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Reform of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is apparently dead inthe House after backers of the bill were unable to remove anunfriendly amendment added a day earlier by senators, including anumber of Republicans again crossing leadership, intent on killingthe reform effort backed by Gov. Rick Scott. Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, the sponsor of the legislation toreform Citizens, HB 245 , said there isn t enough time left in the session to restart theeffort to reduce the number of policies. "We're finished with it for this year," said Boyd, who earlier hadthe bill postponed on the floor. Scott, who had called for the reduction in the number of policiescovered by the state-backed Citizens, said he was disappointed withthe bill's apparent demise. "If we have the major hurricane (and) there's not enough money inCitizens, it's a real problem," Scott told reporters outside theCapitol Tuesday night. "Citizens doesn't have the surplus it needsto, so we've got to figure out how to make it do what it wasintended to do: make it the insurance company of last resort, notthe insurance company of first resort." On Tuesday morning, the Senate sent the bill to the House, despitethe late amendment many senators hoped the House would remove. The House has already approved its version of the bill, which didnot include an amendment that would require third-party insurers,known as surplus-line carriers, to get each policyholder to sign aletter of understanding acknowledging they are being moved to a newcarrier. Read more here . Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, who was a big part of theefforts in the Senate to derail the Citizens reform because ofsurplus-line carriers, applauded the House vote -- 52 in favor, 63 against -- that saw a number of coastal Republicans join with Democratsagainst removing the amendment. Without the courage of these like-minded lawmakers to hold firm,this amendment giving policyholders the option to stay or leaveCitizens by their own free will would have been stripped off, thusexposing those policyholders to a potentially dangerous and unknownfuture with an unregulated surplus-line insurance company, Fasanostated in a release. Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate stood togetherto protect Citizens' policyholders from all parts of Florida. Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, who sponsored the Senate version ofthe bill, said the requirement would discourage new insurancecompanies from doing business in Florida. With 1.47 million policyholders at the start of the year, the goalfor Citizens is to shave 7 percent of its risk, including $1billion in coverage from properties that overlook the AtlanticOcean and Gulf of Mexico, reducing the number of overall policiesto 800,000. Reach Jim Turner at or at (772) 215-9889. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Pallet Jack , Aluminium Scaffolding, and more. For more , please visit Protective Barrier today!
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