Republican state Rep. Juan Zapata said his own party has failed Floridians by not coming up with a solution to the state’s insurance crisis and accused a fellow GOP lawmaker who has had a large role in insurance legislation of being “in the pocket of the insurance companies.”
Zapata, who doesn’t have any opposition on the ballot this fall, was speaking last weekend at a meeting in Coral Gables in which state lawmakers were discussing the insurance problems many Floridians have faced in the last couple years. After two years of hurricanes, rates have spiraled and companies have refused to write policies for many residents.
On Friday, Zapata said he shouldn’t have made the remarks about Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, who has been a key player in insurance legislation. Zapata also expressed anger that Democrats were trying to use his remarks for what he said was political gain.
The Legislature passed a measure this year aimed at trying to deal with the problem, but several government and industry officials have said it won’t bring immediate rate relief and there’s been talk in Tallahassee that lawmakers may return later this year to try to do more.
The Legislature is overwhelmingly controlled by Republicans, and most of them supported the insurance bill that passed. Democrats have claimed that the new law won’t help at all.
“I think the Republican Party has failed you and not because we haven’t tried, but I think we haven’t tried hard enough,” Zapata told the gathering at Coral Gables High School. “And I think it’s obvious by the results.”
Zapata made the remarks last Saturday at what GOP lawmakers call an “idea raiser.” The meetings are the brainchild of incoming House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-Miami, who portrays them as a chance to hear the public on issues of concern.
It’s not clear if any members of the media were present, but an audio tape of the event was acquired by WINZ Radio’s The Jim DeFede Show.
“I think for far too long we created a system that really benefited insurance companies,” Zapata said. “Every time we try to do something up in Tallahassee the insurance companies go ‘Oh, you guys are going to do that? You’re going to have no insurance.”‘
Then Zapata brought up Brown who serves on the House Insurance Committee. Zapata said Brown was chairman of the committee, which he isn’t, but Brown, a longtime insurance agent, was one of the authors of the insurance bill passed by lawmakers this year. Brown has also been appointed to a special panel that is looking further at the issue.
“He is in the pocket of the insurance companies,” Zapata said.
DeFede played the tape on his radio show Friday and said there were about 200 to 300 people at the meeting.
Brown responded on DeFede’s show on Friday, after hearing the tape for the first time.
He defended himself against the charge by saying that in 30 years as an agent he’s been victimized by insurance companies rather than co-opted.
“In that 30 years on three different occasions arbitrary decisions by insurance companies have almost bankrupted me,” Brown said. “I am not a fan of insurance companies any more than anyone else, but I do have a background and an understanding of the industry that helps me navigate through a very complex issue.”
Brown said that the insurance crisis was complex, and that two devastating hurricane seasons, not politicians or insurance companies, were to blame.
“Those two storm seasons in Florida — the total cost was about $38.9 billion dollars,” Brown said. “We can criticize one another … it’s not going to change the cold hard facts.
“The bottom line is this: we can either pay for the damage before it happens by way of premiums or we can pay for it after the damage by taxes,” Brown said.
Zapata released a statement on Friday in which he complained that Democrats were promoting his comments to the media.
“I find it shameful that the Democratic Party is trying to exploit my candidness for political gain when they should be focusing their energies on finding solutions to Florida’s challenges,” Zapata said. “The property insurance crisis is not, and should not become, a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It is an issue for all Floridians who, like me, are frustrated that we have not come up with answers to this crisis.”
He also backed off the comment about Brown, saying that in hindsight, he shouldn’t have said it.
“Rep. Brown is a hardworking member of the Legislature and my comments were in no way directed to his character or integrity,” Zapata said.
Rubio also issued a statement saying that the insurance crisis wasn’t a partisan matter.
But state Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, who also was in attendance at the meeting last weekend, said Republicans should take some of the blame because they are in charge.
He said he went to the meeting and had planned to speak to say “they’ve been in charge and they’ve put us in this mess.
“And then all of a sudden Rep. Zapata chimed in a way that was very surprising to me but I think was pretty honest,” Gelber said. “I think it was very gutsy.”
Gelber, who was on DeFede’s show Friday as well, shied away from the comments about Brown, specifically, but continued to go after the GOP.
“The party in power across the board has been anti-consumer on many of these issues,” Gelber said.
Topics Carriers Legislation Politics
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