Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Wednesday, June 13

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Tax-cut letdown: Numbers may not add up

On the first day of the special session to lower property taxes, here’s what lawmakers started cutting: expectations for a huge tax cut this year and a January vote for even bigger savings.

 

Tax change faces obstacle of legislators’ own making

TALLAHASSEE – If and when the Florida Legislature asks voters to create a much bigger homestead exemption, the overhaul of the property tax system faces a major hurdle – one that was initiated by the Legislature itself.

  

Lawmakers likely staying mum on no-fault insurance system

TALLAHASSEE — Trying to stay focused on cutting property taxes, Florida lawmakers likely will not debate changes in the state’s auto-insurance system during a special legislative session that started Tuesday.

 

Bowen Becomes Speaker Pro Tempore for Fla. House

LAKELAND – State Rep. Marty Bowen, R-Haines City, became speaker pro tempore of the Florida House on Tuesday, shortly after the Legislature convened for its special session on property taxes.

 

Dade official named to FEMA advisory council

A third current or former Miami-Dade official will be active at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

 

Hurricane Model Sized Up

TALLAHASSEE – A public software model used to help estimate and set hurricane insurance rates is in the final stages of a state review process, but the end result may not provide much relief to Florida consumers.

 

Hurricane satellite could fail anytime

NOAA Chief Warns of Weather Satellite Failure

MIAMI (AP) — An aging weather satellite crucial to accurate predictions on the intensity and path of hurricanes could fail at any moment and plans to launch a replacement have been pushed back seven years to 2016.

 

Insurance Business Briefs

State regulators restarted efforts Tuesday to rein in the use of consumer credit scores by insurance companies that sell automobile and homeowner insurance.

  

House moves to stop caller ID fraud

WASHINGTON (AP) — Using fake caller IDs to defraud or cause harm to people would be illegal under a bill the House passed by voice vote Tuesday.

  

Probe of District 13 race is slowing

Agency could take a while to produce its report on the disputed contest

Democrat Christine Jennings was pinning her hopes of winning the 13th District congressional seat on the Democratic majority in Congress.

 

Manhattan: New Coordinator for Trade Center Health Issues

Nearly six years after the attack on the World Trade Center, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has appointed a public relations specialist to coordinate New York City’s response to the mounting health issues of people who were exposed to dust and smoke from the collapsed towers.

  

Florida healthcare ranks low

With many people lacking access to care and others facing an abysmally low-quality system, Florida ranks No. 43 in the nation in the first state-by-state scorecard of healthcare-system performance.

 

Florida primary will not count, Dean warns

Sure, Florida is America’s biggest political swing state. But don’t expect the national Democratic Party to back off punishing Sunshine State Democrats for scheduling an early presidential primary.

 

Florida improves graduation rate but still among nation’s lowest

Florida’s graduation rate improved three percentage points to 60.5 percent in 2003-04, but it still is among the nation’s lowest and well below the national average of 69.9 percent, Education Week magazine reported Tuesday.

 

Paper-trail voting a step closer in Dade

Even as it continues to pay off more than $15 million still owed on touch-screen voting machines, the Miami-Dade County Commission took a key step Tuesday toward replacing them with optical-scan paper ballots.

 

Governor Announces Governor’s Commission On Disabilities And Disaster Preparation Plans For Disabilities Community

ORLANDO – Governor Charlie Crist today introduced three new initiatives that will help coordinate services for persons with disabilities and improve hurricane and emergency preparedness for the disabilities community.

 

Governor Announces Additional Details Regarding Special Needs Shelters For Persons With Disabilities

TALLAHASSEE – This weekend, Governor Charlie Crist announced three new state-owned special needs shelters for persons with disabilities in Marianna, Gainesville and Fort Myers. He made the announcement as he addressed thousands of persons with disabilities and their families at the ninth annual Family Café conference in Orlando. The Family Café serves as a clearinghouse of information about available services to meet their needs and how to secure those services.

 

Governor Appoints Two To The Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board

TALLAHASSEE – Governor Charlie Crist today announced the following re-appointment and appointment:

 

Get the message out before the storm

PATLive introduced a voice-broadcast service coinciding with the start of hurricane season. Voice broadcasting sends alerts to hundreds or thousands of recipients on short notice.

 

Joseph J. Beneducci Resigns as Chief Executive Officer of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company; Chuck Kavitsky Named Interim CEO

NOVATO, Calif.–Joseph J. Beneducci has tendered his resignation as chief executive officer at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company. Effective immediately, Chuck Kavitsky, president of Allianz of America and former Fireman’s Fund chief executive, has been named interim CEO.

 

Ceridian shareholder against sale at “low price”

A large shareholder of Ceridian Corp. (CEN.N) said it does not support the sale of the company to a consortium of buyers as the price offered was low.

 

Partnership allows IU students to rent cars

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — An agreement between Indiana University and Enterprise Rent-A-Car will allow students under 21 to rent cars for personal use, but the deal comes with many restrictions.

 

Bush Administration, SEC at Odds over Scheme Liability in Enron Case

The Bush administration rejected a Securities and Exchange Commission recommendation in a key Supreme Court case and did not support shareholders suing Wall Street banks for damages over Enron’s collapse.

 

Big Business wants bigger voice in energy policy debate 

Two broad-based business groups are angling to play a larger role in shaping the outcome of the debate over energy policy currently consuming Congress.

 

DTV plan will help first responders, provide adequate funds for consumers 

Five years to the day before the 9/11 attacks, an advisory committee recommended that broadcasters return some of the airwaves for public safety use within five years. Nothing happened, and rescuers and those they tried to help paid the price of that failure inside the World Trade Center.

 

House Democrats secure victory on census question 

House Democrats are claiming victory after persuading the Census Department not to scrap a question about foster children in the American Community Survey (ACS), a yearly assessment of 3 million households that will replace the long-form questionnaire in the 2010 decennial census.