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Pasco Lawmakers Pushing Bills On Aloha, Insurance

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SUNCOAST NEWS STAFF

Published: January 9, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - Florida Legislature kicked into high gear yesterday with committee meetings on proposed laws, including a fair share of legislation from Pasco lawmakers.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and state Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey, have teamed up to push several proposals to get a head start before the annual session of the Legislature starts March 4.

Fasano is particularly interested in securing $6 million in funding to help the county buy the privately owned Aloha Utilities.

The utility in the Seven Springs-Trinity area has been roundly criticized for more than a decade by customers, which include Fasano, about water quality problems.

Fasano, an Aloha customer, proposes that the county issue bonds toward buying Aloha at fair market value with the $6 million in seed money to help through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection budget.

"The existence of a present threat to the environment and a present threat to the health of Aloha's customers, as well as the utility's poor record of customer service is the purpose for filing the bill," Fasano said in a summary of his proposals.

Fasano also is backing the Pasco County Property Insurance Rate Reduction Act.

If it passes, the measure would require insurance companies to take into consideration local efforts and ordinances geared toward reducing insurer risk from sinkhole damage claims from policyholders when setting property insurance rates for Pasco County.

Another Fasano proposal concerns alcoholic beverage licensing. Fasano wants to repeal a local bill passed in 1971 that limited alcoholic beverage licenses to restaurants that served 200 patrons or more and occupied more than 4,000 square feet of floor space.

If repealed, Pasco would be allowed adopt the more lenient state standards, which allow licenses to be issued to restaurants that serve 150 people and have at least 2,500 square feet of floor space.

In the House, Legg is sponsoring House versions of the sinkhole rate reduction bill, alcohol licenses reform and the Aloha buyout bill.

Legg is also interested in pushing legislation to strengthen building codes in Pasco and provide for the protection of house foundations from settlement. The intent of this bill is to reduce insurance claims in Pasco County.

Fasano intends to pursue a similar bill in the Senate.

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