Republican Party of Florida Chairman, Florida Senator Joe Gruters, made an appearance on a local television show Sunday morning backing Senate Bill 1636 giving workers compensation insurance companies 45 days to decide whether to grant benefits to Florida injured workers.
It is no secret the Florida insurance lobby has a large presence in Tallahassee during the legislative session each year. The author of the bill is Senator Keith Perry (R-Gainesville). Gruters is on the Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance.
And although the bill has been postponed twice due to lack of support, Gruters is now enthusiastically getting behind the bill. Making TV appearances to push it will increase the likelihood the bill will be heard in committee
Senator Keith Perry, who owns a roofing company, has a personal interest in seeing his bill become law. Insurance premiums would likely drop for his business as Workers Compensation rates for roofers are one of the four highest in the state of Florida.
His bill would limit the amount of money insurance carriers pay attorneys of injured workers who feel forced to sue when they have been wrongfully denied benefits. Gruters viewed this aspect of the bill in these words, “You want to eliminate or cut down on frivolous lawsuits.”
Florida workers have long been disadvantaged when fighting for benefits against behemoth insurance companies which have large legal teams to defend lawsuits.
Senator Gruters had previously said SB 1636 is dead and will not be heard in committee, but new attention by the RPOF Chair can revive dead bills.
Gruters has already faced intense scrutiny this legislative session over his partnership with five Florida Democrats sponsoring an LGBTQ anti-discrimination bill, SB 430. Gruters also penned another bill against anti-Semitism. That bill, SB 1272, contains sexual orientation and gender identity language which few noticed.
Florida conservatives who support President Trump, who has been a champion of hard working Americans, loathe both self-serving and lobby beholden politicians. Keith Perry’s self-interest is front and center of this bill and he makes no attempt to conceal how he would personally benefit should his bill become law.
Gruters siding with the insurance lobby against Florida workers shows the new leader of the Republican Party of Florida moving further away from Trump’s agenda day by day during this legislative session.
