By Kathleen Haughney TALLAHASSEE — The Florida House passed a “parent trigger” bill that would let parents at a troubled school choose the turn around method. “This is about the child and about the parents,” said Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna, chair of the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee. “If parents have children at a school that [...]
by GARY FINEOUT TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida businesses may get a last-minute break on their taxes. With a little less than two weeks left in the session, the Republican-controlled Legislature is moving ahead with a plan that would scale back a massive tax increase due this year from nearly 460,000 businesses. It wouldn’t eliminate the [...]
By Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief TALLAHASSEE — Mark Wilson gets a report on his desk every morning at the Florida Chamber of Commerce headquarters on expected vote counts and opposition to the 60 bills his team of three dozen lobbyists tracks in the Legislature. Next door to his office, a political operation staffed by [...]
Jim Turner’s BLOG The Florida Chamber of Commerce released the following statement after the House Economic Affairs Committee backed HB 511, sponsored by Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, that would limit the amount doctors can charge their workers’ comp patients for dispensing prescription drugs from their office. “Closing the repackaged-drug loophole will immediately eliminate a key [...]
Letter to 42 Florida groups sent yesterday to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson asking for the agency to approve, in their entirety, the Florida DEP’s water quality rules. Earlier this week, the DEP transmitted the proposed new rules to EPA for approval. February 23, 2012 The Honorable Lisa Jackson, Administrator Environmental Protection Agency Ariel Rios Building [...]
By MICHAEL PELTIER A plan aimed at reducing costs in no-fault automobile insurance passed a House panel Friday. However, the plan was substantially amended to accommodate some private physician concerns while holding the line on a cap of attorney fees. Following more than an hour of testimony and debate, the House Economic Affairs Committee passed [...]
By Hastings Wyman Healthcare mogul Rick Scott was elected governor of Florida in the Republican year of 2010 after a bitter and narrow primary victory over long-time GOP officeholder Bill McCollum and another narrow, hard-fought General Election win over the state’s popular chief financial officer Alex Sink (D). With no experience in government and a [...]
by Susan Ladika Drivers in three states could see big changes in their car insurance — and their car insurance bills. Florida and Michigan both have no-fault auto insurance under the microscope during their current legislative sessions. It’s a particularly hot topic in Florida, widely seen as the auto insurance fraud capital of the country. [...]
Lynne McChristian My View We are all citizens of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and its cousin, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. We created them, subsidize them and are on the hook to bail them out. Today, more people are waking up to the fact that both are significantly overexposed to a catastrophic financial failure, with [...]
Floridians are paying an annual “fraud tax” of about $115 for a typical two-car family that is generated by unwarranted personal injury protection claims under the state’s no-fault auto insurance program. As part of the no-fault law enacted in the early 1970s, the PIP requirement was designed to pay up to $10,000 for timely emergency [...]
