Ryan Ray, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Ryan RayOctober 29, 2015

A new bill filed Thursday morning would allow law enforcement and public safety agencies to track the location of emergency calls. The bill – SB 674 by Sen. Denise Grimsley – would provide that under certain circumstances, mobile telephone service providers turn over a user’s location. Specifically, service providers “must furnish call location information for the user of […]

Ryan RayOctober 28, 2015

The Florida Chamber‘s Annual Insurance Summit wrapped up Wednesday morning in Orlando with a group of Florida lawmakers peering into their crystal balls ahead of next year’s Legislative Session, set to start in January. The Chamber program listed participants as “members of the Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives,” but of the four panelists – […]

Ryan RayOctober 27, 2015

The legal maneuver known as “assignment of benefits” rivals or even outstrips mother nature herself as a threat to coastal Florida policyholders, according to a top staffer with a state-owned insurer and an insurance industry lawyer. At the Florida Chamber of Commerce‘s annual Insurance Summit at a Disney resort near Orlando, Angel Conlin, General Counsel for […]

Ryan RayOctober 27, 2015

Amid a day of sometimes narrow, technical discussion among Florida insurers and industry advocates, The James Madison Institute’s Sal Nuzzo pulled few punches when it came to that familiar insurance enemy the trial lawyer, abetted by state government and the courts. Nuzzo cited annual reports by the Institute for Legal Reform that showed Florida slipping in its legal […]

Ryan RayOctober 27, 2015

It’s no fun when the federal government gets involved in setting insurance rates, a panel of experts told the crowd at the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s annual Insurance Summit – and it’s even worse when international authorities get involved. John Fitts, Deputy General Counsel for Progressive‘s Legislative & Regulatory Affairs department, likened the possible entry […]

Ryan RayOctober 27, 2015

Opening the Florida Chamber’s annual Insurance Summit in Orlando, Chamber CEO Mark Wilson told the assembled crowd of insurance agents and industry advocates that a nasty battle is brewing between insurers and “billboard trial lawyers” – and that he intends to help insurers win. Speaking in Central Florida, which he said leads the world in advertisements for […]

Ryan RayOctober 27, 2015

CFO Jeff Atwater kicked off the Florida Chamber of Commerce‘s annual Insurance Summit convention in Orlando Monday with a message of optimism Citing a list of past successes for state insurers including reforms to the state workers’ compensation regime back in 2003 (“I thought that was a busy summer!” he noted wryly, referring to the Tallahassee budget travails of this year), Atwater told the […]

Ryan RayOctober 26, 2015

U.S. Rep. David Jolly took his campaign for the Senate on the road Monday. Speaking with Boston Herald Radio, the Clearwater Republican urged members of Congress to get behind his so-called “Freedom Card” legislation to ease the path of military veterans seeking care from the Department of Veterans Affairs which has been beset by widespread reports […]

Ryan RayOctober 23, 2015

It’s been a while since our last installment of “4th Floor Files,” when we spoke with with Liberty Partners’ Thomas Hobbs in April. We welcome you back to our series of Q&As with Tallahassee’s foremost influence professionals with our recent chat with Mark Anderson, a longtime Capitol lobbyist who runs a solo shop on Monroe Street. We […]

Ryan RayOctober 23, 2015

Josh Weierbach is no armchair quarterback, disinterestedly watching elections play out from afar: He spends his time on the front lines of Florida politics. As a one-time field organizer who now oversees the Florida Democratic Party’s often extensive field operations in the vital Tampa Bay region, Weierbach feels the pendulum swings of state political power from as close […]

Ryan Ray

Denise Grimsley files bill to allow 911 call tracking

House-Senate divide was on display at Florida Chamber session preview

Insurance attorney at Florida Chamber summit: Assignment of benefits = “sinkholes lite”

JMI analyst at Florida Chamber confab: legal climate “horrific” for insurers

HUD rulemaking, international capital dominate federal insurance panel at Florida Chamber summit

Mark Wilson says assignment of benefits next big Florida Chamber insurance priority

Jeff Atwater kicks-off Florida Chamber’s Insurance Summit with message of optimism

David Jolly touts “Freedom Card” VA plan, takes swipe at Hillary Clinton

4th Floor Files talks to Mark Anderson about Session life, snacks and “Office Space”

Meet Josh Weierbach, one of “30 Under 30” rising stars of Florida politics