SHARE:
Tuesday's Daily Pulse
What you need to know about Florida today
Florida imposes emergency fee on insurance policies
State insurance regulators have signed off on a plan that will lead to policyholders throughout Florida paying extra on their bills because of property-insurer insolvencies. Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky issued an order that approved a request by the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association to collect a 1 percent emergency “assessment” to cover costs of claims. Insurers will collect the assessments from policyholders starting in October and send the money to the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, according to the order. [Source: News Service of Florida]
Florida Trend Exclusive
An attack on poverty
Florida’s poverty rate is 13.1%, according to the U.S. Census. In the ZIP codes selected by Florida Blue parent company GuideWell for investments, poverty rates are as high as 32.1%. The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Florida Scorecard reports nearly 800,000 Florida children (18.2%) live in poverty, a figure the chamber wants to see fall below 10% by 2030. The Florida Scorecard cites only 53% of Florida third graders are reading at grade level, leaving nearly 100,000 children struggling. [Source: Florida Trend]
Churches fear Florida immigration bill would ‘criminalize’ charity
Immigration and social justice have always sparked wide-ranging discussions among Josue Carbajal’s parishioners. At the Living Grace Church in Polk County, its 100 members are largely from Mexico, Central America, and Puerto Rico. So when they heard about a state Senate bill that could potentially harm those who hire, house, or transport immigrants without legal status, Carbajal said, his parishioners felt uncomfortable. “Where’s our religious freedom?” asked Carbajal, the church’s pastor. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
Florida gas prices on the way up
The average price of a gallon of gasoline in Florida reached the highest point last week since the end of January, before showing some easing. But prices are expected to increase again because of rising global oil costs. “Crude prices rose last week on the belief that easing U.S. inflation could lessen the pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, which could ultimately be bullish for gasoline demand,” the AAA auto club said in a news release Monday. [Source: News Service of Florida]
2023 is off to a warm start for the state of Florida
The latest climate summary from the National Centers for Environmental Information was released in early April. It summarizes the temperatures and the amount of precipitation for the country by month, and for the year. Through the first three months of the year, the latest report found 2023 to be the warmest start to a year on record for the entire state. These records date back to 1895. [Source: Spectrum News]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› A freak storm, but also the future? Fort Lauderdale airport’s flooding mess
Flooding has long been a problem at low-lying and practically beachfront Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. But decades of complaints of puddles have nothing on what happened this week, after a freak storm dumped record-breaking rain on the airport, trapping passengers inside and shutting down operations for more than a day. Experts say the deluge was record-breaking, but not unforeseeable.
› The greater Tampa Bay region is a prime destination in the post-pandemic migration to Florida
That great migration to Florida you've heard about is real. And the Tampa Bay region is a prime destination for new residents. Last year, the U.S. Census Bureau said Florida is the fastest growing state in the country for the first time since the 1950s. Now, new census data shows that from Pasco County to the north, Sarasota and Manatee to the south, and Polk to the east, population is growing in the greater Tampa Bay region.
› How a campaign to provide eggs to needy St. Johns seniors brought 'extraordinary' response
Founded seven years ago, Pie in the Sky serves St. Johns County seniors with annual incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line. For a one-person household, that's $29,160 a year; two-person, $39,440, according to 2023 figures. The egg campaign was launched in February, after their cost surged 60 percent in December 2022. Prices have since dropped somewhat — a carton of Grade A eggs cost an average of $3.47 in March, down from $4.82 in January — but are still far higher than the $2 average in February 2022.
› Popular Florida spring closed to visitors for six months — here’s why
A popular Florida spring will be closed for most of 2023 for a construction project. Three Sisters Springs in Crystal River will be closed from April until November for the Canal Stabilization Project. On its website, it says, “This project will restore habitat, including critical manatee habitat, and prevent erosion of sediment into the spring.”
Go to page 2 for more stories ...
In case you missed it:
