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Michael Moline - page 13

Michael Moline has 306 articles published.

Michael Moline is a former assistant managing editor of The National Law Journal and managing editor of the San Francisco Daily Journal. Previously, he reported on politics and the courts in Tallahassee for United Press International. He is a graduate of Florida State University, where he served as editor of the Florida Flambeau. His family’s roots in Jackson County date back many generations.

Appropriations Committee vote sends solar tax break bill to the Senate floor

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Senate implementing legislation for last year’s solar energy referendum passed its final committee test Thursday, when the Appropriations Committee voted its unanimous approval. The bill by St. Petersburg Sen. Jeff Brandes  would implement $54.5 million in annual solar breaks on local taxes, approved by Florida voters via Amendment 4 in August. SB 90, supported by environmental groups and solar panel installers, lacks the same safety standards and disclosure requirements found in the House version, HB 1351. Brandes said the House is moving…

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Senate workers’ comp sponsor open to compromise as bill heads to floor

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The Senate’s workers’ compensation package passed its final committee test Wednesday, as its sponsor expressed willingness to compromise with the House over conflicting language on attorney fees and medical payments. “I do think that we can land in a place where, when they score the final product, it will show more rate reduction than they’re scoring the Senate product at this time,” Sen. Jeff Bradley told members of the Rules Committee. “I understand there are a lot of moving parts…

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House votes to repeal Florida’s PIP mandate for auto insurance

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The House voted Wednesday to replace Florida personal-injury protection insurance mandate for motorists with a requirement that they buy bodily injury protection, upending an insurance system in place since 1971. “Today, we have the ability to start thinking about personal responsibility in a different way, and shifting that paradigm in the state of Florida in how we do auto insurance,” sponsor Erin Grall said. “It’s difficult to think about doing something different after 40-plus years, but it shouldn’t keep us…

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Florida House OKs legislation targeting soaring worker’s compensation premiums

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The Florida House approved a workers’ compensation fix Tuesday intended to answer the Florida Supreme Court’s objections to the system by adding flexibility on attorney fees in benefits challenges, and by boosting benefits for injured workers. The measure, HB 7085, passed on a vote of 82-37, shortly before the Senate bill cleared the Rules Committee. Danny Burgess, whose Insurance & Banking Subcommittee pulled together the various interests in hours of hearings on the bill, conceded, “This product is not perfect.”…

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House assignment of benefits bill clears final committee, headed to floor

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The House assignment of benefits fix cleared its last committee vote Wednesday, with co-sponsor James Grant conceding language addressing attorney fees and consumer choice in hiring contractors needs more work. “The Florida House is not going to tolerate inaction on it,” Grant said following the Commerce Committee’s 21-7 vote. “I think you’ll see pretty quick movement to the floor of the House, and I think you’ll see us move something over to the Senate to hopefully get their attention to…

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Insurers prepare for Irma aftermath

Insurance companies are prepared to meet Floridians’ needs after Hurricane Irma, state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Insurance Commissioner

House workers’ compensation bill survives Democratic floor amendments

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The House defeated a series of Democratic amendments to its version of a workers’ compensation fix Tuesday, with sponsor Danny Burgess promising the bill would “enhance the fairness and the balance of the workers’ compensation system in Florida.” Burgess, whose Insurance & Banking Subcommittee drafted the legislation, also predicted a decline in premiums, following the 14.5 percent rate increase that began taking effect in December. “We are told it could be up to a 5 percent reduction,” he said. Still,…

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House votes apology to Groveland Four family members, Dozier survivors

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The House voted unanimously Tuesday to apologize to survivors of four African-American men who were brutalized in 1949 following a false accusation of rape. The House also approved an apology to the survivors of abuse at the Dozier and Okeechobee schools for boys, and approved plans for memorials to children who died on the Dozier campus in Jackson County. “The state of Florida was wrong, and we are sorry,” said Rep. Bobby DuBose said during a news conference in advance…

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