Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, February 8
Feb 8, 2010
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Oldsmar homeowner worries well project will increase sinkholes
When city officials discuss a $20 million water treatment plant scheduled to open next year, they trumpet the positive: it will reduce demand on the region’s already stretched water supply, it will limit increases in residents’ monthly bills, it will help the city become water independent.
Florida Sees Savings From Risk Management Changes
Private-sector risk management practices are paying dividends for one of the nation’s largest public entities-the State of Florida.
Editorial: Time for Citizens to control costs
THE ISSUE: Citizens rebids deal.
Citizens Property Insurance Corp. did the right thing in dialing back its no-no decision to offer a no-bid $10 million contract to a firm to conduct 400,000 inspections.
Florida regulators probe alleged insurance scam
Richard Incandela was arrested for allegedly selling nearly $500,000 worth of bogus insurance policies to two Hillsborough County senior citizens.
Florida man sentenced for Hurricane Wilma home fraud
The former head of a nonprofit that provided housing relief after Hurricane Wilma in 2005 was sentenced to 27 months in prison for stealing federal funds.
Florida cities need to get ready for rising seas, researcher says
Florida cities can protect themselves now from hurricane damage by getting ready for sea levels to rise someday, a coastal expert told beach engineers meeting Friday.
Florida state law on red-light cameras forthcoming
Motorists should accept what looks like the inevitable: Red-light cameras are here to stay and more are coming despite the protests and lawsuits.
A Florida-based collections agency is suing Community Health Systems Inc. for breach of contract, claiming the hospital giant used the alleged arrest of a third-party employee as an excuse to fire the company.
Guilty verdict in Miami Medicare fraud case
A former partner in a vast Medicare racket was convicted of healthcare fraud Thursday in Miami federal court.
Florida CFO Sink seeks review of Bank of America in Florida
State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink wants Attorney General Bill McCollum, one of her gubernatorial rivals, to investigate fraud at the bank where she was a longtime executive.
Blog: Florida State Senator Carey Baker drops out of Agriculture Commissioner race
State Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, just sent out e-mail saying hes withdrawing from the race for Agriculture Commissioner. This leaves U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow whos got roughly $1 million in his campaign warchest as the only major Republican in the race.
Unemployment-tax hikes may be delayed
The race is on to head off massive unemployment-tax hikes that threaten most Florida businesses at the end of April.
2010 Legislative Preview: Setting the Table
Florida lawmakers will face a multitude of challenges when they return to Tallahassee in March. The most pressing problems: A projected $2.6-billion budget shortfall, the highest unemployment rate in more than three decades and an unemployment trust fund that’s in the red.
Florida lawmakers, facing the onerous task of building a 2010-11 state budget with the glimmer of modestly increasing revenue but fast-growing expenses, have largely dismissed Gov. Charlie Crist’s proposed spending plan.
Florida lawmakers search for solutions to Medicaid budget growth
The popular image of Medicaid as the Pac-Man of the state budget might have grown cliched by now, but many say the program’s growth will continue to gobble ever-increasing shares of taxpayer funding if something isn’t done to check it.
State is looking at streamlining permit process for developers
With more than 1 million residents out of work, state lawmakers are trying to concoct the right blend of business incentives to bring jobs to Florida.
Casinos the future of Florida’s beaches?
As Gov. Charlie Crist pushes his Seminole gambling deal, some legislators are thinking bigger for the 2010 session.
Picture a Vegas-style Bellagio on the beach. Rows of neon-lit slot machines, blackjack dealers and craps dice.
State Debt Could Threaten Florida Government Programs
Even as talk of deficits and debt seem focused largely on Washington, Florida’s state government is cresting on its biggest tide of red ink in history.
FBI builds its case in real estate flipping schemes with Florida man
Craig Adams, orchestrator of one of the largest real estate fraud rings in Florida history, has secretly spent more than a year and a half as an FBI informant, helping build cases against the people he once recruited into his schemes, the Herald-Tribune has learned.
Florida Property Taxes ‘Drop Like a Rock’ Over Last Three Years
Florida property taxes dropped by $2.28 billion, or 7.5 percent, over the past three years because of tax-cutting measures approved by the Legislature and voters as well as falling real estate values, according to figures presented to a legislative panel Thursday.
Column: A full-time Florida Legislature?
State Sen. Mike Bennett and state Rep. Dwayne Taylor have introduced a bill requiring the state’s expert policy analysts to do a study of having a full-time Legislature.
Lawmakers gear up for fundraising
Lobbyists and legislators munched hors d’oeuvres and sipped scotch in a rooftop ballroom with a nice view of the Capitol last week in an annual ritual as important to Florida politics as mass mailings and attack ads.
Fewer politicians flying on Florida’s dime
Fewer Florida politicians are flying on the taxpayer’s dime, as charges for flights on state planes have dropped 63 percent over two years.
‘Pancakes’ inquiry clears state officer
Florida Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos was cleared Friday of allegations that she skirted state public records laws in a series of unusual e-mail exchanges with a co-worker.
Anger fuels rush of candidates in Florida
Voters are angry. And the most audacious among them are deciding they can help fix the country.
Everglades plants and animals killed by cold
South Florida’s recent cold snap made the Everglades into burial ground for scores of wildlife. A University of Florida professor said it’s an ecological disturbance equal to a fire or hurricane.
Ten moments when politics in modern Florida changed forever
Gov. Charlie Crist may or may not be the next U.S. senator from Florida, but this much is certain: Florida will never be the same.
NOAA reorganization would provide more info on global warming
The Obama administration proposed a new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Service on Monday, reorganizing the agency so it can provide Americans with predictions on how global warming will affect everything from drought to sea levels.
President Obama Puts Foreign Reinsurance Tax Loophole in Cross Hairs
FY 2011 Budget Proposal Provides Impetus for Passage of Neal Bill
The CEOs of some of the nation’s largest U.S.-based insurance companies urged quick passage of legislation to close a loophole cited in President Obama’s FY 2011 budget proposal that allows foreign- controlled insurance companies operating in the U.S. to avoid paying U.S. income taxes.
IIABNY Says Changes Coming In Producer Comp Rule
The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New York said its negotiations with the New York State Insurance Department have resulted in some revisions to a proposed producer compensation disclosure rule.
Insurers See Hope For New York No-Fault Changes After Hearing
Insurance industry representatives were optimistic that some type of action will be taken this year to remedy flaws in New York’s no-fault auto insurance system after a State Senate Insurance Committee hearing.
PCI Calls Insurance Bill Misguided, Potentially Flammable
A bill announced Friday to amend the McCarran-Ferguson Act could hurt consumers in the important medical professional liability insurance market, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.
Talk Of Swapping Flood Program’s Oversight Committee
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, wants another House committee to take jurisdiction over the troubled and controversial National Flood Insurance Program.
Georgia Governor Backs Appointed, Not Elected, Insurance Chief
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s proposal to appoint — rather than elect — four statewide constitutional officers has run headlong into opposition.
Insurers rev up bid to make Toyota pay
Auto insurers are furiously pulling paperwork on recent Toyota crashes in an attempt to hold the embattled car company responsible for millions of dollars in accident payouts.
Mississippi Homeowners Learning How Credit Score Affects Insurance Premium
Mississippi Gulf Coast policyholders are well aware a hurricane is guaranteed to hike insurance rates, but fewer realize their credit reports also are factored into homeowner and automobile insurance premiums.
Insurer claims Oklahoma State can’t recover $33M
The insurance company sued by billionaire booster T. Boone Pickens and Oklahoma State’s athletic fundraising foundation claims the university breached its contract and has no right to recover $33 million in premiums.
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