There always comes a point late in the legislative session when lawmakers must confront the question of when to say “no.” For those who have a highly invested constituency, or happen to be facing the next step in their political careers, “no” is not an easy answer to make. Let's take, for example, Senate President-elect Jeff Atwater (R-Palm Beach), who is facing a well-funded challenge by former Senator Skip Campbell, the current poster boy for the Florida Justice Association (read: trial bar). Of course, another example springs to mind — Senate Banking and Insurance Commissioner Chair Bill Posey (R-Rockledge), who is already measuring the drapes for his congressional office in Washington, D.C.

This brings us to the point of one of the more contentiously proposed changes in the assessment base of the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. With the residual market's exposure heading nowhere but up, business owners are seriously starting to balk at the possible assessments they might face, assessments that could split that fine hair between being profitable or going under. That is why the Florida Chamber has been waging a less-than-silent war against what it describes as another business “tax” that hampers the ability of owners to plan for the future.

Sending less-than-subtle messages about what a huge residual market assessment could mean to the business community, the Chamber, among others, has lined up in support of a bill that would offer business owners the opportunity to purchase a non-assessable policy at higher rates. In exchange for paying higher premiums, the policyholders would be subtracted from Citizens' assessment base and exempt from paying any assessments levied by the insurer.