided to see the long-awaited charges as the final act in what must continue to be a vigorous campaign to exorcise the ghastly practice from campus.
Since Champion's death, the university has been under pressure to rid the campus of its deeply rooted tradition of hazing that sent other band members to the emergency room long before Champion was sent to his grave.
University officials have taken what FAMU President James Ammons and Solomon Badger, the chair of FAMU's board of trustees, called "significant steps" to stamp out the problem.
That has included suspending the band, putting longtime band director Julian White on paid leave, and effecting culture change with anti-hazing pledges.
Solid steps forward. As was the pressure brought to bear on Anthony Simons and Diron Holloway that led the FAMU professors to quit over their role during a 2010 off-campus party at Holloway's home where students were hazed.
"We are vigorously working to eradicate hazing from FAMU and doing everything within our power to ensure an incident like this never happens again," Ammons and Badger insisted in a joint statement.
However, the reform movement has suffered a setback. Five of seven hazing experts FAMU named to study the problem and suggest reforms jumped ship. Their gripe: Members chafed at meeting in public in observance of Sunshine State open-government laws.
FAMU's already looking for replacements. Good. More than five months after Champion's death, the school can ill afford to waste more time before crafting strong policy to help avert more tragedy.
Online:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com