Still No Insurance Commissioner
The Governor and the Cabinet, sitting as the Financial Services Commission, met today and again interviewed candidates for the position of Florida Insurance Commissioner. Two new candidates were interviewed – OIR Chief of Staff Belinda Miller and Raymond Blacklidge, EVP of American Traditions Insurance Co. and Modern USA Insurance Co. – as well as second interviews for Jeffrey Bragg and Rep. Bill Hager – who were interviewed at the Cabinet’s previous meeting in March. At the conclusion of the interviews, Governor Scott made a motion to hire Bragg as Insurance Commissioner at a salary of $150,000; however, CFO Atwater did not second the motion, so it failed. At the last meeting, Atwater nominated Hager, but Scott would not second that motion. Scott announced that they would notice another Cabinet meeting for this Friday morning at 9 am, and he added two more candidates to be interviewed: OIR P&C Deputy Commissioner David Altmaier and OIR L&H Deputy Commissioner Rich Robleto. Scott also made a point of announcing that he wanted to hire a “permanent” insurance commissioner, since we are only 30 days away from the start of hurricane season, as opposed to accepting current Commissioner Kevin McCarty’s offer to delay his resignation.