Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, December 16
Dec 16, 2008
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Florida Legislature sets special budget crisis session
Florida’s legislative leaders announced Monday that they will convene an extraordinary lawmaking session Jan. 5 to close the state’s ever-widening $2.3 billion budget hole.
Chamber CEO disputes worker’s comp proposal
The National Council on Compensation Insurance’s proposal to increase workers compensation rates will be heard today in a public hearing in Tallahassee. The proposal calls for an 18.6 percent rate increase over a two-year period.
Maximum Workers’ Compensation Rate, Effective January 1, 2009
The Agency for Workforce Innovation has determined the statewide average weekly wage paid by employers subject to the Florida Unemployment Compensation Law to be $765.15 for the four calendar quarters ending June 30, 2008.
Legislator plans to push for ombudsman of homeowner associations
Legislation to be introduced in March
State Rep. Julio Robaina told leaders of homeowner associations Monday he wants feedback before crafting legislation to overhaul associations across the state.
EDITORIAL: Don’t neglect the drainage
The storm that dropped 2 feet to 3 feet of rain on Brevard County in August caused severe flooding problems in some areas because drainage systems couldn’t handle the record deluge.
FLORIDA TODAY looked back on the storm the past two days in a report called “Fay’s Aftermath: Underwater and Uninsured,” and pointed out what many Brevard residents may not know:
Obama health stimulus plan could mean $1.8 billion for Florida
A consumer group released a report detailing the financial benefits that President-elect Barack Obama’s healthcare stimulus plan could bring to Florida.
Crist crafts way to get out budget of red
Gov. Charlie Crist could ask Florida lawmakers to shrink this year’s $2.3 billion budget deficit by a likely combination of spending cuts, reallocating money collected for specific programs such as roads and affordable housing, and by agreeing to finance new prisons with bonds instead of cash, according to documents obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
Falling property values add to Fla. budget woes
Falling property values and a rising foreclosure rate may contribute to a growing gap in next year’s state budget, the Legislature’s top economist said Monday.
Lawmakers hear pleas to spare social services
Florida lawmakers dealing with the biggest cash crunch in recent history faced a string of advocates on Monday imploring them not to cut cash for children, the poor and the disabled.
Notice concerns delay Fla. Supreme Court panel
A spokesman for Gov. Charlie Crist says the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission’s conference call was postponed because of insufficient public notice.
Big Tobacco moves closer to Florida pack tax hike
Big Tobacco appears more ready than ever to accept a higher cigarette tax in Florida — but only in return for an extra fee on a rising competitor: Dosal Tobacco Corp.
Florida First in Corruption, Says Report
Where is officialdom most crooked? Last week, many guessed it must be Illinois, after news that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taped making brazen personal demands in exchange for his selection of a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama.
Immokalee casino unveils blackjack tables
It’s a late Tuesday afternoon – not exactly a day for diversion – but you wouldn’t know it from inside the Seminole Casino in Immokalee.
Florida’s electors cast ballots
State’s 27 electoral votes officially go to Obama
In a brief, dignified ceremony loaded with symbolism for Democrats who worked for two years to turn Florida blue on the political map, President-elect Barack Obama officially received the state’s 27 electoral votes Monday.
Should Jeb run or not? Let’s count up
Jeb Bush will decide over the holidays whether or not to seek the U.S. Senate seat that Republican Mel Martinez will vacate after 2010. If he runs, Bush will likely clear out the Republican field of candidates, and he would immediately turn a toss-up Senate seat into one leaning Republican.
Water managers review Florida-U.S. Sugar deal
Water managers began their final review Tuesday morning before a crucial vote on the state’s $1.34 billion bid to buy U.S. Sugar’s sprawling farm fields.
FPL may have to refund $6 million to customers
The state is expected to decide today whether to require Florida Power & Light Co. to refund customers more than $6 million in costs related to a 2006 power outage blamed on an FPL contractor.
Florida’s leading manufacturer is seeking $500,000 in state and local grants to launch a significant expansion of its Ocala plant.
Florida officials take advantage of ‘double-dipping’ pension
Two days after his re-election, Brevard County Property Appraiser Jim Ford quietly resigned.
Cows’ gas causes discomfort in SW Florida
Ranchers rip possible federal ‘cow tax’
Belching beef cows could cost Southwest Florida ranchers big bucks if the Environmental Protection Agency moves forward with proposed rules related to greenhouse gas emissions and the federal Clean Air Act.
Hurricane Models Wrong For Past Three Years, Report Says
Model forecasts for 2006 through 2008 hurricane seasons significantly overestimated U.S. insured losses, according to a catastrophe risk management firm study announced today.
Farmers Capital Bank Corporation to Participate in U.S. Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program
Farmers Capital Bank Corporation announced that it has received preliminary approval for $30 million of equity capital that will be effected by issuing 30 thousand shares of fixed-rate cumulative perpetual preferred stock to the U.S. Department of Treasury under Treasury’s recently announced Capital Purchase Program.
Crump Develops New Form of Property Coverage
Insurance Services, part of Crump Group, Inc., the nation’s largest insurance wholesaler, has developed an innovative new form of commercial property coverage called propertyXsurance.
Supreme Court to Hear $500M Asbestos Case Against Travelers
The Supreme Court has agreed to consider reinstating a roughly $500 million settlement of asbestos-related lawsuits against the Travelers Companies Inc.
Insurance Tax Increase among New York Governor’s Budget Proposals
After opposing higher taxes for months as counterproductive, New York Gov. David Paterson reportedly plans to increase taxes on insurance policies, on non-diet sodas under an “obesity tax,” reviving the state sales tax on clothing, and changes in funding of hospitals and health care providers that could shift more health costs on individuals and employers.
Farms’ crop loss coverage deadline is Jan. 12
Deadline is Jan. 12 for crop-loss coverage
Farmers and ranchers who sustained crop losses but who did not have crop-insurance coverage this year have until Jan. 12 to buy into the program, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency.
U.S. Anti-Kidnap Expert Abducted In Mexico
A well-known U.S. anti-kidnapping expert has himself fallen victim to Mexico’s wave of abductions as unidentified assailants snatched him from a street in the northern city of Saltillo, one of his employers said Monday
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