CFO Atwater's Dollars & Sense
Dear Fellow Floridians:
The 2016 Legislative Session came to a close last Friday evening, and I’m
proud to say that our Department was successful on every bill we put
forward.
Each year brings a new set of challenges and issues that face Floridians, and
this year was no different. With topics involving education, insurance and
natural resources, there was a wide variety of complex matters for the
Legislature to discuss.
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In This Issue
Volume 13 Number 11
March 16, 2016
In addition to championing complex public policy changes involving
divestment, balance billing and life insurance, we also achieved legislative
changes that will update the state’s workers’ compensation system, protect
the privacy of criminal investigators, and streamline the way the Department
does business.
Message from the CFO on
2016 Legislation
While the bills have
passed, our work is not
yet complete. Each of
these bills must make
its way to Governor
Rick Scott’s desk to be
signed into law. As this
week shows us—
through the presidential
primary election in
Florida—each
consumer carries a
large voice that makes
a tangible impact on
the works of
government. I ask you
to stand with me in
support of these common sense public policy changes that will improve our
ability to provide services to the people of Florida, streamline the way our
Department does business, and hold the insurance industry accountable for
the promises they made to policyholders.
Florida's Bottom Line on
Florida’s Economic Health
News of Interest
March is Women's History
Month
Florida Economic Briefs
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One piece of legislation in particular has the potential to impact hundreds of
thousands of families—our life insurance legislation. If any member of your
family has purchased a life insurance policy, you should know that for many
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CFO Atwater's Dollars & Sense
years most life insurance companies were intentionally shielding themselves
from information about policyholder deaths, which allowed these companies
to keep the policies' benefits inside their company vaults to earn interest.
They neither checked readily available records nor made attempts to contact
a beneficiary to learn if it was time to pay out on that policy.
But that will all be changing because of Senate Bill 966, which was
sponsored by Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto and Representative Bill Hager.
This bill requires insurance companies to check the Social Security
Administration’s Death Master File in order to learn of policyholder deaths
moving forward, and it requires life insurance companies to check their files
back to 1992 and pay out the policies that have been owed for many years. If
the insurance company cannot find a beneficiary, they must turn over the
funds to our Department's unclaimed property program so we can try to find
the rightful owner.
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Hundreds of thousands of families will now get the life insurance benefits
their loved ones paid premiums for many years ago. I’ll update you again
once Governor Rick Scott has signed the bill into law.
Sincerely,
Jeff Atwater
Chief Financial Officer
State of Florida
News of Interest
News96.5 WDBO: Bill forces insurance companies to track down beneficiaries
Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Florida hiring strong in February
CBS Miami: Prescribing, insurance changes get last-minute approval
Florida Trend: 36,000 jobs were created in Florida during January
South Florida Business Journal: White House taps Miami-Dade for program to create tech jobs
Sun-Sentinel: New company says it's Florida's first licensed solely to sell flood insurance
CNBC: How robots will kill the 'gig economy'
Bloomberg: Americans' home wealth recovers $7 trillion as prices firm
MarketWatch: Can millennials save the U.S. economy?
March is Women's History Month
Each week this month, we are featuring prominent
American women leaders and highlighting their
contributions to our state and country.
Lt. Col. Edith M. Toffaletti
Lt. Col. Edith M. Toffaletti from Hillsborough County
was a dedicated public servant. As a courageous
http://staging.fldoi.gov/PressOffice/Newsletter/2016/031616/March_1616.aspx[3/16/2016 10:36:48 AM]
CFO Atwater's Dollars & Sense
young woman, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps during World
War II to serve our nation. In 1942, she was a member of the first
graduating class of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Officer
Candidate School. Toffaletti was a trailblazer, joining the Air Force in
1947 after its creation and later retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
Florida's Bottom Line on Florida’s Economic Health
As a one-stop shop for the latest news and valuable insight on Florida's economic and financial health,
Florida's Bottom Line is CFO Atwater's in-depth quarterly economic newsletter.
The newest edition of Florida’s Bottom Line is focused on the
opportunities that lie ahead in 2016 as well as highlights of the
progress that we made in the past year. Inside, you will find
exclusive analyses and commentary from leading experts in
Florida as well as a look back on Florida’s economic
achievements in 2015.
The accompanying Florida's Bottom Line website will keep you updated with the latest statistics on
Florida's economy. Special reports, infographics and past editions are archived on the website for easy
access.
Florida Economic Briefs
Small business optimism hits two year low in February
Small business optimism fell last month according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent
Business. Of the ten components that make up the index, six of them decreased over the month, and four
remained unchanged.
Source: National Federation of Independent Business
Florida unemployment rate down in January
Florida’s unemployment rate was 5.0 percent in January, down 0.1 percentage points from December
(5.1 percent) and down 0.7 percentage points from January of last year (5.7 percent). The U.S.
unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Legal Notices 2011 © Florida Department of Financial Services
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