Capitol to Courthouse Headliners: Wednesday, September 10
Sep 10, 2008
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State Farm is refunding $120 million
State Farm agreed to refund $120 million to policyholders who weren’t given the correct discounts for strengthening their homes against hurricanes.
Money back from your insurer?
Major tax hike may come with next hurricane
A south Florida lawmaker is predicting the largest tax hike in state history if Florida gets hit with a major storm this season.
Florida analyzes climate change risk factors in investment portfolio
The Florida treasury will begin formal analysis of its investments for the financial impacts of climate change.
Crist applauded for his role as weatherman-in-chief
The lifelong resident of Brevard County has received a check from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for more than $11,000. But she said that’s not even enough to pay for the clothes she lost in the flooding.
County looks to quick flood fix
$2.3M drainage pipe installation could be folded into I-95 work
A project that would limit future flooding to communities overwhelmed by Tropical Storm Fay’s torrential rains could be completed within a month.
Wind from successive storms hasten erosion of South Florida’s beaches
Cumulative effect of storms evident on shoreline in Broward, Palm Beach counties
Florida escaped the fury of Hurricane Ike, but its accompanying winds, coupled with those from a succession of other nasty storms, are chewing away sand from beaches in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
FEMA: Return SBA Loan Application To Expedite Disaster Assistance
Disaster applicants who have received a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan application should take the time to fill it out – even if they don’t want a loan.
Insurance issues compound fire
When Tony and Nadia Twigg bought their house from a Seminole investor five years ago, they said they thought their monthly payments included full insurance coverage for their modest three-bedroom, one-garage home.
OPINION: After the hurricane comes civil disorder
Florida is in the throes of a nasty hurricane season. The usual fear is that wind and water will damage our homes. I have seen an even darker side of storm damage. Each storm threatens our civil order, in particular the enforcement of laws and protection of citizens as they go about post-hurricane lives.
Governor Proclaims September As Florida Preparedness Month
Floridians are urged to stay vigilant, get a plan, be prepared to act
Governor Charlie Crist has proclaimed September 2008 as ‘Florida Preparedness Month,’ in tandem with the annual federal outreach program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for ‘National Preparedness Month.’ The month is designed to raise awareness statewide on the importance of being prepared for all-hazards, whether natural events such as hurricanes, or man-made and domestic security threats.
Florida Supreme Court hears medical record arguments
The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether a constitutional amendment that gives patients a right to check records on past mistakes by “health care facilities” includes nursing homes.
State’s Medicaid marketing ban brings HMO layoffs
Florida’s two largest Medicaid HMO contractors, WellCare and Amerigroup, are laying off large numbers of sales personnel because of a proposed change in state rules forbidding direct marketing to patients as of Jan. 1.
Continucare shifts walk-in clinic strategy
Continucare shut down walk-in clinics in three Navarro drug stores, but another company opened up another three.
While some companies continue opening large numbers of walk-in clinics in retail stores, one Miami firm announced Tuesday that it had decided to close immediately three clinics in Navarro Discount Pharmacies in Broward and Miami-Dade.
Galvano, Reagan tapped for top posts
Two local representatives were appointed Tuesday to top Florida House posts, giving Manatee County extra influence in the next legislative session in Tallahassee.
Lawmakers plug part of state budget hole
State lawmakers quickly plugged part of a huge state budget hole by shifting $672 million from a savings account Wednesday, all the while knowing that they’ll have to scare up even more by year’s end — and then face an even bigger deficit of up to $3.5 billion next year.
Circuit Court rules against Florida’s ban on gay adoptions
A foster father can adopt his teenage ward, a judge has ruled, because Florida’s prohibition against gay adoption is contrary to the state and U.S. constitutions.
A Monroe Circuit Court judge has ruled Florida’s 31-year-old gay adoption ban ”unconstitutional” in an order that allows an openly gay Key West foster parent to adopt a teenage boy he has raised since 2001.
Florida ballot to see record number of presidential candidates
There will be a record number of presidential candidates before the voters on the general election ballot in Florida.
Harris Mullen, the founder and publisher of Florida Trend, once wrote that he didn’t recall seeing a white Republican in Florida until the late 1930s, when he was about 14. By 1968, however, his world had changed dramatically. “All the black people have switched from Republican to Democrat, Florida is a two-party state and the Baptists are dancing and smoking cigarettes in public,” Mullen wrote at the time.
Florida will likely gain nine seats in Congress by 2040. Find out why those seats will probably trend Republican and what a group of activists is trying to do about it.
When it comes to Florida’s future political landscape, this much is clear: Thanks to rapid population growth, the Sunshine State will gain significant political clout.
CCA Florida Announces 2008 Legislative Conservation Awards
Sen. Ken Pruitt among the recipients
“We are very pleased to recognize these individuals,” said Mark Carter, CCA Florida Chairman. “Their ongoing involvement and support for fisheries conservation has been a great benefit for marine resources and recreational anglers.”
Feeney’s offices receive third suspicious package
Authorities are investigating a third suspicious package sent to U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney’s offices.
Falling lottery sales reduce education funds
The Florida Lottery, long a cash cow for public education, can no longer pay its share of the bill because of falling ticket sales.
Lake Okeechobee returns to safe level
After rising nearly four feet over the past month, Lake Okeechobee seems to have stabilized.
Palm Beach County commissioners vote to move forward with inland port in Everglades
Palm Beach County commissioners voted Tuesday to back a plan to build an industrial center, or inland port, on thousands of acres south of Lake Okeechobee despite concerns that the development could interfere with Everglades restoration.
Report says ‘green’ jobs could energize Florida’s economy
Green jobs could put Florida’s unemployed back to work, a new report released Tuesday predicted. Investing in “clean” energy could produce 123,756 jobs in Florida, said the report from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, which was commissioned by the Center for American Progress.
Report: U.S. Litigation Explosion Could Be In Store For Europe
European insurers may expect to see increasing legal defense costs as pressure mounts to allow more securities class actions and other forms of litigation that have proliferated in the United States, a reinsurer reported.
- Guy Carpenter Report: Recent Legal Developments in Continental Europe Affecting the Casualty Industry
Reinsurers Seeking Sidecars to Ride Out Next Big Storm
As Hurricane Ike takes aim at the Gulf of Mexico, triggering memories of 2005’s devastating storms, reinsurers see temporary underwriting vehicles as the solution to their capital needs in the event of “the Big One” — a disaster costing them tens of billions of dollars.
Lloyd’s, RMS Coastal Flood Study Urges Adapting to Changing Conditions
A new report published by Lloyd’s, as part of its “360 project,” and Risk Management Solutions (RMS), warns that “without adaptation, insurance losses from coastal flooding for high-risk properties could double by 2030. The research shows that, with an effective adaptation strategy, future losses could be reduced to below present-day levels with losses for high-risk properties reduced by as much as 70 percent.”
COMMENTARY: Workers’ Comp – Knowing When to Name a State
Knowing where employees regularly work and might temporarily work during the policy period is absolutely essential when planning workers’ compensation protection. Potential coverage gaps or the complete loss of protection are possible when employees conduct operations on behalf of the employer in states where the insured does not have a business location…an office address. These extraterritorial exposures must be found by the agent, planed for and managed in the policy.
CFA, PCI Reps Clash On Role Of Regulation
Consumer advocates and industry representatives clashed yesterday over the role of regulators in insurance and debated the advantages of strong, effective regulation versus regulation that relies more on competition and market-based solutions.
Judge Dismisses Portions of Katrina Lawsuit in Mississippi
A Mississippi couple who accused their insurance company of using fraudulent Hurricane Katrina damage reports to keep from paying claims now says there’s no evidence the insurer acted negligently or in bad faith.
Cost of insuring North Carolina workers will fall
Workers’ comp providers ask the state to OK a decrease in rates; they may get even less
Workers’ compensation insurance rates paid by employers are poised to decline next year for the first time since 2004.
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