Robert Trigaux, Tampa Bay Times Business Columnist One of the very few Florida property insurers that is “A” rated by one of the state’s leading private rating firms is rapidly downsizing. State-run Citizens Property Insurance is busy handing hundreds of thousands of its Florida policyholders in bulk to young, lower-rated small insurers in the state.…
Jeb Bush was in New Hampshire, talking to voters about the education standards called Common Core. Back in Washington, ears perked up on a team that spends all day, every day, scouring television and the Internet for appearances by Republican presidential candidates. A check of the team’s vast video archive unearthed a 2011 clip of…
As we enter the busy home-buying season, you may be wondering which states have the highest homeowners insurance rates. Many factors impact home insurance premiums including real estate values, building and construction costs, vulnerability to catastrophes, as well as levels of economic growth and urbanization. According to a January 2015 study by the National Association of…
The half-decade long race to determine who will serve as President of the Florida Senate from 2016 to 2018 — either Jack Latvala or Joe Negron — has taken on all the difficulty of a Chinese finger puzzle after a series of recent developments designed to solve the matter have only made the issue more complicated.…
Three weeks remain until state lawmakers will pack their bags and head back to Tallahassee for a special legislative session to complete the work on Florida’s massive $77 billion budget, and as legislators gear up to nail down the specifics, some look back on special sessions past for insight on conflict resolution. This year’s special…
In the beginning, there was Sayfie Review. For Floridians, the site started by Justin Sayfie in 2002 has long been the premier online destination for local political news. In fact, Sayfie’s brand has become so synonymous with Sunshine State political coverage that Twitter users regularly hashtag their discussions with his last name. In a 2009…
The News Service of Florida, an online media concern that focuses on state government and politics, has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that Extensive Enterprises Media, L.L.C., the parent company of SaintPetersBlog.com and “Sunburn,” have infringed upon its copyright through the unauthorized copying and distribution of NSF’s works. In a 43-page filing with…
Since Citizens United, members of Congress have been increasingly engaged in a never-ending campaign to snare their share of cash flooding the political marketplace. But last week Chief Justice John Roberts deserted his conservative brethren, writing an opinion that offers Congress a roadmap for cleaning up campaign finance. If Congress embraces Roberts’s support for a…
MIAMI (CBSMiami/NSF) — Uber is revving up their efforts for a spot in the Legislature’s special session. The regular legislative session ended last week without approval of a proposal for statewide regulations that would override local rules for fast-growing transportation networks such as Uber. Also, lawmakers failed to take action on new insurance requirements for…
Much is said about punitive damages and how they are used to punish wrongdoers. Plaintiffs dream of large punitive damage awards. Plaintiffs’ lawyers who obtain large punitive damage awards use them to brag about their ability as tort lawyers and as a bludgeon on other defendants to convince them to settle for more than they…