Gov signs insurance bill; Citizens keeps its $$

The Buzz confirmed that Gov. Charlie Crist signed the insurance bill championed by Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, that gets a bit tougher on insurers. But he vetoed the effort to remove the $250 million from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to fund a program for start-up insurers.

Comments

I am so glad that as a former member of the middle class and now a member of the working poor that I can do my part to keep property insurance affordable for multi-millionaires' vacation homes!!!!

Do you think they'll let me park my car in their gated communities while I asleep???

A bit tougher? What the h happened to insurance rates dropping like a rock? You better get the VP nod or else Carole Rome will be dropping you like a rock.

Rome will drop him like a rock regardless. Chuck won't get the nod, and he's One-N-Done here in Florida.

Governor Crist will easily win re-election.

The Not-So-Governor Chuck will badly lose his/her/its re-election bid.

The good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise… so will every one of those morons in the Legislature.

i'm just upset truck nutzz are still legal

[Jeb]

The prom king strikes again! What would be the smart thing to do - have more carriers, competition, etc or make Citizens bigger? Of course Chuckles the empty promise maker in light loafers picks the stupid option. More Cowbell, More Citizens - More 600 million dollar losses that get passed on the consumer in the form of taxes on personal auto and home owner's insurance policies! Pls McCain, you can have my vote if you take this empty suit with you!!

Someone check this, but Jeb Bush tried to line item veto a general bill, and got struck down when Toni Jennings filed suit.

Not that I like Charlie, but if you are part of the working poor shouldn't you actually be working and trying earn some extra money rather than typing on a blog at 235?

More cowbell - I love it!

[Logan]

Good thing I pay expensive insurance for my mudhole, otherwise I dunno what I'd do when they refuse my insurance claims.

[Jason Gullick]

Rep. Palm Beach? how about Rep - Saint Petersburg, or Rep - Largo or somewhere else that people are actually struggling to make ends meet?

3:41 - I worked the night shift last night - so you think I should work the day shift too? Perhaps you should quite blogging from work????

Hey - here's another option. Go back to the days before Bill Nelson screwed everyone with his change in homeowner's insurance. You know, before the pup companies and risk was spread out all over like most of the other states out there. That would be a good start. Then, when good time Charlie decides to use someone else's brain and figures out that relying on Citizen's is going to bankrupt the state and it's residents, he can do the right thing and stop running off insurance companies and the competition that they provide in a FREE MARKET PLACE.

337: thats an interesting question. The Constitution does not give the Governor authority to line item a general bill. in fact, the Constitution specifically states:

"In all cases except general appropriation bills, the veto shall extend to the entire bill."

The Governor may have indeed just unintentionally vetoed the entire bill.

[kitty]

3:41, perhaps 2:35's job was "outsourced" to a far-off exotic land and now s/he is working the same hours for far less money. Or MAYBE they have been looking for a second job, but with the economy sucking like it does, there aren't that many out there to be had. Meanwhile, with the price of gasoline (and everything else right along with it) rising on a daily basis, it's becomming necessary to take a second mortgage just to gas up for work!

Your statement about the working poor (those who used to be middle class) is indicative of just how out of touch you are with the real world. Let me guess - you're a business owner who tells his employees that you can't afford to give them a pay raise, then you show up at work the following Monday in a shiny new $150k Ferrarri.

[Business owner]

Shiny new Ferrarri for $150k? Wow, I thought a dollar couldn't get you anything anymore. Kitty, who's out of touch with the real world, say the price of cars? Sounds like your about a few decades behind

[jay]

I have to move out of FL because I can longer afford the taxes and insurance on my 900sqf home. Why do I have to leave because I'm footing part of the insurance bill for beachfront property.

[frank]

3:41 - he/she said they were part of the working poor, not the sit at a desk and blog middle class. i don't think the working poor get computers. they work.

[rowdy]

Actually, the Republicans want all the poor and lower middle class people to move so they can buy the properties and gain even more wealth.

All you working poor complainers need to realize that what Charlie did was exactly what you wanted him to do... he protected you from assessments if a large storm were to hit Florida...

hmm, line-item veto in a general bill - i smell yet another lost court fight for the vaunted governor's general counsel office

7:35, like he's held "education harmless." And like he made proprty taxes "fall like a rock." And don't forget his promise that the property insurance bill he signed would cause our property insurance premiums to fall 5-22%.

Yep, Charlie keeps his promises - to big Republican donors - they've all been well rewarded with plum jobs, plum appointments, or "special" treatment for their kids who want to get in certain universities!!!!!

Yep - we know who the Repbulicans have been looking out for - their own!!!

Dude...you can't line item veto a general bill. Even idiots who didnt go to law school know that.

[Pat]

INSURANCE IS A CANCER THAT IS EATING AWAY AT THE MIDDLE CLASS AND THE POOR .WE NEED TO GO BACK TO THE DAYS OF NO INSURANCE.THEY FIND A WAY TO NOT COVER THE INSURED ANYWAY!

kitty,

1. Unemployment remains low. For most of this decade, Florida has hovered around 3%, which means everyone who wants to work, is.

2. Tuition in Florida's universities and community colleges remain ridiculously low. The "working poor" have multiple opportunities at low costs to improve themselves and find better jobs.

3. A 2nd mortgage for transit?! Puhleeze. Those who are fortunate to live relatively close to their jobs have probably owned that property for some time. What they save in taxes under their cap can easily be spent on gas.

PS - we all pay taxes for public transit. Use it.

4. If my employees don't like my new Ferrari, they can work somewhere else. See #1.

MOST small business owners pay themselves last. If a small business owner can afford a Ferrari, the small business is probably doing well, thus the employees are probably going to be OK.

Dude, he did a line item veto in a general bill last year and it worked...

9:42 Republican Kool-Aid to the rescue! Pay no attention to the obvious - I'M doing just fine therefore so is everyone else. Unless, of course, you're not, in which case you're just a lazy slacker.

GOP = moral slackers

4:11, 7:35, 9:22

Florida Constitution, Article III, Section 19(b):

"Substantive bills containing appropriations shall also be subject to the itemization requirement mandated under this provision and shall be subject to the governor's specific appropriation veto power described in Article III, Section 8."

11:27 thanks - i am assuming then that "general bills" falls under "substantive bills"

I think the key phrase here is "containing appropriations"...he can veto the appropriation out of the bill without vetoing the whole bill.

But he cannot strike particular language out of a bill and pass the remaining language.

I think 1241 is right.

11:27
Nice job by you.

11:27
Nice job by you.