Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Wednesday, November 12
Nov 12, 2008
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Florida Regulators, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Defend Take-Out Process
A recent newspaper article in Florida, which alleged the state’s take-out program is a ploy to forcibly move policies from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to weak insurers, has been criticized by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and Citizens.
FEMA’s $26M in aid to Tropical Storm Fay victims just a start, local officials say
The federal government has designated more than $26 million for Floridians affected by Tropical Storm Fay, according to numbers released Tuesday, but relief and mitigation funding from the August storm is far from complete.
FEMA seeks $495,000 refund from Delray Beach
2004 hurricane debris at issue
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says the city owes it $495,000.
Agents’ pay for Medicare sales much lower than last year
Agents and brokers who sell Medicare drug and health plans will receive only a little more than half as much in commission payments in 2009 as they are accustomed to receiving, based on new federal rules released Monday.
Florida TaxWatch urges special session
Florida TaxWatch is urging Gov. Charlie Crist to call a special legislative session to clarify the state’s corporate income tax law.
The 2008 Florida Legislature passed a routine corporate income tax bill that conforms state law to federal law. But, the federal economic stimulus package that was passed earlier this year, which allows businesses to take a bigger deduction for depreciating assets, complicated matters.
EDITORIAL: Sink’s call for special session makes sense
If it were clear that Florida had already hit bottom and would soon begin its financial recovery, policymakers could more credibly argue that there is no pressing reason for revenue reform.
Florida Cigarette Case Could Affect Other Products
A tobacco lawyer has asked the Florida Supreme Court to reverse a $545,000 product liability verdict because the ailing smoker who won the judgment wasn’t required to prove the company could have made a safer cigarette.
Crist calls Florida a model for future of GOP
Barely a week after Barack Obama’s decisive victory, Republican governors across the country gather in Miami today for two days of exploring how to find their way out of the wilderness.
Gov. Crist has a tougher road after GOP loss in state
When the nation’s Republican governors meet in Miami on Wednesday after their party’s second crushing national loss in a row, it won’t be déjà vu for Gov. Charlie Crist.
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz ‘in the mix’ for Obama post
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz — engineer of downtown’s building boom, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, supporter of President-elect Barack Obama — may soon add a new title to his résumé: member of Obama’s administration.
COLUMN: Federal jobs could help get cities buzzing
Sarah Palin could learn a thing from Charlie Crist during the Republican Governors Association meeting in Miami this week.
County’s state delegation splits
Faced with a global credit crisis and dwindling tax revenue, Palm Beach County legislators will have to work especially hard together next year in Tallahassee to get state money for projects.
Fla. revises deal with US Sugar to save Everglades
The state of Florida has agreed to pay the nation’s biggest producer of sugar cane $1.34 billion, instead of the $1.75 billion originally proposed, under a revised deal to buy up vast tracts of farm land to restore the Everglades, the company said in statements Tuesday.
Chemical Found Again In Home Near Raytheon
For the second time since August, the Florida Department of Health has detected high levels of a cancer-causing chemical in a home near the Raytheon defense plant in St. Petersburg.
CFTC head calls for new regulatory regime
The head of the federal agency that oversees commodities trading wants to replace it and the Securities and Exchange Commission with three new regulators to better deal with an increasingly complex financial system.
Ex-Louisiana Citizens CEO Targeted in Legislative Audit
The former chief executive at Louisiana’s last-resort insurance company “extravagantly” overspent the firm’s money, with over $100,000 in questionable expenses including first-class airfare, expensive meals and LSU football tickets, state auditors said in a report released Nov. 10.
EU clamps down on credit rating agencies
European Union regulators on Wednesday set out new rules for credit rating agencies that would hold them liable for their opinions and stop them advising banks on how to get their debt top ratings.
Texas House Panel Studies Response to Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike left thousands homeless, millions without power and destroyed houses and businesses along the Texas Gulf Coast. But it also gave state and local governments a chance to learn from their mistakes during a natural disaster.
Many Insurance Dept. Web Sites Inadequate, Says CFA
A consumer study of the nation’s state insurance department Web sites has found 18 out of the 51 were “inadequate” when it came to providing the public with useful information.
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