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By JIM TURNER
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

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THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, April 13, 2017......... Efforts to put the brakes on Florida's no-fault auto insurance system are moving in the House and Senate.

But with a little more than three weeks remaining in the 60-day legislative session, and critics claiming the change would be a boon to trial lawyers and kill small-business jobs, the proposal is just starting to advance in the Senate.

Also, the bills differ on a redesign of minimum insurance coverage, with the House sponsor saying the Senate version may just be "PIP renamed."

Thursday morning, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee voted 8-1 to support a measure (SB 1766) that would eliminate the no-fault system and the requirement that motorists carry personal-injury protection --- commonly referred to as PIP --- coverage. The bill would require motorists to buy bodily-injury coverage, which most drivers in Florida already have.

A short time later Thursday, the House Commerce Committee voted 22-5 to back a repeal measure (HB 1063) that would impose a different minimum of bodily-injury coverage. That bill is now ready to go to the full House.

Under the decades-old no-fault system, motorists are required to carry $10,000 in personal-injury protection coverage. That coverage, which essentially hasn't changed since 1979, is designed to pay medical bills after accidents.

"I'm of the fundamental belief that PIP is woefully inadequate in the 21st Century," Senate bill sponsor Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa, said. "It's just lost pace with the cost and medical inflation and treating injured parties."

The House legislation is projected to save motorists an average of about $81 a year per policy. But that is mostly due to the fact that nearly 90 percent of motorists already have some form of bodily-injury coverage, and the savings would depend on where motorists live.

The change could affect health-care premiums, according to a House staff report.

The Senate proposal, which would require more overall coverage and gradually impose a higher minimum of bodily-injury coverage, is projected at providing $9 to $12 a year savings, depending on where motorists live.

Under Lee's proposal, starting in 2018, motorists would be required to have $20,000 in personal bodily-injury coverage and $40,000 for multi-person bodily-injury coverage. The minimums would grow two years later to $25,000 and $50,000 and to $30,000 and $60,000 in 2022.