When Florida lawmakers inserted a provision in a 2003 auto insurance fraud bill that called for the state's auto personal injury protection (PIP) law to sunset in 2007 unless reenacted in the 2006 legislative session, it was viewed as a Texas two-step move that allowed lawmakers to say they were working on the controversial issue without actually having to take a position on the subject. Lawmakers then proceeded to all but ignore the issue for the next two legislative sessions, partly because of the need to address homeowners' issues, but just as importantly because there are no simple solutions to the PIP issue.

But even before they get to the technical ins and outs of the law and the financial numbers, lawmakers find themselves in unfamiliar and politically unsettling positions. When compared to the recent wars over workers' compensation and medical malpractice reforms, PIP is a legislative anomaly. Auto owners are not storming the gates over auto insurance rates. There are no letter writing campaigns, no organized protests, and no fears on the part of lawmakers of being thrown out of office if they don't deliver some rate relief to constituents. Even Gerald Wester, lobbyist for the American Insurance Association, admitted as much. "There is not a crisis at this point; the market is competitive, and insurance is available," he said.

So when the House Insurance Committee recently spent two hours contemplating the future of the no-fault system by listening to presentations by the insurance industry, which consisted of a coalition of trial lawyers and doctors, and state fraud officials, there was little sense of urgency on lawmakers' part. There were no political grandstanding speeches, no heated exchanges, and no strong support for either one position or another. They simply came, they listened, and then they left. Little wonder Ralph Gladfelter, representing the Florida Hospital Association and an astute judge of the legislature's mood, felt free to offer lawmakers another out. "Let the earlier reforms continue to work, extend the sunset another year, and create a select committee to work on [PIP] in the interim." For when it comes to PIP, the first decision lawmakers will have to make is whether they want to tackle the issue at all.