Senate President Tom Lee, R-Valrico, told Buzz Friday he'd back a special session on insurance anytime, even before an election -- but not before there's a firm plan of how to fix the problem of skyrocketing rates. He said he'd want to wait for the recommendations of a governor-appointed blue ribbon panel.

Translation: That won't be before the election. The panel isn't scheduled to issue a report until Dec. 15.

But Lee, who has been beaten up on the issue of insurance for weeks by his primary opponent in the CFO race, Rep. Randy Johnson, R-Celebration, said he's feeling the pain too.

Lee said he's recently had more than a half-dozen commercial development projects affected by the insurance crisis. And that an office building in which he is a partner had its policy cancelled in June. He and his partners paid a 330 percent increase for a lot less coverage. "This isn't just a political issue for me," he said.

--Alisa Ulferts