Citizens Property Insurance Corp.'s board of governors met in emergency session Monday via teleconference to discuss the proposed sinkhole rate increases. Present for the teleconference were Chair Carlos Lacasa and board members Carol Everhart, Nancy Baily, Rob Wallace, Tom Lynch, and Chris Gardner. Also in attendance were Belinda Miller from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR), and Citizens' President Scott Wallace, CFO Sharon Binnun, and General Counsel Dan Sumner.

Following the roll call to establish a quorum, Sumner reviewed voting procedural issues and the conflict of interests' provision. Based on Sumner's remarks, board members Everhart and Lynch, both insurance agents, declared that they would abstain from voting on the Citizens' rate hike issues, citing conflicts of interest. Chair Lacasa noted their abstentions for the record.

Moving onto the main business of the day, Lacasa said, "In our last board meeting, we considered the rate filing that will be heard tomorrow by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty. These rates are an enormous increase. CFO Jeff Atwater notified me that he was concerned about the impact, and he asked us to give a serious look at how SB 408 would mitigate against these higher rates. Today, we are going to consider a measure that would allow us to stair-step this rate increase over time. Commissioner McCarty is particularly sensitive about this issue."