Florida News in Brief

Condo policies could exit Citizens

TALLAHASSEE (NSF) — Florida regulators last week approved a plan that could lead to condominium-association policies leaving the state's Citizens Property Insurance Corp. The plan will allow insurer Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange to assume up to 400 "commercial residential" policies from Citizens, according to an order signed by Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky.

Generally, commercial-residential policies are purchased to cover condominium buildings. They are not policies for individual condominium units.

The approval is part of a broader effort by Citizens to shift policies into the private market. Previous approvals, however, have dealt with shifting individual residential policies. The state Office of Insurance Regulation announced in November that it had given the go-ahead for Condo Owners Reciprocal Exchange to do business in the state.

Citizens has been trying to shed policies after growing during the past three years to become the largest property insurer in Florida amid financial problems in the private market. Citizens, which was created as an insurer of last resort, had 1.163 million policies as of Jan. 26, according to data on its website.

Florida gas prices continue to rise

TALLAHASSEE (NSF) — Gasoline prices in Florida continued to increase last week, as demand creeps up. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas Monday was $3.22, up from $3.15 a week earlier and $3.09 a month earlier, according to the AAA auto club.

"We are in that time of year where pump prices begin to heat up, usually peaking around July," AAA spokesman Andrew Gross said in a prepared statement. "But unless something shocks the global oil market and causes prices to spike, the national average for a gallon of gas will probably stagger higher, with some flat days or even small price dips along the way."

Florida's average price Monday was 7 cents higher than the national average. Florida's lowest prices were in the Panhandle, including an average of $2.94 a gallon in the Panama City area and $2.95 in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach area The highest average was in the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area at $3.40 a gallon.

Plaintiffs seek to speed up redistricting case

TALLAHASSEE (NSF) — Civil rights groups and other plaintiffs Thursday asked the Florida Supreme Court to speed up a congressional redistricting case to try to resolve it in time for the 2024 elections. The Supreme Court said last week it will take up the case but set a schedule that indicated the constitutional fight will not be decided before a late April deadline for congressional candidates to qualify for this year's elections.

In a six-page motion Thursday, attorneys for the plaintiffs asked for changes to the schedule that would lead to oral arguments during the first week of April. The motion cited the "petitioners' waning window to access relief." The qualifying period is scheduled from April 22 to April 26.

"Even if this court's resolution of the matter runs up to the qualifying deadline, there is ample room to adjust that deadline to ensure the state's Constitution is vindicated," the motion said. "In fact, in redistricting years, the state's candidate qualifying deadline is typically held in June, as it was in 2022."

The motion said the state will oppose speeding up the case.

The plaintiffs went to the Supreme Court after the 1st District Court of Appeal on Dec. 1 upheld the constitutionality of a redistricting plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through the Legislature in 2022. The case centers on a North Florida district that in the past elected Black Democrat Al Lawson but was overhauled in the 2022 redistricting plan. The overhaul put the district, Congressional District 5, in the Jacksonville area, and white Republicans won all North Florida congressional seats in the November 2022 elections. The plaintiffs argue the overhaul violated part of a 2010 constitutional amendment, known as the Fair Districts Amendment, that barred drawing districts that would "diminish" the ability of minorities to "elect representatives of their choice."

While a Leon County circuit judge agreed with the plaintiffs, the 1st District Court of Appeal overturned that decision and ruled in favor of the state.