The Washington County News
February 4, 2011
Former Florida state legislator and chairman of the House insurance committee, Don Brown, will speak to the Republican Club of West Florida on Tuesday, February 8.
Don Brown is a transition adviser to Gov. Rick Scott on insurance and legal matters. Brown has been a successful insurance agent in North Florida for over 25 years. Since leaving the Florida House of Representatives in 2008, due to term limits, Don has established himself as an authoritative voice in Florida’s insurance debate.
In the back-to-back years of 2002 and 2003 he was recognized by both the Florida Association of Insurance Agents and the Florida Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors for his significant contribution to insurance reform. Most notably, in 2007 Don was one of only two legislators to vote “No” on HB1A which significantly expanded the role of government into private markets. Since 2007, many of his objections to HB1A have proven to be correct.
In a recent op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel Brown wrote, “Florida hasn’t felt the fury of hurricane-force winds for five years, yet our state’s property-insurance market remains broken and a real threat to job creation and economic recovery.”
“Why?” For starters, a dramatic shift in state government policy in 2007 — led by former Gov. Charlie Crist — placed state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in competition with the private market.
“That change in course has failed.”
“Today, Citizens is the largest property insurer in the state with 1.2 million policies, and it continues to grow rapidly, partly because it charges rates its own leadership admits are about 55 percent below what it needs to pay its claims.”
“That’s important for all of us, because both Citizens and the state’s other major property-insurance entity — the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund — face billions of dollars in potential exposure that they don’t have the cash or financing in place to pay for.”
“So if a big hurricane hits in 2011, nearly every Floridian with an insurance policy will pay “hidden hurricane taxes” to bail out the state. These taxes apply to your auto, boat, home, business — even church policies.”
The meeting will be held at 12:00 noon on February 8th at Jim’s Buffet & Grill. All are welcome. It is not necessary to be a member or a Republican.
For information call 850-352-4984.
http://www.chipleypaper.com/articles/don-8397-brown-republican.html
