Kudos to Florida's Republican governor Charlie Crist who, unlike his legislature, stood up to the powerful insurance lobby and just vetoed an outrageous legislative giveaway to the biggest property insurance companies. Here is Florida PIRG legislative advocate Brad Ashwell's statement praising the veto. (Previous blog has link to Brad's op-ed explaining the issue.) Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Although the legislation (HB 1171) was called the "consumer choice" bill, it actually would have allowed about 40 of the largest property insurers to start charging virtually any price they want for policies with hurricane coverage, and to bypass regulations the state imposes on other companies.