Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Friday, Jan. 11

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Above:  State Senator Steve Geller

“We’re going to want Mr. Farm, from State Farm. If we get GEICO Insurance, we want the gecko personally here.”

–Senator Geller responding to a question at a Senate press conference this week announcing a plan to put insurance executives under oath to determine why homeowners’ rates have not dropped.

 

Senate to insurers: Keep promises or else

State Senators will put insurance executives under oath to find out why homeowners’ rates have not dropped.

 

Employers owed $42 million

Florida employers have saved millions of dollars on workers compensation costs since 2003 changes curbed premium costs.

 

Giuliani pushes national storm fund

A push to create a national disaster-insurance fund — a popular issue in hurricane-prone Florida — also has become a popular campaign topic for Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani as he pins his campaign hopes on the Sunshine State.

 

Sink: Florida no longer ‘low-cost’ state

Florida’s top financial regulator called for retooling the state’s approach to economic growth, warning that the days of counting on a lucrative supply of retirees will soon be over.

 

A tax system in shambles couldn’t handle ‘stacked crises’

In 2005, the LeRoy Collins Institute for Public Policy published a report titled ‘Tough Choices,’ pointing out that Florida’s housing boom of 2000-05 had given Florida a remarkable boost in revenue, allowing a massive shift in tax policy.

 

Absentee ballot calls hint at high turnout

The presidential campaign fervor that drove unprecedented voter turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire is beginning to show up in Florida, with a deluge of absentee ballot requests foreshadowing strong interest in the earliest primary in state history.

 

Sen. Nelson says national energy plan must address alternatives before drilling off Florida

Sen. Bill Nelson said he might consider allowing oil companies to drill off Florida’s coast.

 

State’s insurance effort wins praise

A national consumer-advocacy group says property-casualty-insurance companies are systematically overcharging consumers and reducing the value of insurance policies, but it praised some of Florida’s efforts to control costs.

 

Insurers overcharge clients, underpay on claims, Consumer Federation says

U.S. insurance companies systematically overcharge customers and underpay consumers’ home and auto claims to pad their already-fat bottom lines, a consumer group said Thursday.

 

North, central Florida fighting over plan to tap St. Johns River

North and central Florida aren’t feeling very neighborly at the moment as they battle over water from the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers.

 

Amendment posed to loosen class size limits

Class size reduction limits that Florida voters approved in 2002 would be loosened through a new constitutional amendment introduced Friday by a tax and budget overhaul panel. 

 

Timing of BofA’s Countrywide deal questioned

The timing of Bank of America Corp’s $4 billion deal to buy battered mortgage lender Countrywide Financial has some investors stumped.

 

MBIA’s $1 Bln Debt Sale Stalls as Investors Balk

A planned $1 billion debt sale by MBIA Inc. may be delayed until next week, investors familiar with the offering said on Thursday, as the market demands higher concessions to help the world’s largest bond insurer shore up its capital and defend its rating.

 

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