Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, January 19

Jan 19, 2010

 

 

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Governor Crist Issues Second Executive Order Extending Agricultural State of Emergency

Governor Charlie Crist issued a second Executive Order today, Tuesday, January 19, 2010 extending the agricultural State of Emergency an additional seven days.

 

Palm Harbor insurance companies merge

Alltrust Insurance Inc., an employee benefits consulting firm, has merged with Caswell Insurance Services Inc.

 

CFO Sink Encourages Homeowners to Check Sinkhole Coverage

Florida CFO Alex Sink is urging Hillsborough County and surrounding county homeowners to check their homeowner insurance policy for sinkhole coverage in light of this week’s sinkhole activity in the area.

 

Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate:  What is pay-as-you-drive insurance?

What is pay-as-you-drive insurance?

 

Florida High Court: Hospitals Must Tell Patients of Lawsuit Limits

The Florida Supreme Court says hospitals must warn patients about a state law that bars malpractice lawsuits for birth-related neurological injuries.

 

Fla. GOP worried about health bill

Leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature say the bills would lead to huge increases in Florida’s Medicaid payments, covering the poor and disabled.

 

CFO Announces Private Sector Advisory Council on Risk Management

Florida CFO Alex Sink today announced $12 million in taxpayer savings from applying private-sector business practices to Florida’s risk management. CFO Sink utilized advice from experts with Publix, Disney, and Rosen Hotels & Resorts and implemented an overhaul of her Division of Risk Management with these more businesslike reforms to realize the savings.

 

Florida Attorney General: Individual Mandate In Federal Health Care Legislation is Unconstitutional

McCollum announces intention to file lawsuit, along with other Attorneys General, if provision becomes law

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced the completion of his legal analysis of whether the individual mandate currently included in the federal health care legislation violates the U.S. Constitution.

 

Ex-Commissioner Combee Enters Fla. State House Race

Former Polk County Commissioner Neil Combee officially entered the race for Florida House seat from District 64 on Friday.

 

Florida Dems cut into GOP’s big cash advantage

The intra-party rebellion that ousted Florida Republican Chairman Jim Greer this month was fueled by images of limo rides, expensive meals, cocktail soirees at ritzy South Florida resorts, even cigars bought by the case.

 

Five candidates vie for FloridaDistrict 58 seat

Five candidates – three Democrats and two Republicans – are in a sprint to gain voters’ favor before a special election to fill the vacated state House District 58 seat.

 

Hays leads area fundraising for Fla. House

Gearing up for this fall’s elections, Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, led local legislative candidates in raising money during the final three months of 2009.

 

Florida’s leaders talk job creation

They came from all corners of the state in search of a common goal finding ways to get the more than 1 in 10 Floridians who are unemployed back to work.

 

Fla. State House candidate has financial issues in her past, says she made good on debts

Janet Cruz, a Democratic candidate in the special election for the District 58 state House seat, has a history of financial difficulties that includes worthless check charges and a foreclosure in the 1990s.

 

4 Florida cities trying to decriminalize marijuana

A longtime effort to decriminalize marijuana possession in Jacksonville Beach has expanded to Atlantic Beach, as well as to Orlando and Tallahassee.

 

Florida restricts catching of certain fish

The state has temporarily restricted the capture of certain saltwater fish because the recent cold snap killed too many of them.

 

Considine Named N.J. Banking and Insurance Commissioner

Tom Considine has been nominated as New Jersey’s banking and insurance commissioner.

 

Schwarzenegger’s insurance surcharge has appearance of tax hike

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was insistent at his January budget presentation that his spending plan does not raise taxes.

 

Louisiana Citizens Shedding More Homeowners Policies

Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which insures homes and commercial properties shunned by private companies, continues to shed policies.

 

North Carolina Court Hears Challenge to Coastal Insurance Rate Hike

A North Carolina appeals court is weighing whether to freeze or even reverse homeowners’ insurance premiums that soared by up to almost 30 percent along the coast while sliding by a third in counties farthest from the shore.

 

Entergy, Insurers File Second Suit Against Corps Over Katrina Flooding

Entergy Corp. has filed a second suit against the Army Corps of Engineers over flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina, leaving behind hundreds of millions of dollars to power systems and higher rates for hundreds of thousands of electricity customers in Louisiana.

 

For Insurers, a $5 Billion Benefit

Rule Change Will Allow Firms to Set Aside Less Capital on Written-Down Bonds

Life insurers are readying for an estimated $5 billion-plus capital benefit from a new approach to sizing up risk in home-mortgage bonds. 

 

Tackling homeowner insurance issues head-on in New York’s Jamaica Bay

Its coastal location may have drawn many residents to canarsie.

 

Main Street crisis impacts insurance rates

The financial crisis among Main Street banks is causing liability insurance rates for bank directors and officers to skyrocket across the board, industry insiders say.

 

PCI Launches Campaign to Preserve McCarran-Ferguson and Protect Med Mal Insurance Marketplace

This week, PCI launched a multimedia campaign urging Congress to preserve the McCarran-Ferguson Act and protect the medical malpractice insurance marketplace.  

 

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