Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Tuesday, November 18
Nov 18, 2008
Above: Jeff Atwater was elected President of the Florida Senate today
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Jeff Atwater Named 83rd Senate President
Senator Jeff Atwater (R-Broward and Palm Beach Counties) was elected Florida’s 83rd Senate President today, November 18, 2008, during an Organizational Session of the 2009 Florida Legislature.
Brown & Brown buys part of Conner Strong
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed in a release announcing the planned acquisition.
Conner Strong provides property and casualty insurance and employee benefits products and services. The privately held firm, based in Cherry Hill, N.J., ranks as the 31st largest insurance brokerage in the United States, according to its Web site.
United Insurance Holdings Corp. Reports 2008 Third Quarter Financial Results
United Insurance Holdings Corp., an underwriter of homeowners and selected small business insurance in the State of Florida, today announced unaudited financial results for its third quarter and nine-months ended September 30, 2008.
Medicare recipients to pay higher premiums, co-pays for meds
Florida’s seniors face steep increases in their costs for Medicare drug coverage next year, a new analysis shows.
- To view a press release on cost adjustments for Medicare Waiver Recipients as of January 1, 2009 from the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities, click here.
Delray woman putting genetic diseases to the test
Determined to stop other families from birthing children with genetic disorders that can be detected with simple testing, Victor donated the seed money to open The Victor Center for Jewish Genetic Diseases at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine. The center, one of three around the country created with Victor’s assistance, does preconception genetic testing for nine disorders prominent in Ashkenazi Jews. It targets college students.
Pensacola, Fla.; Hurricanes Drive Market’s Ups And Downs
Pensacola is in the Florida Panhandle, making it much closer to Mobile, Ala., than it is to Miami.
Off the beaten track, Pensacola is less crowded, and homes are much less pricy than those along the Atlantic Coast. And its housing market has been through very different ups and downs. That is partly because Pensacola Bay, which is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is vulnerable to hurricanes.
Justice’s Retirement Lets Crist Shape Court
Gov. Charlie Crist gets his chance to appoint two more justices to the Florida Supreme Court, with one justice making his retirement official Monday.
Legislators want special budget shortfall session after numbers are in
Treasure Coast legislators, off to Tallahassee for Tuesday’s biennial organizational meetings, agree with Gov. Crist that talk of a special session on the latest projected $1 billion budget shortfall should wait until the quarterly revenue update is released later this week.
New Florida Legislature leaders face budget challenges
Two new Republican leaders will be sworn in to the Florida Legislature’s top jobs Tuesday in a one-day ceremonial session designed to be more celebration than business.
New group of Florida Democrats prepare to make their mark in Tallahassee
For South Florida’s Democratic contingent at the state capitol, change is afoot.
Democrats draw ‘line in the sand’
New Senate Democratic leader Al Lawson pledged Monday to oppose further budget cuts to public schools and universities, setting up a clash with Republicans. ‘We’re drawing a line in the sand,’ Lawson said after fellow Democrats voted him their leader in a brief ceremony on the Senate floor.
Florida’s election results officially ratified
Secretary of State Kurt Browning happily proclaimed the ghosts of 2000 officially purged today, as the official elections canvassing board formally ratified results of Florida’s general election. The legal formalities took Gov. Charlie Crist, Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson and Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp barely five minutes in the Cabinet meeting room of the state Capitol. Crist called in on a teleconference hookup.
Sky’s the limit for recent financing of campaigns
The 2008 election might go down as the year that state political campaigns truly blossomed into big-money undertakings, with everyone from the presidential candidates to state House hopefuls spending like never before.
U.S. Sugar wants to turn sugar into fuel
U.S. Sugar Corp. is hoping that the waste it creates during sugar production can one day be used to fuel cars.
The Clewiston-based company said Monday it entered into an agreement with Coskata, a renewable energy company in Warrenville, Ill., to explore building “the world’s largest second-generation ethanol facility.”
FPL seeks to cut bills in ’09, raise them in ’10
Proposed base-rate hike could mean higher costs in 2010 cycle
After telling customers to expect a more than $8 per month increase on their electric bills in 2009, Florida Power & Light Co. on Monday said lower fuel costs will lead to a decrease in bills next year.
Treasurer Paulsen Defends Actions; Says There’s ‘No Playbook’ for Crisis
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. told members of the House Committee on Financial Services that there is “no playbook” for dealing with the current financial crisis and defended the government’s recent emphasis on deploying capital to troubled financial firms instead of purchasing their troubled assets as originally planned.
- Click here to read Secretary Paulson’s remarks to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee today
Insurers Urged to Check Business Process Patents After Bilski Ruling
A recent federal court ruling could jeopardize the way some insurance, banking and high technology companies protect their business methods through patents.
La. Citizens OKs $35M Settlement; Pays $90M in Hurricane Claims
The board of Louisiana’s last-resort insurance company approved paying up to $35 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the firm took too long to pay off policyholders’ claims after the 2005
Insurance, Salvage Firms Get Washington’s Ear on Loss Reporting Rules
The insurance and salvage industries got a chance recently to discuss proposed regulations on data reporting with federal officials.
N.Y. Regulator Wants Insurers To Check Their Finances
The New York Insurance Department announced today that it is giving all carriers orders to give their finances a good stress test for regulators to examine.
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