Cabinet To Discuss Insurance Commissioner Replacement Tuesday

WFSU | By Regan McCarthy

Published April 22, 2016 at 5:49 PM EDT

With hurricane season approaching, Florida officials are working to hire a new state insurance commissioner.

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced plans in January to leave his job. In a letter he sent to Governor Rick Scott, McCarty said he’d stay in the position until May 2. But now it’s late April, hurricane season starts in June and no new commissioner is in place.

Florida’s CFO, Jeff Atwater says officials should move quickly to hire a new commissioner, he also points out it’s not unusual for hiring an agency head to take some time.

“When you think of the consequences of this choice I think every Floridian would want to be sure that we’re really being thoughtful and really being careful. And again, by the construct of both the sunshine laws and that fact that you’re reporting to four people, all of that all has to be done very transparently and so I think, I’m not concerned about the time that it’s taking us to date because I think that the outcome is that important,” Atwater says.

Atwater is a member of the Florida cabinet, along with Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Governor Rick Scott. The group is in charge of hiring new agency heads, but when it comes to hiring an insurance commissioner, Atwater plays a special role. He and the governor must come to a consensus on any new person placed in the position. And that’s part of what’s slowing the process down. During the last cabinet meeting the group interviewed several candidates including Delray Beach Democratic Representative Bill Hager, Atwater’s favorite, and Scott’s favorite, Jeffery Bragg – a former executive director of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Terrorism Risk Insurance Program.

But the two couldn’t seem to agree on the best choice. And Scott says that’s part of the process.

“I believe that Jeff Bragg would have been a very good pick and so I believe in bringing somebody like Jeff Bragg in. But look. We’ll go through the process. We’ll get some more applications and we’ll have another conversation April 26 ^th,” Scott says.

Meanwhile, current insurance commissioner, Kevin McCarty has written a follow up letter saying he’s willing to stay awhile longer. He says he’ll stay for 45 days after a new candidate is appointed in order to help facilitate a smooth transition.