A bill designed to right the ship on Florida’s property insurance market continues making its way through the legislative process. Yesterday, SB 408 by Sen. Garrett Richter (R-Naples) passed out of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee with favorable Committee Substitutes on a 7-3 vote. SB 408 by Sen. Richter would: Require an increase in [...]
Thanks to years of backroom deals pushed by plaintiff trial lawyers, Florida now ranks as having the 42nd worst legal climate in the United States. Controlling costs for employers in a high-growth state is also challenging, and is one of the reasons Florida ranks among the highest-cost states for businesses overall. Because Florida’s current legal [...]
With retirees living longer and investments showing slower gains, Florida’s government will be hard pressed to meet the obligations of the current retirement system. Despite big labor unions’ claims that Florida’s public pension crisis is a myth, the facts speak for themselves. Under the current system, • The Florida Retirement System (FRS) is only about [...]
The House Finance and Taxation Committee yesterday approved the rewriting of unemployment compensation laws by a 16-6 vote. This important legislation, which is a Proposed Committee Bill (PCB) that originated in the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee, will help Florida businesses and employers struggling to meet their ever-increasing unemployment tax rates by: • Changing [...]
Florida has seen steady improvements in our education system and student achievement measurements since reforms were launched more than a decade ago. In fact, a recent Education Week report ranked Florida 5th in the nation. But, we know our children are now competing with students all across the globe and that jobs of the future [...]
Florida is facing a crisis in human capital that represents the growing demand for a highly skilled and educated workforce. Even with a labor force of more than nine million people, prospective employers are challenged to find available skilled workers to support business expansions or to tap into skilled graduate pools to support the state’s [...]
Florida has been burdened with double-digit unemployment rates for nearly two years, and the existing system of unemployment compensation was never designed for sustained, high levels of jobless workers. In the last few months, the Florida Department of Revenue began mailing $400 million worth of unemployment compensation tax increases to thousands of businesses across the [...]
Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke with Capitol Days attendees this morning at the general session of Capitol Days in Tallahassee. Bondi spoke about improving the burdensome regulatory and legal environment that keeps Florida from being the leader in job creation and growth. “We are going to do everything in our power to make Florida the [...]
Capitol Days 2011 got off to a great start today in downtown Tallahassee as the Florida Chamber welcomed Governor Rick Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, as well as Amy Baker, the Florida Legislature’s Chief Economist. Rick Scott spoke to an excited group of Florida’s top business leaders about his number one priority: job [...]
The Florida Chamber’s Capitol Days 2011 has started in Tallahassee. Attendees at Capitol Days were able to choose between three breakout sessions. The Union Wake Up Call breakout session focused on the Florida Chamber’s priorities on these issues during the 2011 Legislative Session. This breakout session emphasized the importance of pension reform and paycheck protection. [...]
