Capitol to Courthouse Florida Insurance Report: Friday, August 10
Aug 10, 2012
To go directly to the section of your choice, click on a hyperlink below. Other hyperlinks to meeting information, bills and news are noted in bold type.
Daily Florida Insurance-Related Events
There are no insurance-related events scheduled for today.
Wait or be flexible in planning for sea level rise, experts tell planners
Plans to address sea level rise should be flexible and some could wait about five years for science to be more precise, experts said Thursday at a workshop in Tallahassee for planners and other state and local officials.
Sarasota restaurateurs face workers’ compensation charges
The Florida Division of Insurance Fraud recently arrested two Sarasota restaurant owners for violating workers’ compensation insurance laws.
State seeks firms to manage Medicaid patients
The Sunshine State is looking for companies to help it manage the health care of 3.2 million Medicaid patients.
Feds demand voter-purge information from Florida counties
The U.S. Department of Justice has sent subpoenas to nine of the largest counties in South Florida, Tampa Bay and Central Florida, demanding extensive information over how they identified and purged potential noncitizens from the voter rolls.
Foreclosures skyrocket on Space Coast; Florida numbers up for July
The thousands of layoffs stemming from the end of the space shuttle program this past summer hit the Space Coast hard, but the economic effects of continue to reverberate one year later.
Governor speeds up Port Canaveral expansion
Thousands of new jobs were put on a fast track Thursday when Governor Rick Scott OK’d $24.4 million in state funding for a channel widening and deepening project at Port Canaveral.
Florida’s Mass Layoffs Double in Second Quarter
Florida reported 48 mass layoffs in the second quarter of the year, impacting 5,778 workers, up from 20 in the first three months, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Passenger trains to run from Miami to Orlando
It’s full-speed ahead on a privately financed, $1 billion plan that will launch fast, hourly passenger rail service between downtown Miami and Orlando by 2014, Florida East Coast Industries officials said.
With Democrat’s exit, Republicans alone will pick District 17 senator
Registered Republicans alone will pick the successor for Jim Norman’s old state Senate seat representing parts of northwest Hillsborough and central and eastern Pasco counties.
The Florida Current’s Primary Profile: Palm Beach Senate race is an unusual contest
In an election year with everyone talking about jobs, Florida legislative contests between business and labor interests usually pit conservative Republicans against working-folk Democrats.
State Democrats targeting two Republican candidates for state House
In a sign of the stakes this fall, the Florida Democratic Party is going after two conservative Republicans in state House districts in Orlando where the out-of-power party hopes to pick up seats.
Population in Lee, Collier county region growing again
The population in Lee and Collier counties is estimated to have increased since 2010, likely due to an increase in baby boomers looking for second homes, retirees moving to Florida, people taking advantage of lower housing prices and a slightly stronger job outlook.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposes homeowner rules
The government’s consumer-lending watchdog proposed new rules Thursday aimed at protecting homeowners from unexpected costs and shoddy service by companies that collect their monthly mortgage payments.
New U.S. homes burn faster, but states resist sprinklers
In Scottsdale, Arizona, any new home must come equipped with fire sprinklers, a decades-old rule lauded by fire safety advocates nationwide.
California wins big insurance case
In a potentially huge victory for the state and businesses covered by liability insurance, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that those who buy policies from multiple insurers for damage that occurs over a long period, like water pollution, can collect separately from every insurer for major losses.