The Florida House of Representatives Economic Affairs Committee questioned Gulf Coast Claims Facility Administrator Ken Feinberg and other BP officials during a hearing on Feb. 18.

Representative Doug Broxson’s office sent out a press release urging people to attend the hearing. He said few events have made more of an impact than the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“We need to send a message to the Capitol and across the state that west Florida is a vital part of the State and that we have suffered an unprecedented disaster,” said Broxson in the press release.

The committee made four recommendations to Feinberg and the GCCF:

-Grant TOTAL authority (for claims up to $50,000) to the 33 Gulf Coast Claims Facilities and allow adjustors to work with individual claims from the beginning of the process until the claim is wither paid or denied.

-Retain an independent third party claims auditor to report on the effectiveness of the program and to recommend changes.

-Suspend the “Final Payment” plan. The committee said it potentially overpays smaller claims and under compensates larger claims.

-Relocate the three support facilities in Dublin, Ohio; Seattle, Washington; and Richmond, Virginia and the over 2,000 jobs, to multiple locations on the Gulf Coast, including Florida.