Crist Vetoes Florida Property Insurance Bill and Keeps True to a Promise He Made Four Years Ago
Politicians who keep their campaign promises should be applauded. They are a special breed, particularly when knowing that such integrity will be criticized. Charlie Crist kept his word to Floridians when he vetoed a property insurance bill that would have allowed insurance companies to raise rates by ten percent each year. His veto is a huge victory for every Floridian who is outraged over the highest property insurance premiums in the country. The insurance industry offered the most illogical of all arguments as to why the proposed law was "consumer friendly:" by allowing rates to go up, insurance premiums would go down. This point was made in Do Florida Legislators Think We Are Stupid?
In 2006, Charlie Crist ran on a promise to Floridians that he would fight against insurance premium rate hikes. Other Florida politicians promised the same thing. Many of those others seem to make an excuse for promising one thing and claiming to be on the consumers’ side, while later doing the exact opposite. Charlie Crist has vetoed proposed laws for two consecutive years that would have allowed for significant premium rate increases. He has kept his word, and others should applaud him for doing so. He is an example for the others who have bowed to the insurance industry lobby and propaganda.
Some will unfairly criticize Governor Crist for playing politics with this veto. This criticism is false, as he simply kept the promise he made to voters long ago, and he should be respected for this.
Thank you, Governor Crist for being a man of your word. You accomplished far more than anybody else by standing up to the very powerful and effective insurance industry lobby that has a grip on many in the Florida legislature and with some regulators.
Its about time we have had an elected official in Florida see through the thick brown stuff that is put out by the insurance carriers. The carriers' lobbyists are in the pocket of many legislators.
APPLAUD, APPLAUD, APPLAUD, GOVERNOR CRIST - THANK YOU!
Many do not know that long before our Governor was Governor, he was a defense attorney employed by insurance companies so there are those of us who were unsure of his loyalties in this regard but, as he proved, he used his brain for this one...not "loyalties." Smart man. Great politician too.
SHIRLEY HEFLIN
I agree, Governor Crist not only did the right thing in vetoing this bill given some of the anti-consumer provisions in it, but I believe he exibited courage and leadership in doing this. Interestingly or perhaps alarming is that according to the Sarasota Herald, there were only 700 or so letters and calls sent to Governor Crist expressing an opinion on this legislation. Of those calls and letters, it was reported that 4 out of 5 were against this insurance bill. This is very troubling in my view as it seems to imply that despite the news and debate on this issue, people do not seem to take the insurance issues seriously. This coupled with the reported apathy the citizens of Florida are reported to have for preparation for hurricane threats, given we have had no storms in the last 5 years, does not bode well, given this season's ominous hurricane forecast.
Governor Christ should allow for reasonable increases. If insurance companies are not allowed to charge reasonable amount of premiums to cover claims expenses for non-catastrophic and catastrophic events, then history will repeat itself. After the 2004 and 2005 seasons, "established" insurance companies withdrew from the State or stop writing policies, which will left the citizens of Florida without coverage or scrambling to find insurance with new start-up companies or go to Citizens Property Insurance and pay 4 to 6 time the increase in insurance premiums with less policy coverage. (Please, survey condo associations in the State of Florida). If and when Citizens Property Insurance runs out of money, then anyone in the State of Florida who has auto and homeowner's insurance policies will have a rate increase to pay back into the Citizens' funds. Either way, the citizens of Florida will pay an increase in insurance. The question is do they pay gradually in increments or have a big bill when the state goes broke.