In election results that perhaps only Gov. Rick Scott and his most ardent supporters could have imagined in the summer of 2010, Florida's voters chose the Naples Republican over his Democrat rival Alex Sink. The choice seemed to reflect voters' embrace of the central theme of Scott's campaign — "Let's Get to Work" — as well as the anti-Obama sentiment that influenced the outcome of many races throughout the country. Here in Florida, Republican success was not confined to the gubernatorial election and the U.S. Senate race, where Marco Rubio trounced Independent Charlie Crist and Democrat Kendrick Meek, but also in the three state cabinet races and across Florida in state House and Senate elections.

Not surprisingly, the Republican sweep raised hopes in the insurance industry that the 2010 election will mean industry-friendly regulatory and legislative environments. On the regulatory side, Scott wasted no time making his views on government regulation clear. Speaking before the Florida Council of 100 just nine days after the election, Scott was quoted saying, "Regulations grow and spread like weeds — if we aren't actively working to cut them back, they choke off every productive effort." He reportedly went on to call regulation "an endemic weakness in government."

Just how the new governor's general views on government regulation will translate into policy on insurance regulation remain to be seen. What is clear is that Scott wants to see further dramatic reductions in workers' compensation rates. The St. Petersburg Times blogged that, in his speech before the Florida Council of 100, Scott renewed his campaign pledge to reduce workers' compensation costs by 35 percent. A rate reduction of that magnitude would likely require significant reductions in benefits paid to injured workers.