Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, March 24
Mar 24, 2009
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Sen. Bill Nelson moves to sustain Florida catastrophic hurricane fund
Warning that “the big one is going to hit” inevitably, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson called for federal loan guarantees Monday to sustain Florida’s catastrophic hurricane fund.
Tradition, a leading interdealer broker and a subsidiary of Compagnie Financire Tradition, Tuesday announced that its U.S. reinsurance division, Tradition Re, has brokered the first ‘second event’ hurricane option contract to clear through the CME, on behalf of a reinsurance company wishing to hedge its hurricane-related risk for the Gulf and Florida combined regions during the 2009 calendar year.
Associated Industries: Florida property insurance reforms needed more than ever
With every tropical disturbance that spun in the Atlantic Ocean last year, Floridians held their breaths through the 2008 hurricane season.
FEMA, water district update Pasco County flood zone maps
Greg and Sandra Haxton stared at the map showing their property. ‘It looks like you’re out of the flood zone,’ said the Southwest Florida Water Management District employee who escorted them through the maze of maps on easels that lined the large room at Wesley Chapel High School.
Southern Farm Bureau Life loses $31.7 million Florida lawsuit
Plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance have won a $31.7 million verdict, the Orlando office of the law firm Baker Hosteter said Monday.
Hillsborough farm ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution for insurance fraud
An eastern Hillsborough County farm has been ordered to pay nearly $1.1 million in restitution after pleading guilty to crop insurance fraud, court records show.
Doctors, assistants plead guilty in $10 million Medicare scam
Two Miami-Dade doctors and their medical assistants have pleaded guilty to plotting to defraud Medicare of $10 million with phony claims for HIV-infusion treatments that patients did not need or receive, federal prosecutors said Monday.
EDITORIAL: Workers comp cartel says boo! and Florida jumps
When a worker is injured on the job, both the worker and the employer benefit from having those injuries treated promptly and effectively.
Alex Sink: Official says Florida should consider toxic assets
Florida’s top financial regulator says the state might want to invest in the toxic assets the federal government is trying to wash away from banks.
Governor Crist Announces Arrival of $363 Million in Federal Medicaid Funds
Governor Charlie Crist on Tuesday announced that the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has initiated its first draw of more than $363 million in increased federal stimulus funds allowed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Crist Announces Cover Florida Health Care Enrollment Numbers
Encourages businesses and health care providers to promote Cover Florida Health Care and Florida Discount Drug Card
Governor Charlie Crist on Tuesday announced the initial results of the first two months of enrollment in Cover Florida Health Care plans.
Crist Introduces ‘Stimulus Czar’
Gov. Charlie Crist drew chuckles Monday when he introduced Don Winstead as Florida’s “stimulus czar” – the key official charged with riding herd over $13.4 billion in federal stimulus money expected by the state.
Budget Cuts Frustrate Lawmakers
For three weeks, they’ve listened. Now comes the hard part.
Battle breaks out on 2002 state class-size amendment
There’s almost no reason to mention Will Weatherford and Frederica Wilson in the same sentence.
Panel OKs Fee Limits On Lawyers Florida Hires
A House panel has approved a bill limiting fees the Florida Attorney General’s Office will pay when hiring private lawyers for state cases.
GOP defends Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s cybercrime ads
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s $1.4 million ad campaign against online sex offenders has set off a pitched political battle that could foreshadow the race to succeed Gov. Charlie Crist.
Senate gambling bills would give Seminoles, race tracks more games
Florida would give the Seminole Tribe roulette wheels, crap tables and full-fledged Las Vegas style casinos while its competitors get blackjack or electronic bingo machines within their facilities under bills introduced Tuesday by the Senate’s chief gambling negotiator.
Economy forces watchdog group Common Cause Florida to take its eyes off state government
The state’s preeminent government watchdog organization will shut its doors at the end of the month, yet another victim of an economy in the doldrums.
Lawsuit targets South Florida law firm
The alleged Ponzi scheme at Sarasota’s Scoop Management has erupted into a federal lawsuit seeking class-action status against one of Florida’s largest law firms, Holland & Knight, for its work in preparing Scoop’s hedge fund prospectuses.
Phone deregulation plan could boost bills up to 20 percent a year
Phone company giants like AT&T say their goal is simple: bring better service and lower rates to customers.
Broward man accused in $5 million Ponzi scheme
A Broward County man accused in a $5 million Ponzi scheme has been ordered by a Miami federal judge to pay more than $2.4 million in connection with the alleged scheme.
Marlins get OK for long-coveted Miami ballpark
Miami-Dade county commissioners finished a seemingly endless quest to build a baseball-only facility for the Florida Marlins, approving the plan for a 37,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium at the site of the old Orange Bowl.
Geithner To Ask A U.S. Overseer For Shaky Insurers
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told a congressional committee today he will ask the full Congress on Thursday for authority to create a federal receiver for what he called “systemically important” nonbank financial firms like American International Group.
Economic Turmoil Could Spur A New Type Of D&O Claim
As the current economic turmoil leads to an escalation of lawsuits against directors and officers, one expert is warning that a new variety of D&O liability claims may be created related to government bailout efforts.
EPA says global warming a public danger
The White House is reviewing a proposed finding by the U.S. environmental agency that global warming is a threat to public health and welfare; such a declaration by the Environmental Protection Agency would be the first step to regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the U.S. Clean Air Act law and could have broad economic and environmental ramifications.
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