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Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Controversial proposal to withhold Citizens insurance is part of condo bill impasse
Florida lawmakers pushing for adjustments to condo safety laws have hit an early impasse over two proposals: one that would allow condo associations to invest funds that have been saved for future building repairs, and another barring associations that shirk the law from getting insurance under the state-run Citizens program. Lawmakers sponsoring the House and Senate proposals are trying to bring condominium associations into compliance with laws they crafted after a 12-story residential tower in Surfside collapsed in 2021, killing 98. Those laws mandate Florida condominium associations get building inspections that are triggering immediate repair costs, and that they also save for future building maintenance. The state hasn't offered assistance with either new financial burden, even as unit owners who can't afford the extra expenses are facing foreclosure. Sen. Jennifer Bradley is proposing in her bill, SB 1742, that associations be allowed to make investments with the money they save for future building repairs to help offset the cost to condo owners. 'We're going to have a lot of dollars in reserves, and these associations should be able to leverage those dollars,' said Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican. The Senate Committee on Regulated Industries, of which she is chairwoman, approved her proposal on Tuesday. The bill still has two more Senate committees to get through before it is taken up by the entire chamber. 'It puts up guardrails. We invest our state employees' retirement, and it's a similar structure,' Bradley said. 'And the earnings on those investments will go towards capital repairs, capital improvements first.' But Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami Republican, told the Herald/Times on Tuesday that she worries the provision will create 'lots of fraud.' 'I worry. I worry every day because not all association board members are sophisticated,' Lopez said, adding that many condominium associations in her district are 'run by elderly people.' 'I'm worried that someone may take advantage of them. … What happens to those funds if they're not invested properly and they lose their shirts? So I don't think it's a good idea.' Lopez is proposing a different change to the status quo in a bill she's sponsoring, HB 913, which Bradley doesn't support. Lopez's bill would prohibit condominium associations that aren't complying with the post-Surfside laws from obtaining insurance through the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Currently, there are no criminal penalties for associations, for instance, that shirk the requirement to get a 'structural integrity reserve study,' which outlines costs associated with saving for future repairs. But associations that don't complete the study will be hard pressed to get loans or insurance on the private market, experts have said. Lopez wants to provide the same tough incentive with state-run insurance. 'It is the stick,' Lopez said earlier this month about the provision. Lopez's bill will face one more committee in the House before it is taken up by the entire chamber. Bradley previously spoke out against the Citizens component of Lopez's bill on social media, saying the condo insurance market 'is held together by duct tape.' 'Denying access to Citizens makes the situation worse,' Bradley wrote on Feb. 24. Bradley said on Tuesday that she was still against the concept. 'I would never say anything is a no-go in negotiations … but that's not something I think I'd want to embrace,' Bradley said.
Miami Herald
26-03-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Controversial proposal to withhold Citizens insurance is part of condo bill impasse
Florida lawmakers pushing for adjustments to condo safety laws have hit an early impasse over two proposals: one that would allow condo associations to invest funds that have been saved for future building repairs, and another barring associations that shirk the law from getting insurance under the state-run Citizens program. Lawmakers sponsoring the House and Senate proposals are trying to bring condominium associations into compliance with laws they crafted after a 12-story residential tower in Surfside collapsed in 2021, killing 98. Those laws mandate Florida condominium associations get building inspections that are triggering immediate repair costs, and that they also save for future building maintenance. The state hasn't offered assistance with either new financial burden, even as unit owners who can't afford the extra expenses are facing foreclosure. Sen. Jennifer Bradley is proposing in her bill, SB 1742, that associations be allowed to make investments with the money they save for future building repairs to help offset the cost to condo owners. 'We're going to have a lot of dollars in reserves, and these associations should be able to leverage those dollars,' said Bradley, a Fleming Island Republican. The Senate Committee on Regulated Industries, of which she is chairwoman, approved her proposal on Tuesday. The bill still has two more Senate committees to get through before it is taken up by the entire chamber. 'It puts up guardrails. We invest our state employees' retirement, and it's a similar structure,' Bradley said. 'And the earnings on those investments will go towards capital repairs, capital improvements first.' But Rep. Vicki Lopez, a Miami Republican, told the Herald/Times on Tuesday that she worries the provision will create 'lots of fraud.' 'I worry. I worry every day because not all association board members are sophisticated,' Lopez said, adding that many condominium associations in her district are 'run by elderly people.' 'I'm worried that someone may take advantage of them. … What happens to those funds if they're not invested properly and they lose their shirts? So I don't think it's a good idea.' Lopez is proposing a different change to the status quo in a bill she's sponsoring, HB 913, which Bradley doesn't support. Lopez's bill would prohibit condominium associations that aren't complying with the post-Surfside laws from obtaining insurance through the state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Currently, there are no criminal penalties for associations, for instance, that shirk the requirement to get a 'structural integrity reserve study,' which outlines costs associated with saving for future repairs. But associations that don't complete the study will be hard pressed to get loans or insurance on the private market, experts have said. Lopez wants to provide the same tough incentive with state-run insurance. 'It is the stick,' Lopez said earlier this month about the provision. Lopez's bill will face one more committee in the House before it is taken up by the entire chamber. Bradley previously spoke out against the Citizens component of Lopez's bill on social media, saying the condo insurance market 'is held together by duct tape.' 'Denying access to Citizens makes the situation worse,' Bradley wrote on Feb. 24. Bradley said on Tuesday that she was still against the concept. 'I would never say anything is a no-go in negotiations … but that's not something I think I'd want to embrace,' Bradley said.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Proposal to ban mRNA vaccines in fruits & vegetables advances in Florida Senate
Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, of Sarasota and Manatee counties. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix) The Florida Legislature for the first time Wednesday heard testimony about a measure that would prevent vaccines from being incorporated into food products. The bill (SB 196) sponsored by Sarasota Sen. Joe Gruters would prohibit fruits and vegetables in Florida containing vaccines. It also would amend the definition of the word 'drug' to also mean a 'food' as defined in Florida law. Scientists have been studying the possibility that DNA containing the mRNA vaccine can be implanted into the part of plant cells where it will be replicated, and whether those plants can produce enough mRNA to rival a traditional vaccine shot, according to the Senate bill analysis. mRNA technology was the basis of primary Covid-19 vaccines. Scientists have said that, if successful, plants such as lettuce and spinach could produce the vaccines and be grown in backyards and even entire fields. Gruters' measure defines the mRNA vaccine (which stands for messenger ribonucleic acid) as one that uses laboratory-produced mRNA to trigger the human body's immune response. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries without any comments, questions, or dissent from the committee or the public. Miami-Dade Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud added an amendment to the measure that would ban cosmetics that include 10 specifically listed chemicals that release formaldehyde. Scott Shelley with the Florida Retail Federation said his organization did have 'significant concerns' with the amendment, specifically 'as it relates to lead and the ability to obtain that and the number of products impacted overall.' A companion version of Gruters bill has been introduced in the House (HB 525) by Brevard County Republican Monique Miller. In introducing the bill, she said that with vaccine materials integrated into food, that food 'must be subject to the same regulation as a vaccine. To do otherwise undermines medical freedom, and the basic decency of consumer transparency.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
