Lisa Edgar, the longest-serving member of the Florida Public Service Commission, will not seek a fourth term on the state's utility regulatory board.
Edgar, who did not submit an application for reappointment to the $131,000-a-year position before a Tuesday deadline, said in a prepared statement she intends to use her "regulatory and governmental experience as I pursue new endeavors and other career opportunities.”
The impasse over Florida's next insurance commissioner ended Friday.
Remaining in-house, Gov. Rick Scott and state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater --- in their third attempt to reach a joint recommendation on the high-profile job --- agreed to promote Deputy Commissioner David Altmaier to become the state's top insurance regulator.
As commissioner, Altmaier, who a decade ago was working as a high-school math teacher and track coach in Kentucky, will see his salary increase from $115,000 a year to $165,000 a year.
Palm Harbor resident Jeffrey Bragg and state Rep. Bill Hager, R-Delray Beach, have been asked back to interview again with the Florida Cabinet for the state insurance commissioner job next week.
But there still doesn't appear to be a consensus between Gov. Rick Scott and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, who must jointly recommend the replacement for outgoing Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty.
After failing to reach agreement last month, it remained unclear Monday whether Gov. Rick Scott and state Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater will be able to find common ground on the appointment of Florida's next insurance commissioner.
The state has attracted 16 additional candidates for the position, bringing to 71 the number of applicants. Cabinet aides are expected to discuss the latest recommendations from Scott and Atwater during a meeting Wednesday.
State Rep. Reggie Fullwood, a three-term Democratic lawmaker from Jacksonville, was indicted Friday on federal charges that allege he used campaign donations for personal use at grocery, jewelry and liquor stores.
United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley III announced in a news release that Fullwood was charged with 10 counts of wire fraud and four counts of failure to file federal income-tax returns for 2010 through 2013.
To conceal the embezzlement of campaign funds, the indictment alleges that Fullwood submitted fraudulent campaign expenditure reports to the state.
When Florida voters went to the polls in 2014, they saw little competition for state Senate seats.
But then came redistricting. And as updated campaign-finance totals rolled in Monday, it was apparent that candidates --- and their contributors --- expect some heavily contested Senate races this year.
More money will be floated yearly to the state's 15 seaports under a wide-ranging transportation bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Rick Scott.
The measure (HB 7027) boosts the minimum annual funding for the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development program --- administered by the Florida Ports Council --- from $15 million to $25 million.
Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, wants Senate leaders to establish a select committee to review the recent discovery of a radioactive isotope in Biscayne Bay linked to a nuclear power plant in southeast Miami-Dade County.
Flores' request to Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, follows the March 7 release of a study by Miami-Dade County that indicated tritium --- a radioactive isotope of hydrogen --- has leaked from Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point plant's cooling canals into groundwater and toward Biscayne National Park and the Biscayne aquifer.
Inaction by Florida lawmakers to address a spike in water-damage claims could reverse years of work to shrink state-backed Citizens Property Insurance, the company's president said Wednesday.
President and CEO Barry Gilway warned the Citizens Board of Governors that policyholders can expect to see annual rate hikes that approach 10 percent in South Florida, where water-damage claims have been the most prevalent.
