Ever since the Covid crisis, Florida has been emerging as one of the economic leaders of the country.  Traditionally only thought of as a destination for tourists and retirees, Florida has benefitted from the relocations of some of the nation’s wealthiest billionaires and corporate leaders, attracted not just to our climate but also to our state’s favorable tax and regulatory policies.

There’s only one issue that has been a sticking point for everyone from working families to the most corporate elite: high insurance prices.  But on that issue, Florida now appears to be back in the national leadership position, with auto insurance and home insurance rates declining statewide for the first time in decades.  We are one of the few states where this is happening.  Why?

The Florida Chamber of Commerce and many business leaders I know point to the lawsuit reforms of 2023.  Governor Ron DeSantis, former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, and former Speaker of the House Paul Renner agreed that for too long, the billboard attorneys had been using statutory loopholes to make money from even the most frivolous lawsuits. 

It was relatively easy to do because insurers were being made to pay for the legal fees of those suing them.  Thus, the legal fees were gigantic every time even when settlements were comparatively small, and fairness was not a part of the system.  Florida had even landed on the Judicial Hellholes list, and every insurance customer in the state was paying higher premiums to account for the costs associated with a ballooning number of lawsuits and the legal fees accompanying them.

After the legal reforms of 2023, insurance rates did not go down immediately, but here on the cusp of entering the new year, they are dropping significantly, and all reports suggest that lower rates will continue to be a part of Florida’s economic narrative for the next several years.

There are still some things we can do to strengthen Florida’s insurance market.  First, we absolutely should not permit the reforms of 2023 to be repealed.  Second, we should look at some additional lawsuit reforms including reforming third party financing of lawsuits and doing something to limit nuclear verdicts.  We must also increase penalties for filing fraudulent claims.  Southeast Florida and Miami specifically have long been the nation’s capital for insurance fraud.  That impacts the entire market especially for those of us here on the west coast.

Let’s wish our legislative leaders well in the upcoming legislative session and urge them to maintain the reforms that are reducing insurance costs and making Florida more affordable.

Jim Kallinger is a former Florida State Rep and Chairman of the Small Business and Consumers Alliance.

Recently shortages of raw materials and a tight labor market have caused some pain across the board, but one the of costs we deal with every day is related to workers’ compensation insurance.

One of the big drivers of the increase in those costs has been the rise of frivolous lawsuits.  It’s why I am so grateful the legislature took time in this past legislative session to address lawsuit abuse with a variety of measures designed to keep small businesses from being held hostage to plaintiffs just looking for a quick settlement.  Controlling the cost of insurance will reduce paperwork, legal fees, and the rising premiums we must pay and then pass on to customers.

Fewer lawsuits and fewer frivolous claims should lead to lower rates, and lower insurance rates means more affordable housing.  I urge the legislature to maintain their commitment to the reforms.  Unfortunately, they are trying to undo some of those reforms this session.  I hope they will change their collective minds, or perhaps the governor will veto. 

We do not need to go backward on these issues now.

Zeb Hunter
Tallahassee, FL

Mark Kober

Jim Maxwell

158 Audubon Drive
Havana, FL  32333
850-544-3445
jim.maxwell3319@gmail.com

Because of this, I was really proud of Governor DeSantis and the Florida Legislature for taking steps to reform our runaway lawsuits that definitely cross the line as frivolous. The number of attorney ads and encouragements to sue, sue, sue have had their effect over the years.

According to the American Tort Reform Association, Florida just exited the judicial hellholes list, and the tort reform action should keep us off. From my understanding, the main reform that should keep us in good stead over the next few years is the adjustment that prevents people who have at least a 51% proportion of contributing to their own injury or crisis from lodging a claim seeking deep pockets. That means lawsuits will be minimized, and
insurance rates should go down. Win-win for everyone.

Lisa Frazier, Small Business Owner

Unlike the rest of the country, people are continuing to flock to the Sunshine State, mainly because they will have a chance to live out the American Dream with as little government interference as possible.  That is bringing with it some serious growing pains and putting pressure on schools, roads, and housing.

The housing issue is already complicated by rising property taxes and insurance.  We will never get our affordable housing needs met if we don’t deal with these two issues head on.

The legislature has debated reforming the state’s bad faith laws in the past.  The bad faith provision allows homeowners to sue their insurers if they are not being treated fairly, and one of the triggers is a time limit by which a company has to deal with a claim.

The problem is that lawyers were dragging out the claim process to give them opportunity to sue for bad faith after the time limit expires.  I don’t think people were realizing that every time we get another frivolous lawsuit, all of our rates were going up. I say were because the governor and legislature did something about it several weeks ago.  Now, the insurance companies need to do something to bring rates down.  Giving all of us a break from frivolous lawsuits was a great first step.

Linda Witt

Property insurers foot the lawsuit bill for most cases regarding damages, and so objectivity matters when plaintiffs file claims. If a plaintiff sues based on damages done to them, or their property, a reward should not exceed the dollar amount that the plaintiff personally paid. This is common sense.

This is critical for fairness because it ensures that losses be measured objectively. For instance, losses such as emotional suffering can be significant, but they are often difficult to quantify. This can lead to situations where plaintiffs receive large settlements for damages out of proportion to the actual losses suffered.

For instance, if someone’s pet worm is smashed, we all agree that there may be some emotional damage to the owner, but at the end of the day, insurance payouts need to be gauged on some mathematical realities.

Often times trial lawyers use this vague standard of emotional loss to pump up settlement agreements and seek higher damages as a part of lawsuits. Some of the numbers grow so large that they can cause a lawsuit to become frivolous in nature even though the core claim is not in itself frivolous.

Fortunately, this week the Florida Legislature is debating this and other important changes to lawsuit abuse. If we do not reform this process and make the actual damages more transparent for juries, everyone’s health and property insurance will continue to skyrocket to the point that Florida’s economy may simply shut down or crash.

Sincerely,
Regina Brown
5827 NE 6^th Ct
Ocala, Fl.   34479 
Rlb1216@gmail.com
727-243-0128

It was no surprise to see that the rising cost of property insurance was one of the key topics of the gubernatorial debate last week between Governor Ron DeSantis and Charlie Crist.

Florida’s insurance marketplace was already suffering due to a variety of reasons, and more and more consumers were being hit with notices that fees were going up or that policies were being cancelled.

One of the things that Governor DeSantis pointed to as a major cost driver for insurance policy holders is exorbitant attorney fees. 

Few people realize that in Florida, we have a system of one-way attorney fees.  That sounds great in concept because it puts insurers on the hook for picking up the tab for a policy-holder’s attorney fees if that policy-holder has to sue his insurer for failure to perform.

However, it has gotten out of control.  Now, many times, a policy-holder is prodded to sue, and the judgment awarded ends up being tiny relative to the outrageous attorney fees being awarded at the same time.  Every other policy-holder has to pick up the bill for that with higher premium.

The governor made it clear this has to stop, and I support the governor.  He’s been right on every policy issue since he’s been in office, and I think he’s right on this one too.

Ashton Norton
1705 Carabelle Beach Drive
Carabelle, FL  32322

Can Tallahassee reward itself a gold medal for the local small business boom claimed by The New Small Business Boom Under the Biden Harris Administration 2021?  Or did Tallahassee earn itself a meager participation ribbon for 2021?

While Tallahassee prides itself for promoting initiatives that support local small businesses, Tallahassee has suffered a net loss of so many small business restaurant treasures in 2021.  Tallahassee disappeared Cabos, closed Cypress, depth charged The Fisherman’s Wife, and snuffed out Jim & Milt’s.

Will Tallahassee mourn the loss of these family restaurant small businesses?  Will Tallahassee wake up before more small business treasures close down, before more shutter their doors, before more faithful employees lose more service jobs, and before more Tallahassee entrepreneurs have suffered.

Can we band together and stop the blood loss?  Can we save the lifeblood of our Tallahassee community by spending our dollars as if our small business neighbors depend upon us? 

How many Tallahassee small businesses would be saved if Tallahasseeans say no more spending our money at bigger chains, national restaurants, bigger box stores, and bigger tech titan shippers?  Imagine if Tallahasseeans consciously supported our local entrepreneurs and their front line service employees by voting with our money everyday?

If we refuse to fully support Tallahassee small businesses by buying local, then Tallahassee should simply say “bye bye” local.

By Eddie Agramonte and Jeremy Cohen

As we almost get through this last wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida businesses can at least rest assured that lockdowns are behind us. And during the summer, thanks to favorable public health guidelines here in Florida, vacationers have descended upon the Sunshine State and second home sales are as hot as ever. This has resulted in a much-needed boost to our state’s economy.

Unfortunately, a familiar tune is ringing out again, and lawsuit woes are weighing down the long overdue economic boom that businesses, workers, and consumers desperately need. Specifically, construction workers and businesses are hesitant to hit the ground running on developments, new business plans, or reopening because premises liability is still a major threat. We are forced to direct more money toward legal defense funds to protect ourselves against abusive lawsuits instead of focusing our resources on hiring more workers.

For years, trial lawyers have made a cottage industry out of construction cases to leverage settlements from businesses that can’t afford the hassle of going to court. All this does is drag down our economy, hurt workers, and raise prices for all Floridians. If premises liability issues aren’t addressed soon, workers and small businesses will be left behind as the economy reopens.

Mark Bell
Small Businessman Chair of the Florida Coalition for Private Property Rights
19690 Crows Lane
Tallahassee, FL 32310
(786) 269-7904
homesteadmark@bellsouth.net

In 2021, it’s almost shocking that any community in the U.S. lacks access to fast and reliable high-speed internet, but that’s the reality for roughly 77 million Americans who live in rural parts of the country and don’t have a sufficient internet connection. They can access the internet, but they experience slow speeds and spotty connections. With an historic amount of money being allocated to broadband expansion, our elected representatives have the opportunity to make a smart investment in fiber broadband. Fiber, the most cutting-edge internet technology, is faster, more reliable, and worth every dollar over its lifetime. Partnering with a trusted provider in our community to deploy fiber will help our residents, students, and economy succeed for years to come.

Jim Maxwell, Vice Chairman
Floridians for Government Accountability
158 Audubon Drive
Havana, FL  32333
jim.maxwell3319@gmail.com

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wakeup call for many people to start taking their healthcare more seriously. Unfortunately, for many Florida workers, paychecks have not kept pace with skyrocketing health insurance premiums and deductibles. This has only gotten worse with rising inflation rates that make everything more expensive.

Healthcare experts are telling Americans that they need to visit their doctors more often. But how can we do that when it’s becoming nearly impossible for middle-class families to pay the bill? In reality, rising health insurance costs are forcing more families to skip a doctor visit when they feel sick.  

A big reason why Florida workers are seeing their health insurance rates go up is because of out-of-control frivolous lawsuits filed by crooked personal injury attorneys. Florida has some of the highest medical liability payouts of any state in the country and trial lawyers know it. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you heard about a lawyer who took a case when there was no insurance money to go after or no deep pocket to pick? These frivolous lawsuits become a problem for the rest of us when insurance companies are forced to raise their rates in order to pay their legal fees. 

Until our elected leaders start to rein in greedy trial lawyers who are incentivized to profit off other people’s pain, nothing will change—except our growing health insurance costs. 

Bernard Stasen 

Warehouse Worker