Michael Moline, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Michael MolineJuly 31, 2018

Property tax revenues will remain stable during the next few years, according to state economic forecasters — meaning no big surprises there when the Legislature gets to work on the next state budget. The Florida Revenue Estimating Conference met Tuesday morning to review trends in “ad valorem” tax receipts. Final numbers were expected later in […]

Michael MolineJuly 26, 2018

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A state appellate court, for the second time in four years, has upheld Gov. Rick Scott’s authority to fill a judicial seat left vacant when a judge resigned before qualifying opened to fill the slot via election. The 1st District Court of Appeal had ruled in the same way against the same appellant, Jacksonville attorney […]

Michael MolineJuly 24, 2018

State government’s self-insurance fund faces a $14 million shortfall during the 2019-2020 fiscal year, driven in part by the cost of repairing Hurricane Irma’s damage to state property and medical inflation. Florida’s Revenue Estimating Conference, comprising top state economists, arrived at the figure Monday. ”The Legislature’s going to have to address that,” said Amy Baker, […]

Michael MolineJuly 17, 2018

A state panel declined Tuesday to choose among six candidates for the Public Service Commission, and instead voted unanimously to send all six names to Gov. Rick Scott. The candidates include Julie I. Brown and Gary Clark, incumbent commissioners whose terms expire at the end of the year. The Florida Constitution forbids commissioners from serving […]

Michael MolineJuly 16, 2018

An insurance industry analysis projects medical inflation of more than 2 percent through the end of 2019, chiefly because of improved treatment quantity driven by hospital consolidation. What that means for Florida’s workers’ compensation system remains unclear, according to a briefing paper, “The Impact of Hospital Consolidation on Medical Costs,” published by the National Council […]

Michael MolineJuly 13, 2018

Firefighters need training to quench fires caused by lithium ion batteries in electric cars, Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis said Thursday — especially since they’ve been known to re-ignite, sometime more than once. “New technology helps us live our lives more efficiently, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t understand and tackle […]

Michael MolineJuly 10, 2018

Central Florida, get ready for a new area code. The Public Service Commission voted Tuesday to authorize the debut of 689 code for new customers, perhaps as soon as May 2019. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator, or NANPA, which oversees the area code system, will figure out the precise timing. “They’ll get back with […]

Michael MolineJuly 5, 2018

A convoluted defamation lawsuit against Citizens Property Insurance Corp., involving a dispute over reimbursement of expenses and a harassment accusation by a female employee, has landed in Leon County after a transfer from Miami-Dade. Citizens sought the transfer on the ground that lawsuits against the state-sponsored insurer of last resort are supposed to be litigated […]

Michael MolineJune 20, 2018

Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s board of governors is putting off until December a decision on whether to seek premium increases of an average 7.9 percent on residential policies and 8.9 percent on commercial lines. Board members said Tuesday that they wanted to give Citizens staff time to resolve a large number of Hurricane Irma claims and […]

Michael MolineJune 13, 2018

Hurricane Irma-related lawsuits surged at Citizens Property Insurance Corp. early this year, representing a nearly 50 percent increase in the company’s litigation load compared to the same period in 2017. More than 90 percent of those lawsuits originated in South Florida. The state’s insurer of last resort fielded 4,287 legal claims in January through April, […]

Michael Moline

Florida’s property tax outlook: ‘No bad news coming’

Appeal court sides with Rick Scott in dispute over filling Nassau County judgeship

State’s self-insurance fund projected to run low again next year

Panel sends Rick Scott six finalists for PSC vacancies

Study projects rising medical inflation through next year

Jimmy Patronis warns of electric car fires

PSC approves new area code in Central Florida

Harassment, unpaid money feature in lawsuit against Citizens Insurance

Citizens Insurance board delays vote on new rates until year’s end

Hurricane Irma produced a litigation wave at Citizens Insurance, committee told

Florida politics had 11 questions before federal qualifying week. Here are the answers.