Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, December 10
Dec 10, 2010
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Citizens Property Insurance revokes discounts
Citizens Property Insurance plans to revoke $5 million worth of discounts from policyholders.
Column: Beach skydiving ban goes overboard
For 25 years, skydiver Mike Swain has dressed as Santa and parachuted onto Sarasota beaches to distribute gifts to family and friends.
Hospital lien law before Florida court
The case started routinely enough: Almost five years ago, pedestrian Krystal Nicole Price was hit by a car and taken to Shands teaching hospital in Gainesville.
Federal government to pay balance of $300 million for Orlando-Tampa bullet train
Florida will get $342 million from the federal government, the remainder of the money it needs to build a bullet train from Orlando to Tampa
In a surprise announcement, the U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday said it will give Florida more than $300 million — the balance of the money the state needed to guarantee construction of a bullet train between Orlando and Tampa.
Florida Agriculture Braces for Big Chill II
Though no official figures are yet available, the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said that some $700 million in crops were put “at risk” by the first freeze, with an anticipated 2 percent loss.
State regulators not echoing sharp criticism against federal water standards
A Florida Department of Environmental Protection official on Thursday for the first time sounded a note different from the sharp criticism leveled by state officials and industry representatives towards new federal water quality standards
U.S. Representative Buchanan of Sarasota to join Ways and Means panel
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, was named Thursday to the House Ways and Means Committee, widely considered the most influential committee in Congress because of its broad jurisdiction over tax policy, health care, Social Security and international trade.
Blog: Mario Diaz-Balart named to Appropriations Committee
South Florida Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart will take a coveted spot on the House Appropriations Committee next year, giving him more influence on how federal money is spent.
Blog: Five of 10 Cannon Republican Party of Florida appointees are from Central Florida
House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, has named 10 House members – half of them from Central Florida – to the executive committee of the Republican Party of Florida
State frets over pension debts of St. Petersburg and other cities
With a $1.1 billion deficit looming in the state’s employee health and pension accounts, lawmakers are poised to blow up the benefit programs and impose tough new limits on local governments, the chairman of the Senate committee said on Thursday.
Lawmakers start work on teacher merit pay bill
Florida legislators began their first work Thursday on a new teacher merit pay bill that will likely include differences from the controversial measure that was vetoed last spring by Gov. Charlie Crist.
New York Times: Some Unlicensed Drivers Risk More Than a Fine
It was just another suburban fender-bender. A car zoomed into an intersection and braked too late to stop at a red light.
National Association of Insurance Commissioners elects new vice president, secretary
Special Interim Election Held to Fill Recent Vacancies
Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners held a special interim election during a conference call. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James J. Donelon was elected NAIC Vice President and Illinois Insurance Director Michael T. McRaith was elected NAIC Secretary-Treasurer.
Wall Street Journal: Insurers’ Chinese Pipe Dream
Is China the promised land for insurers? Back in 2001 when restrictions on foreign firms were lifted, it certainly looked that way.
Credit Rating Agencies Can’t Claim Free Speech in Law Giving New Risks
When President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill on July 21, he capped a year-long legislative battle to stop $1.8 trillion in global financial writedowns and losses from happening again.