‘I expect you bring facts and data and not scare tactics and opinions.’

By: Christine Sexton – March 20, 2025

(Photo by Kieferpix/Getty Images)

Rep. Hillary Cassel on Thursday blasted a lobbyist for his testimony on a bill that would increase the potential for wrongful death lawsuits to be filed against Florida doctors and hospitals, accusing him of using scare tactics to try to sink the bill.

During public testimony on HB 6017 before the House Judiciary Committee, attorney Mark Berlick said allowing adult children of single parents to sue physicians and hospitals for noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, would open the door to estranged children suing Florida’s hospitals and physicians.

Berlick, an attorney with the Bolin Law Group, said he represented the Florida Justice Reform Institute, which champions lawsuit limitations.

He testified that the “bulk” of people who would be filing medical malpractice lawsuits are going to be nonstate residents who are estranged from family members who live in Florida.

“So, though you’ll end up with the individuals that will end up with a check being sent to them for an individual that never sets foot in the state of Florida, they won’t receive any medical care here. They won’t have any taxes paid here. They’ll just simply receive a settlement check from the death of their relatives,” he said.

The comments didn’t sit well with Cassel, a Republican who noted that the majority of the people in the committee hearing who testified on behalf of the bill were Florida residents.

“We as members expect that the people that come before us to provide information are going to do so truthfully and with facts, and for the gentleman from the Florida Justice Reform Institute to come before us and assert that the people that are going to benefit from this don’t live in this state and must be estranged from their families, and we’re going to just be writing checks to estranged members, doesn’t have an ounce of data to support that,” Cassel said.

“And that was nothing more than a scare tactic to this committee, and it’s an insult on our intelligence, and it’s an insult to the people who are here today, who are clearly not estranged from the loved ones that they have lost. And of the ones that have testified, all but two are Floridians. So, if you’re going to come before this committee and make assertions about what’s going to happen if we pass legislation, I expect you bring facts and data and not scare tactics and opinions.”

Quid pro quo

The insurance industry, Florida hospitals associations, and organized medicine such as the Florida Medical and Florida Osteopathic associations, oppose the bill in its current form. But they are willing to support eliminating the ban if the Legislature agrees to limit damages for pain and suffering.

Otherwise, increasing civil liability will further increase medical malpractice insurance rates and drive physicians away from practicing, the opponents say.

To date, neither the House nor Senate have included the industry-coveted caps in the bill. The Senate passed its version, SB 734, earlier this week.

Rudman returns

There are some individual physicians, though, who support the proposal, including former state Rep. Joel Rudman.

Rudman resigned from the House to launch an unsuccessful congressional bid but returned Thursday to testify in support of the bill.

A Navarre physician, Rudman said he came to Florida from Alabama during the 1990s and the high medical malpractice rates didn’t drive him away. The premiums he pays today, he said, haven’t changed in a decade. And the costs of the insurance protection from lawsuits isn’t among his top three overhead costs.

“I’ve had a license since 1997, and I’ve never been sued. I’m very proud of that,” Rudman said. “It’s not because of some bogus protections carve-out in the current statute. It’s because I’m damn good at my job. And this bill will not change that, either. The only doctors that want to see this statute remain in place are bad doctors and, unfortunately, we have a few of those in the state of Florida.”

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/20/lobbyist-scolded-for-scare-tactics-in-committee-debate-on-wrongful-death-bill/

Florida’s no-fault automobile insurance requirements could see some changes

By: Jackie Llanos and Christine Sexton – March 3, 2025

The coastline in Steinhatchee remains covered in debris on Oct. 3, 2024, following Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)

Insurance could prove the issue that dominates Florida’s 2025 legislative session, given that lawmakers have filed dozens of bills aimed at reining in homeowners’ insurance premiums and once again hope to repeal the requirement to carry no-fault car insurance policies.

Property taxes

 Sen. Blaise Ingoglia Photo credit: Christine Sexton Florida Phoenix

Positioned as one of the most important lawmakers when it comes to insurance is Spring Hill Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, who chairs the committee dealing with that industry. The Gov. Ron DeSantis ally has multiple proposals tackling home hardening against hurricanes and floods and reversing some of the legislative gains won by insurance companies.

“There are still a bunch of bills that have been filed, so we’re going to be going through the bills diligently,” Ingoglia told Florida Phoenix on Monday. “We want to make sure that any bill that winds up being heard in committee is holding insurance companies accountable, but making sure that we are doing everything that we possibly can to reduce premiums for homeowners.”

His most recently filed bill, SB 1740, would require carriers applying to conduct business in Florida to hold reserves of at least $35 million more than they need to cover obligations to policyholders.

Directors, officers, or attorneys of insurance companies that can’t pay their debts would be barred from joining another insurance company in that capacity if they were in their position within five years before the insurer becomes insolvent.

Under Ingoglia’s proposal, the state’s hurricane mitigation grants of up to $10,000 would go toward improvements that would result in a property insurance credit or discount. Republican newcomer Yvette Benarroch of Marco Island is sponsoring the House companion.

The senator also wants the Legislature to assume authority to freeze property taxes for homeowners who elevate and in other ways make their homes more resistant to winds and flooding. Two-thirds passage of that resolution, SJR 1190, in the Legislature would put that question in front of voters in 2026, and it would require 60% approval at the polls.

If voters want to make that change to the Florida Constitution, another bill, SB 1192, which Ingoglia filed on Feb. 25, would freeze property taxes for 20 years for homeowners who elevate their homes.

Pinellas Republican Reps. Adam Anderson and Kimberly Berfield filed the House companions.

Reports and more reports

Demands for more information and transparency are a common thread among the bills lawmakers have filed on property insurance this session.

During the insurance market upheaval following Hurricanes Irma and Michael, insurers raised premiums to cover their losses while their affiliate companies made billions, according to a recent investigation by the Tampa Bay Times. The affiliate companies increased their profits by overcharging the insurers for basic services.

A 174-page proposal, SB 1656/HB 1429, which Tampa Republican Jay Collins and Miami Lakes Republican Tom Fabricio filed on Friday, requires insurers to turn over to the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) documentation about fees paid to affiliates. The bill also requires the companies to tell residential property policyholders how the costs of litigation, reinsurance, and affiliate fees influence the rate the customer pays.

Sen. Don Gaetz (Photo/Florida Senate)

Former Senate President Don Gaetz — the Republican is once again representing the far western Panhandle in the upper chamber — is taking a similar approach with SB 554. His proposal, sponsored in the House by fellow Panhandle lawmaker Alex Andrade, requires OIR to create a report detailing the financial relationship between insurers and affiliates with at least 10% common ownership and another delving into insurance executives’ compensation.

Gaetz and Andrade also want to reinstate Florida’s old one-way attorney fees, which traditionally awarded litigation costs to homeowners who successfully sue insurance companies. In 2023, the Legislature required both parties to pay for their own attorneys’ fees, one of DeSantis’ priorities.

Across the aisle, Democrats have filed bills limiting property insurance rate increases and creating a trust fund to help people who can’t pay for their insurance. Meanwhile, Democratic House Leader Fentrice Driskell requested that House Speaker Daniel Perez and DeSantis investigate why the state concealed for two years the information the Tampa Bay Times reported.

PIP tussle

Personal injury protection (PIP) is a type of car insurance that pays for medical expenses, lost wages, and other related costs of drivers and passengers injured in automobile accidents, regardless of which driver causes the accident.

Florida drivers are required to carry a $10,000 in PIP coverage on their insurance policies under Florida’s no-fault automobile insurance system, which also requires drivers to purchase $10,000 in property damage liability insurance. Those are minimum requirements and drivers can purchase additional coverage on top of those mandated requirements.

Map: Jackie Llanos/Florida PhoenixCreated with Datawrapper

The state’s no-fault automobile insurance laws ban injured parties from bringing lawsuits against at-fault parties to recover noneconomic damages, although there are some exceptions (if a person suffers a permanent loss of an important bodily function; a permanent injury; a permanent scar or disfigurement; or death.)

According to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles just under 6% of the drivers on Florida roads were uninsured as of February.

The Florida Justice Association, which supports a PIP repeal, notes that a Forbes analysis of automobile insurance rates shows that Florida is the most expensive state for car insurance in the nation. To meet the requirements of the law costs an average $1,529 annually.

The Legislature agreed in 2021 to repeal the no-fault system and the minimum mandated coverages and return to a fault-based system, but Gov. DeSantis vetoed the bill (SB 54). In his veto letter, DeSantis stated at the time that although the “PIP system has flaws,” repeal could have unintended consequences for the market and the consumer.

Perez, who was vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee at the time, voted for the repeal at the time.

Fast forward to 2025 and there’s another concerted effort to repeal the PIP system, and Perez is speaker of the House of Representatives. The vehicles are SB 1256 by Sen. Erin Grall and HB 1181 by Rep. Danny Alvarez.

The bills would abolish PIP and instead require drivers to carry $25,000 in bodily injury coverage for one person and $50,000 for two or more people per incident plus $10,000 in property liability coverage.

Florida Justice Reform Institute William Large is lobbying against the repeal. Large, whose group advocates for lawsuit restrictions, says lawmakers should allow the state’s no-fault laws and PIP to remain in place for at least another three years while lawmakers gather market data. He says the pause would allow the state to ascertain whether elimination of one-way attorney’s fees reduced the costs of automobile insurance.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/03/heres-what-lawmakers-could-change-about-property-insurance-in-the-next-two-months/

If approved, legislation would include hundreds of millions of dollars for property tax, toll, and disaster relief

BY: MICHAEL MOLINE – DECEMBER 12, 2022 7:00 AM

The Florida Capitol, January 2021. Credit: Michael Moline

Insurers and the larger business community would get virtually everything they want under legislation proposed for the Legislature’s special session on that topic and trial attorneys would likely take it on the chin, as lawmakers convene Monday in the Florida Capitol.

That includes repeal of the state’s one-way attorney fee in insurance disputes — perhaps the No. 1 item on the insurance industry’s wish list. The Legislature approved the fee law to even the balance between policyholders and their carriers, but insurers now claim it’s leading to frivolous, but expensive, litigation.

In addition, the Legislature will take up toll relief for commuters and property tax relief for Floridians who suffer significant hurricane damage.

The proposed insurance legislation would authorize $1 billion for a new reinsurance program to back insurance companies, on top of $2 billion authorized in another special session last spring.

But that’s not all when it comes to the hundreds of millions proposed in several pieces of legislation. For example, the toll relief program, if approved, would include $500 million in the 2022-23 budget year. And the disaster relief bill would include everything from $350 million for FEMA public assistance grants to $150 million for affordable housing for hurricane recovery and $100 million for beach erosion projects, according to legislative documents.

As to homeowners, don’t expect lower property insurance premiums soon. In fact, people could be forced out of the Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-backed insurer of last resort, if a policy is available on the private market for no more than 20 percent above the Citizens premium. They’d be blocked from insuring through Citizens under those same conditions.

‘Difficult but careful balance’

 Naples Republican Kathleen Passidomo answers reporters’ questions following her installment as Florida Senate president on Nov. 22, 2022. Credit: Michael Moline

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner announced that the legislation had been filed on Friday night, “I believe the goal we all share is for Florida to have a robust property insurance market that offers homeowners the opportunity to shop for insurance that meets their needs and budget,” Passidomo said in a written statement. “We also want to make certain that when damage occurs, claims are paid promptly and fairly, so homeowners do not have to contend with time-consuming and expensive litigation,” she added.

“This special session is about providing short and long-term relief to property insurance consumers, extending aid to victims of hurricanes Ian and Nicole, and helping commuters using Florida’s toll roads save money,” Renner said on Twitter.

“Our policymaking strikes a difficult but careful balance that ensures Floridians can access property insurance, targets cost-driving frivolous lawsuit while protecting access to the courts, and sends a strong signal to insurance carriers that Florida is open for business.”

Rampant receivership
Gov. Ron DeSantis pressed for the special session while taking heat from Democratic opponent Charlie Crist during his reelection campaign this year, after an earlier special session on the topic failed to produce immediate relief.

According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), eight insurance companies have entered receivership in Florida since 2019, five of them during 2022 alone.

They’ve been losing a ton of money. According to a legislative analysis, Florida insurers all together ran a $1 billion in the red during 2020 and 2021; the last time they showed a profit was in 2016.

Complicating the picture were hurricanes Ian and Nicole, which struck Florida, respectively, in late September and November. The first caused estimated damage in the range of $40 billion to $64 billion, including uninsured flood losses of $10 billion to $16 billion. Estimated insurance losses from Nicole run to nearly $2 billion.

The result of these trends has been a surge in policies written by Citizens, which reported an increase in policies from 759,305 worth more than $232.5 billion at the end of 2021 to more than 1.1 million policies worth around $399 billion as of Oct. 31 this year.

“If we get to have a stable and competitive market, consumers will benefit, because companies will be competing against each other to take market share. You do that most quickly by being able to lower the price,” said Michael Carlson, president and CEO of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida, representing companies including State Farm, Progressive, Allstate, and Farmers.

Blame game
One of the main culprits, to the industry and even the OIR, is the plaintiffs’ bar, which they accuse of exploiting legal loopholes to extract money from insurers.

The Florida Justice Association, a lobby for plaintiffs’ attorneys, didn’t respond to an interview request, but in the past has blamed mounting litigation on insurers that don’t pay claims fully or promptly.

But during a speech at the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s annual insurance summit last week, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis targeted assignment of benefits agreements, in which policyholders transfer their right to sue carriers to a law firm or a contractor. The argument is that these agreements — AOBs in shorthand — encourage unnecessary litigation.

 Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. Credit: Florida Department of Financial Services

As mentioned above, the legislation would repeal another long-term insurance industry target, that one-way attorney fee laws (here and here). It was designed to discourage insurers from low-balling claims; if a policyholder sues and gets awarded any amount above the offer — even a relatively small amount — he or she could demand the insurer pay his or her litigation costs

Incentives
“It’s created an incentive to bring lawsuits over low-dollar amounts,” William Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, told the Phoenix in a telephone interview.

“So, you see lawsuits where the amount recovered is a low-dollar amount, but it leads to huge fees. If they can collect a penny on a lawsuit, they get their fees paid. And it’s not that difficult to go behind an estimate and get a penny or a dollar more to be paid,” he continued.

 William W. Large, president, Florida Justice Reform Institute. Credit. FJRI website.

That’s especially true following a large storm that causes extensive damage. Competition for contractors and building supplies can delay repairs to individual homes and spin off inflation that drives up repair expanses. Unscrupulous contractors and lawyers can leverage homeowner frustration to take advantage of that, Large said.

“Multiply that fact pattern times 100,000 homes. This is not a tenable business model, and this is what is driving insurers to file for bankruptcy and leave the state of Florida. It’s creating an increase in the number of insured under the state-run property insurance company, Citizens Property Insurance,” he said.

Even if the policyholder is entitled to more money, “it’s not meant to be a lawsuit. But that’s the system that we have in place,” Large argued.

Another law allows courts to order insurers to pay a policyholder’s court fees in any suit filed seeking timely payment of claims, within 60 days. The insurer is entitled to have an appraisal done, but it can be difficult to perform those within the time allotted under some circumstances, Large said. The policyholder is still entitled to recover his or her attorney fees.

Large categorized the dynamic as “rent seeking,” which he defined as “parking yourself on a regulatory mechanism that offers absolutely no value to society, and that’s what the plaintiffs are doing with the one-way attorney fee provision. They’re making money on a provision that was meant to benefit the insured but it’s only benefitting attorneys.”

Again, the Florida Justice Association provided no comment to the Phoenix, but in remarks to the Florida Bar News association president Curry Pajcic complained that insurance companies bring litigation upon themselves through their claims practices.

“The corporate elites and the insurance industry want to take your arm and your leg, and in exchange, give you a crutch,” Pajcic said. “They don’t want to make it right; they don’t want to make it even.”

Bad faith
The legislation attempts to address these complaints. It would become harder to press bad-faith claims against insurance companies accused of low-balling or slow-walking claims. For one thing, a policyholder no longer would automatically have a claim for bad faith if he or she forces the carrier to improve on an initial offer of settlement — instead, the customer would have to establish breach of contract.

And the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation would gain new powers to punish insurers for abusing the appraisal process; they could lose their ability to use for process for two years and get publicly named and shamed on the office’s website. The legislation would tighten timelines for insurers to respond to claims.

What’s getting very little mention is the climate change driving these losses — either by the Republicans driving the legislation or the industry.

“It’s not something we’re actively talking about,” said Carlson, the insurance lobbyist.

“I think some of the national companies have looked at the issue to see what the risk of sea-level rise, for example, is. What the risk of increased storm frequency and severity is driven by warmer temperatures of the planet. But, to my knowledge, the companies have never stepped into the public policy arena with regard to that. I do know that we strongly support any resiliency measures,” he said.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/12/12/special-session-opens-monday-on-troubled-property-insurance-market-will-reforms-work-longterm/ 

DeSantis’ bid in special session for OSHA alternative might not work in practice

But Biden’s vaccine mandates for employers faces political, legal tests

BY: MICHAEL MOLINE – NOVEMBER 2, 2021 7:00 AM

Florida’s Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021. Credit: Michael Moline/Florida Phoenix

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ record in office indicates he will pretty much get anything he wants from the Legislature during the impending special session on COVID-19 policy. The fellow Republicans who run the House and Senate have rarely told the governor “No.”

That means DeSantis can look forward to signing into law measures clamping down on local school boards trying to assert their own authority over whether kids need to wear masks; shoring up Florida’s new Parents’ Bill of Rights law to that same effect; and protecting workers against what he is calling “unfair discrimination on the basis of COVID-19 vaccination status.”

 Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference in Lakeland on Oct. 28, 2021, as Attorney General Ashley Moody looks on. Source: Screenshot/DeSantis Facebook page

Although the governor has railed against the chance that workers, especially in public safety, might be fired for refusing vaccines, his formal call for the special session is more specific about the rights of those who do lose jobs, directing the Legislature to ensure that they will be “eligible for reemployment benefits and, if needed, ensure that employees injured by a COVID-19 vaccination taken pursuant to a company policy are covered by workers’ compensation.”

Less clear is whether the Legislature will set up a state-run agency to supersede the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor that sets standard for safe and healthful workplaces, or what a state version would do exactly and how.

What top Republicans do say is that the idea is to free employers of an impending Biden administration order that companies with more than 100 employees much ensure they are vaccinated or, as an alternative, submit to weekly coronavirus testing.

Timothy Loftus, of the Center for Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami School of Law, dismissed the OSHA alternative idea, which originated with House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson, as “crazy talk” — at least regarding any hope of overruling federal regulators.

“We don’t pass federal laws and then invite people to participate,” Loftus said in a telephone interview.

Business qualms
Business organizations have been muted on the overall session agenda, including bans on vaccine mandates. In a written statement on Monday, the Florida Chamber of Commerce seemed intent on leaving as little daylight between itself and the governor as possible.

“Like Gov. DeSantis, we remain frustrated by the federal government’s decision to dictate a decision best left up to the free market. In a free market society, consumers, employees and employers are in the best position to make these choices for themselves without any government intervention,” Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson said.

“As with any legislation, we look forward to reviewing the details with our members and ensuring any final bill helps Florida compete and aligns with our mission to continue doing what job creators do best — create jobs in Florida,” he said.

Loftus, of the U.M. law school, argued that corporations, otherwise natural DeSantis allies, welcome what the governor calls federal overreach. “It’s less people getting sick; it means they can work more fluidly and COVID becomes less of an issue,” he said.

“If you’re a CEO, you’re happy. You get what you want to run your company. You lay the blame on the Biden administration. You tell DeSantis, ‘Sorry, I’m listening to the federal government; I don’t have to listen to you, I don’t have to listen to Greg Abbott in Texas,’ and you get a pass.”

“I think it’s anti-business. I think that, should the governor’s proposals ultimately pass, it’s going to make it less safe for Floridians and could potentially contribute to another surge — which is exactly what Florida’s economy does not need,” Fentrice Driskell of Hillsborough County, policy chief for Democrats in the state House, said of the DeSantis agenda.

“It seems that this governor is so bent on fighting President Biden rather than fighting the virus,” she said.

Driskell added: “The thought of Florida leaving OSHA is preposterous, it’s ridiculous, it’s expensive, it’s going to cost millions of dollars and take years.”

The OSHA talk thus far has been too vague, the AFL-CIO’s Templin said. The governor said only that the Legislature should “evaluate whether it should assert jurisdiction over occupational safety and health issues for government and private employees.”

“Are we going to try to do this in four days? Are we going to set up an independent commission to look at this over the next many months? Are we going to have hearings with worker-safety experts, unions, corporations? Is everybody going to be invited to the table? We still just don’t know.

“That all speaks to a political gesture, as opposed to a real policy endeavor,” Templin said.

 William W. Large, president, Florida Justice Reform Institute. Credit. FJRI website.

Even William Large, the conservative president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, was skeptical.

“The proposal to withdraw from OSHA is short-sighted and will not result in immediately avoiding any OSHA-imposed vaccine mandate, as any state-led occupational health and safety plan will have to meet federal approval and it will also necessitate a substantial expansion of Florida government to handle the workplace health and safety issues currently handled by OSHA,” Large said vie email.

‘All one team’
DeSantis had been foreshadowing a special session and finally issued his call on Friday, ordering the Legislature to convene from Nov. 15 through no later than Nov. 19, when lawmakers already were set to be in Tallahassee for committee meetings in advance of the regular session, due to kick off on Jan. 11.

“Your right to earn a living should not be contingent upon COVID shots,” DeSantis said in a written statement on Friday. He and Attorney General Ashley Moody, a fellow Republican, had already filed a lawsuit challenging a Biden vax mandate for federal contractors. Another Biden rule would deny Medicaid and Medicare money for health providers who don’t require vaccines of employees.

“Of course, writing the actual legislation to protect Floridians will be up to state lawmakers,” press secretary Christina Pushaw said in a written statement on Monday.

“We are confident that House and Senate leadership share the governor’s goals for the session: protecting Floridians’ jobs and constitutional rights. We look forward to seeing the legislation they propose to achieve this shared objective, and we’re eager to work with lawmakers to ensure that ‘two weeks to slow the spread’ does not become ‘three jabs to keep your job,’” Pushaw said.

“Under the leadership of Gov. DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, Florida has been a beacon of hope, and we intend to keep it that way. We look forward to working with Gov. DeSantis and our colleagues to craft, debate, and pass thoughtful legislation that keeps Florida open for business and prioritizes people, parents and businesses over government,” Sprowls and Simpson said in a joint written statement on Friday.

“During the special session, we will do everything within our power as a state to protect Floridians from the unconstitutional, un-American, and morally reprehensible overreaches on the part of the federal government,” they said.

“We’re all one team. We show how conservative governance is done, between the speaker, the governor, and the president of the Senate,” Republican State Rep. Randy Fine, who represents part of Brevard County, said in a telephone interview.

Fine wouldn’t endorse any legislation before he reads a draft but said: “I think if the governor and the leadership agree on something it’s highly likely that the majority in both chambers will support it.”

Elsewhere, the Iowa Legislature has approved legislation to block a Biden mandate and a special session along the same lines is planned in Idaho.

Florida would be absolutely within its authority if it set up its own version of OSHA — federal law explicitly allows it, and 22 states have created such agencies, by OSHA’s own tally, covering state and local workers and in some cases private employees.

A state agency might not be free to countermand federal regulations, however. An OSHA fact sheet makes clear: “State plans are monitored by OSHA and must be at least as effective as OSHA in protecting workers and in preventing work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths.”

“You run into the ultimate issue that the federal government has the financial hammer. ‘If you’re going to pull out of OSHA or try to challenge us, then we’re going to revoke your funding for this, that, and the other thing,’” Loftus said.

Fine, the Brevard Republican, is all for a state agency.

“I think it’s a great idea. I fully support it. We should drop out of all these federal entities that have been weaponized against states. I think if we could drop out of the FBI I’d probably support that at this point,” he said.

“Anything we can do to protect Florida businesses from a tyrannical federal government, we should be doing.”

OSHA’s authority?
The basic dispute here is between the DeSantis and Biden administrations over the president’s vaccine/testing mandate for employers. Although the courts ultimately will settle that fight, it nevertheless will underlie the special session.

Loftus, for one, is less certain about Biden’s mandate, which as of Monday was still awaiting final approval. He noted that OSHA in promulgating the mandate cites its emergency authority to protect workers against any “grave danger,” according to a Bloomberg News analysis, published on Oct. 22, by James Sullivan of Cozen O’Connor’s OSHA practice.

OSHA argues COVID presents just as real a danger as, say, mishandling volatile chemicals. But it reached that conclusion only after vaccine rates declined nationally — as recently as June, the agency extended that concern only to health care workers, Sullivan wrote.

“What has changed since the pandemic emerged in the U.S. in early 2020 to conclude that now, for the first time, this new vaccination [emergency temporary standard] is necessary to protect all workers from this virus when it was not necessary three to four months ago?” Sullivan wondered.

Additionally: “Who are the millions of workers currently working for employers with less than 100 employees not also presented with this ‘grave danger’ and in need of protection?”

OSHA has defended the authority it cites now six times against federal lawsuits, Sullivan wrote. It won a single case.

DeSantis himself issued a warning to the business community during the Chamber’s annual conference last week.

“Don’t ever think that caving to the mob is going to save your bacon. That’s just going to cause them to come back more,” he said, according to a report by the Miami Herald-Tampa Bay Times capital bureau.

“You know, if you do it, you are also going to come by some people on the other side, like me, who are going to say well, wait a minute, if you’re going to criticize what we’re doing I may criticize some of the things you are doing,’’ he added.

“I may look under the hood and not like some things,’’ he warned. “I got a podium. I got cameras that will follow me around. Maybe I’ll go talk about that a little bit. And so, I think it’s something that’s very damaging.”

https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/11/02/desantis-bid-in-special-session-for-osha-alternative-might-not-work-in-practice/