Gov. Charlie Crist promised Wednesday that he would veto any legislation that raises property insurance rates.
Speaking to a crowd of Realtors in the Capitol Courtyard, Crist pledged to hold the line on insurance costs, which could increase under several bills being considered by lawmakers.
Being the Sunshine State, Florida is prime real estate for solar power, but energy experts say more fertile fields -- and bigger job generators -- can be found in the ground.
"There's huge untapped potential," says Mike Antheil, executive director of the Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy.
Florida's education reform bills would mean more money -- not less -- for public-school teachers, says Rep. John Legg, R-Port Richey.
"This bill (HB7189) does not affect retirement, it does not cut salaries, it does not eliminate tenure for current teachers," Legg told a packed meeting of the House Education Policy Council on Monday.
Gov. Charlie Crist's call to forward the investigation of former state Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer to the U.S. Attorney's Office is being hailed by some as an appropriate step. Others say it's pure political theatrics.
Higher shipping rates could be in store if UPS can push a self-serving package through Congress, says Barney Bishop, president of Associated Industries of Florida.
The legislation would put Federal Express, UPS' chief competitor in the shipping business, under the National Labor Relations Act, ostensibly to level the competitive playing field.
But Bishop isn't buying.
Bowing to resistance from the Department of Corrections, Senate Republicans scaled back their prison privatization plans Wednesday.
But the DOC is still directed to open the new 2,224-bed Blackwater River Correctional Facility as a privately operated facility by the GEO Group.
GEO, which built the $110 million Panhandle prison per state contract, can operate the facility for $5.7 million less per year than the state, according to the Department of Management Services. Those savings are based on GEO's daily contract cost of $41 per inmate vs. $48 projected by the DOC.
While Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum challenges the legality of the new federal health-care law in the courts, the state's two leading health-care associations are split on the program's medical and fiscal impact.
Touting his Cover Florida health program during his debate with Marco Rubio on "Fox News Sunday," Gov. Charlie Crist boldly declared:
"We negotiated with the private sector. We reduced the cost to those who were uninsured. We were able to provide access. And, the average cost for health insurance in Florida went from about $600 a month for an individual to about $150 a month. No tax dollars involved. No government mandates.
Attorney General Bill McCollum's lawsuit against the federal government's newly enacted health-care program has drawn political fire as a costly quixotic venture.
State Sen. Dan Gelber, who is running for McCollum's job, calls the litigation "frivolous" and "destructive to the office."
Gelber, a lawyer from Delray Beach, said he would not have brought the suit, and joins fellow Democrats from around the state in slighting its prospects for success.
