In retrospect, 2005 probably will be viewed as a transitional year. The once-strident legislative battles over medical malpractice and workers' compensation reforms have given way to a period of assessing their incremental changes on the markets. Then there is the fact that the state has suffered eight hurricanes in two years, leaving a financial and economic legacy that will require legislative and regulatory action stretching forward indefinitely. That is not to say that 2006 will be without its challenges. The fight over whether to retain the auto personal injury protection law is already heating up as the industry lines up against its old foes — the trial bar and doctors. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is due for a major overhaul given the residual market's many financial and ethical problems. And then there will be the long discussion over who should pay for Florida's coastal hurricane losses. Throw in the fact that 2006 is an election year, and that Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher is running for governor, and there is plenty to look forward to. But for the moment, Florida Underwriter looks back. Here are a few quotes that caught our attention this past year.

Workers' Compensation

“These are the results we had hoped the reforms would produce and while we are not totally out of the woods, we have come a long way from where we started.” – Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty, on his decision to lower rates by 5.1 percent in January 2005.