Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Monday, May 3
May 3, 2010
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Paige St. John: Florida rolling dice on insurers
State official defends his decision to try risky strategies
Under questioning by his boss, Florida’s top insurance regulator revealed his office is using new and risky strategies to keep property insurance rates low and troubled companies in business.
The recent eight-month investigation and dismantling of an organized “crash ring” highlights Direct General Insurance Company’s ongoing collaboration with law enforcement agencies to thwart the dramatic rise of auto insurance fraud in Central Florida.
Florida CFO Alex Sink today commended the Florida Legislature for unanimously passing legislation that implements recommendations made by CFO Sink to strengthen the state’s Risk Management program and reduce workers’ compensation costs to the state.
Bill for firefighter death benefits passes
A bill that would provide death benefits to families of firefighters killed during training exercises passed today, on the last day of the Florida Legislature’s regular session.
Editorial: One certainty in red-light law is more revenues
The new law that authorizes red-light cameras may, indeed, cut down on dangerous accidents. It also will be a cash machine for governments. That seems certain.
Putting off Medicaid reform compounds pain in the future
Putting off Medicaid reform will compound the pain in the future.
Florida legislators thought they had it rough balancing the state budget this year, yet they balked at proposals to rein in runaway costs in the state’s Medicaid program. As a result, they – or their successors – may someday look back on this year’s legislative session as a cakewalk.
Crist informed it is only a matter of time before spill impacts Panhandle
Crist was briefed on the spill Saturday by the U.S. Coast Guard, BP PLC and Florida environmental Secretary Michael Sole.
- Fishing closed in Florida Panhandle because of oil spill
- As oil blob triples in size, Florida fears nightmare
- Bay area business owners brace for disaster
- Florida Officials Call BP Oil Plan Inadequate
- Florida prepares for oil landfall, fears the worst
- Oil spill: People gather on Pensacola beach with sadness, dread
- Florida businesses fear oil’s ruin
- Crews ready if spill moves closer into Florida waters
- Rubio won’t back off stance on Gulf drilling
Session is over but Crist veto looms
Sixty days of legislative action concluded Friday, overshadowed by Gov. Charlie Crist’s vetoes and party denunciation.
- Column: Crist – and his veto pen – still have friends in Florida politics
- Column: Legislators Wait as Crist Weighs Budget
Florida Attorney General investigates its own
The Florida Attorney General’s Office said Friday that it is investigating the involvement one of its attorneys had with one of the state’s largest foreclosure firms.
Chances abound for Crist to call Legislature back into session
Gov. Charlie Crist spent the final hours of his last spring legislative session in Miami, about as far away from the Capitol as he could get without leaving the state.
No new taxes; some increased costs and cuts
With a slew of last-minute deals, Florida’s 2010-2011 budget swelled to $70.4 billion – a nearly $4 billion increase in government spending over last year, thanks to billions in federal stimulus aid and a lucrative gambling deal with the Seminole tribe.
Legislative Recap: What Passed, What Failed
A Republican governor who bolted from his party, a $3.2-billion revenue shortfall and a tsunami of protest from teachers set the 2010 legislative session apart from any other. Here’s a look at what passed and what didn’t during the 60-day session, which ended Friday night.
Weighing the odds for gambling’s impact on South Florida
Casino operators say when people play, the whole community wins. Opponents say social costs of gaming will drain local economies, not help them. Who’s right?
Legislature’s proposed amendments offer referendum on GOP agenda
When voters head to the polls Nov. 2, they’ll be judging the handiwork of the Republican-led Legislature: six proposed constitutional amendments and one straw poll.
Lawmakers put own districting plan on Florida ballot
The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature voted Friday to put its own redistricting proposal on the November ballot.
Tax incentives to attract new businesses to Florida are one way out of the recession. But what about small businesses already here and poised to grow with a little guidance?
2010 Florida legislative session was a time for changes
The accepted wisdom of March isn’t true in May
When the legislative session began in March, Gov. Charlie Crist was a Republican, the fate of the Seminole gambling compact was still unclear and the words “Senate Bill 6” were not yet a household phrase.
Politics and posturing disappoint voters
Each year as the Legislature leaves town, it’s as if the annual drama of politics, policy and personalities has come to intermission, not the grand finale. It’s not over ’til it’s over, which in the case of the state’s proposed $70 billion budget means finding out if Gov. Charlie Crist will in fact veto some or all of this hard-won but hardly nonpartisan document.
After split from GOP, Crist busy with Florida duties
Fresh from leaving the Republican Party, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist on Saturday busied himself with official duties in the public eye as he and his former GOP primary rival adjusted to his new role as an independent in the U.S. Senate race.
Florida Gov. Crist’s final 24 hours as a Republican
Gov. Charlie Crist pushes back from his desk at the Capitol, slides off tortoiseshell reading glasses and flips open a cell phone. “Hey buddy,” he says, “any knowledge?”
- LeMieux abandons Crist over nonpartisan bid
- Independent Crist will have to tap into an unfamiliar pool of donors
- A liberated Crist hits Senate trail on his own
- Editorial: Crist’s bold run
- Crist offers preview of his campaign
- Even his longtime friends are saying, ‘See ya, Charlie’
- GOP quickly exiles governor
- Charlie Crist must get out of the gate quickly – or fade, analysts say
- Crist, Rubio take campaigns to TV shows
- Contenders in 3-way Senate race all have shot at win
- Gov. Charlie Crist finds man trapped in car, reassures driver until help arrives
U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite stunner: She’s not running
Citing health problems, U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, announced at the last minute that she will not run for re-election and instead will support the candidacy of Hernando County Sheriff Richard Nugent, who beat today’s noon deadline to qualify.
12 Republicans qualify to take on two Florida congressional Democrats
After antagonizing Republicans for nearly two years, U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, has drawn seven GOP challengers in his bid to return to Congress for a second term.
Column: Florida Republicans: a party divided against itself
Florida has more Democrats registered to vote than Republicans, yet the GOP has dominated the state Legislature for more than a decade.
Era of self-financed millionaire candidates begins in Florida
First it was Texas and California, then New Jersey and New York, and now Florida: Sunshine State voters, brace for bazillionaires gunning for public office.
Foreign Buyers Kick-Start Florida Condo Sales
Condominiums are now selling faster in Central Florida than they did at the peak of the real-estate market four years ago, when renters, retirees and eager urbanites, seized by condo fever, were snapping them up in Metro Orlando at the rate of 20 a day.
Paradise Bank hit with regulatory order
Boca Raton-based Paradise Bank signed a written agreement with state and federal regulators to address problem loans and reserves.
FDIC asks Bank of Florida-Southeast to boost capital
Authorities have asked Fort Lauderdale-based Bank of Florida-Southeast to take “prompt corrective action” to boost capital from levels considered “undercapitalized” as of Dec. 31, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced Friday.
Fort Walton Beach bank signs consent order, must improve financial health
Beach Community Bank has become another in a growing list of Florida financial institutions to fall under the scrutiny of state and federal banking authorities.
BP’s Insurance To Cushion Impact Of Oil Spill – Fitch
Reuters: Containment and cleanup costs of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could top $3 billion, but financial impacts on BP Plc will be limited by the oil company’s insurance, Fitch Ratings said on Friday.
PartnerRe Oil Platform Disaster Loss Estimates Put at $60-$70 Million
Bermuda-based PartnerRe Ltd. announced preliminary estimates of expected claims, relating to the recent explosion of the Deepwater Horizon Drilling Platform in the Gulf of Mexico, as in “the range of $60-$70 million.”
Frustration With Mississippi Property Market Spawns Coastal American Insurance Co.
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said one of the state’s own has stepped up to offer homeowners policies on the Mississippi coast – a company started by a real estate investor.
Chinese drywall maker offers $18-per-square-foot deals
Since the problem of contaminated Chinese drywall first surfaced, a healthy amount of skepticism has existed about whether manufacturers in China would ever be held financially responsible for fixing the homes.
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