Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, Dec. 14

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Senators question how $151M hurricane plan went wrong

Florida’s golden reputation for its sure-handed hurricane response in 2004 may be tarnished a bit.

 

Lawmakers angry that emergency preparedness money not spent

Angry lawmakers on Thursday said they were stunned to find out in recent weeks that millions of dollars in state and federal money meant to make communities more ready for hurricanes hasn’t been spent.

 

Citizens to review investment policies

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. will review its investment policies after a recent run of withdrawals on a state-run pool jeopardized nearly $2 billion of its assets, its chief financial officer told the Florida House Insurance Committee Thursday.

 

Florida Must Cut Hurricane Liability, Sink Tells CEOs

TAMPA – The cost of property insurance for businesses has fallen by 30 percent in some cases, but the state still has much work to do to solve its insurance problems, state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink said Thursday.

 

Poll shows property tax is top concern for voters

A coalition of labor and civic groups claiming more than 1 million members came together Thursday to combat Gov. Charlie Crist’s property-tax reductions in the Jan. 29 Florida primary.

 

Future leader of Florida Senate has his work cut out for him

The Senate’s man in waiting.

The selection of state Sen. Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, as the Florida Senate’s next president is no surprise. He had the inside track ever since the efforts of colleague Alex Villalobos to become the chamber’s first Hispanic president imploded.

 

Focus at the Capitol: raising money

Florida lawmakers spent this week at the state Capitol, but many of them didn’t accomplish much until the sun went down.

 

Watering to be limited from Orlando to the Keys

South Florida water managers approved the region’s tightest water restrictions Thursday as drought conditions persist, limiting outside watering to once a week from Orlando south to the Keys.

 

Federal gambling chairman and auditors visit Seminole leaders

Trip from Washington part of investigation, official says

The chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission traveled from Washington, D.C., on Thursday for a private meeting with leaders of the Seminole Tribe of Florida at tribal headquarters in Hollywood.

 

Legislators Dockery, Ross unhappy with freight-train reroute for Orlando commuter rail

Two Lakeland lawmakers raised a stink Thursday about the deal to divert CSX Transportation freight trains away from downtown Orlando to bring commuter rail to Central Florida.

 

Massachusets: State should review hurricane models that insurers use to set rates

Home insurance rates are skyrocketing on Cape Cod, the islands, and in other coastal areas. Driving the increases are concerns by insurers that a major hurricane could wreak the kind of devastation that hurricanes have brought to other parts of the country.

 

School Recess Gets Gentler, and the Adults Are Dismayed

MONTVILLE, Conn. – Children at the Oakdale School here in southeastern Connecticut returned this fall to learn that their traditional recess had gone the way of the peanut butter sandwich and the Gumby lunchbox.

 

Same-sex marriage vote upcoming

Supporters of a Florida petition drive to ban same-sex marriage announced Thursday that they have enough signatures to make the November ballot.

 

Student benefits from a real-life insurance lesson

Question: I was on my way to catch my New York-Oslo flight to study abroad when the JFK AirTrain system broke down, causing me to miss the flight.

 

PCIAA Insurers For Action Newsroom:  Economic Gloom Makes New Election Issue

Americans have turned markedly gloomier about the economy in recent months, a shift that is reshaping a presidential campaign long dominated by the war in Iraq and national security concerns.

 

Guy Carpenter Publishes Report on 2007 UK Flooding

Extensive Losses Largely Borne by UK Insurance Industry; Floods Persistent and Growing Risk Across UK

Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, the leading global risk and reinsurance specialist, today announced the publication of Wrong Type of Rain: Impact and Implications of 2007 UK Floods, an in-depth report on the extensive flooding that caused severe damage in north-eastern England in June 2007 and central and south-western England in July 2007.

 

RMS Terrorism Model Recently Used for TRIA Impact Evaluation

Time Slipping for Decision Over TRIA Extension, Cancellation of Federal Backstop Could Eliminate Growth and Availability of Commercial Terrorism Coverage

There remain critical issues to be addressed regarding the extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), which is due to expire on December 31, 2007.

 

Dixon-Hughes:   How a Solvency Opinion Clarifies Risks in Highly Leveraged Transactions

Is it worth the gamble?

 

From the AAMGA Newsroom:  Reaction to Corzine Plan Better Than Anticipated

For decades, education financing — one of New Jersey’s most intractable issues — has tripped up many a governor, thanks to court decisions that required the state to spend the bulk of its education funds on students in historically poor urban districts.