Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance Co. Scores Citizens Policies

Via Daily Kos: the Tampa Bay Times reports Heritage Property and Casualty Insurance Co. donated $110,000 to Gov. Rick Scott's re-election campaign 2 months ago. Heritage is now set to $52 million to take 60,000 policies from the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Scott's office claims that the campaign contributions have nothing to do with Citizens decisions to sell policies to Heritage.

Scott's office said the governor played no role in the $52 million deal at Citizens, and campaign contributions were not a factor. "We expect (the board) to approve or disapprove of this risk transfer based solely on its merits," said Melissa Sellers, a spokeswoman for Scott. "Anything short of that would harm Citizens policyholders and Florida residents who back Citizens policies."

Apparently, even Republican state Rep. Frank Artiles isn't buying the spin.

"Citizens' board continues to fall prey to Tallahassee lobbyists who cook up these get rich funding schemes," said Rep. Frank Artiles, R-Miami.

Scott previously tried to kill Citizens. The Gainesville Sun reported that Scott proposal was too radical for private insurers.

The industry lobbyists protested that Florida carriers could not absorb all of Citizens' business, records show. The gap would force many Florida property owners to turn to the unregulated surplus lines market, where rates are unchecked and policies are not backed by a state guarantee fund.

A lobbyist who attended the meeting advised others by email that Gov. Scott knew about the gap, but was not bothered.

"He doesn't seem to care whether they are insured in the voluntary market or surplus lines," the lobbyist wrote.

Citizens is far from perfects. Citizen executives have used public money to pay for lavish expenses. Former Citizens executive R. Paul Hulsebusch accepted a motorcycle from Quantum Claim Service. To say Citizens is dysfunctional would be an understatement. Scott selling policies for campaign contributions doesn't help matters.

The Great Sports Swindle Redux

It is rare when I actually agree with Florida Sen. Mike Bennett. This may be the only time ever. Bennett and Florida House Rep. Frank Artiles are attempting to get professional sports stadiums that have received state tax revenue to return money. The reason is to sports facilities were suppose to be used for the homeless, on nights when there wasn't an event.

These organizations have failed to follow the law for over 20 years," said Artiles, in a statement. "This is simply the State of Florida holding them accountable."

Sunlife Stadium (home of the Miami Dolphins) has received $37 million. American Airlines Arena (home of the Miami Heat) has received $27.5 million. Both venues are citing as violating the law. I am positive that the Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not used their facilities to house the homeless.

The law is stupid for countless reasons. I have written repeatedly on this blog on the needs of the homeless. That said, why did lawmakers believe that using private businesses to house the homeless would be a good idea. These venues are built for sports and concerts. Furthermore, it was stupid to believe tax incentives would convince sports teams to house the homeless. These teams would just take the money and ignore the law. Which is exactly what they did.

I have written repeatedly on economic studies that find that sports venues have either zero or negative economic impact to their communities. Corporate welfare to sports teams are just a drain on tax revenue. The state legislator could have built several homeless shelters with the money they gave to pro teams.