Volume 4 Number 38
September 21, 2007

Fellow Floridian:

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink spoke at the annual NAACP conference this week in Gainesville. At the luncheon Friday, she spoke to hundreds of Floridians about the importance of diversity in state government and ensuring equal rights for all.

CFO Sink discussed the progress that the Florida Cabinet has made this year on the automatic restoration of civil rights. She will continue to advocate for this issue, as there is much more progress to be made. Drawing on her experience at this week’s Clemency Board meeting, CFO Sink described how many citizens who have paid their debt to society are still facing bureaucratic red tape as they try to restore their civil rights.

Read below to learn more about one of the Floridians who was granted a full pardon this week from the Florida Cabinet.

Students from Duval Elementary School in Gainesville perform songs used to learn math equations and times tables. The school went from an F to an A in a year. The students are led by teacher Gloria Merriex.
 

 CLEMENCY BOARD VOTES TO RELEASE PASCO COUNTY MAN FROM PRISON

CFO Sink voted Thursday to commute the prison sentence of Richard Paey, who was convicted in 2004 of drug trafficking. On a motion from Governor Crist and seconded by CFO Sink, the Executive Clemency Board unanimously commuted the 25-year prison sentence for Richard Paey and remitted his $500,000 court- imposed fine. The Clemency Board also granted Mr. Paey a full pardon, which forgives his guilt and restores all of the rights he lost due to his felony conviction.

Clemency is one of the CFO’s many responsibilities in her role as a member of the Florida Cabinet. The Governor and Cabinet sit as the Executive Clemency Board, which provides a variety of relief to convicted felons including: commuting prison sentences, granting full pardons, remitting court imposed fines and granting civil rights and the authority to own, possess or use firearms.

Mr. Paey’s case exemplifies some of the inequities that exist with mandatory minimum sentences and the issues surrounding those suffering from chronic pain. Mr. Paey suffered a serious automobile accident and subsequent medical procedures proved unsuccessful in alleviating his pain, leaving him bound to a wheelchair. The only form of treatment that enabled Mr. Paey to function was prescription pain medicine. The state attorney’s office prosecuted Mr. Paey under Florida’s drug trafficking statute due to the large amount of medicine Mr. Paey was consuming, even though the medicine was prescribed by his physician.

Richard Paey was offered several plea deals that would have avoided a prison sentence, however, he rejected them and ended up spending nearly four years in prison. Mr. Paey was released from prison hours after the vote and was reunited with his wife, children and family in Hudson, Florida.
 

 

 

 

CFO SINK, MAJOR INVESTORS, STATE OFFICIALS AND ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SIGN PETITION TO SEC REQUIRING FULL CORPORATE CLIMATE RISK DISCLOSURE
Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, along with a broad coalition of investors, state officials with regulatory and fiscal management responsibilities, and environmental groups, filed a landmark petition asking the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to require publicly-traded companies to assess and fully disclose their financial risks from climate change. The coalition today also formally asked the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance to immediately begin “[c]losely scrutinizing the adequacy of registrants’ climate disclosures” under existing law.

“Florida has miles and miles of coastline that could be impacted by rising sea level and millions of retirees who depend on high performance in their retirement funds,” said CFO Sink, who serves on the board of the Florida pension fund, which has $140 billion in assets. “It is my goal to help our economy prepare for climate change, and action by the SEC on this petition will result in better, more informed decisions for Florida's investors.”  CONTINUED

CFO SINK: PENSACOLA MY SAFE FLORIDA HOME FAIR BREAKS ATTENDANCE RECORDS

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced that the My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) Fair last Saturday in Pensacola broke all previous MSFH event records with attendance of more than 3,000 North Floridians. In a five-hour span, representatives from the MSFH program raised awareness about the safety and financial incentives available through the program and helped more than 1,000 homeowners sign up for a free wind inspection.

“I am thankful to the Floridians who attended the My Safe Florida Home Fair this past Saturday and the members of our department who worked so hard to make this event a success,” said CFO Sink, who runs the Department of Financial Services and oversees the MSFH program. “Not only were we able to sign-up 1,000 Floridians for a free wind inspection, we were also able to promote the importance of mitigation in our state.”

CFO Sink hosted the MSFH Fair along with the Escambia County Commission, Gulf Power Corporation and WEAR-TV. The fair featured various hurricane-preparedness exhibits and more than 60 vendors. State Representatives Clay Ford (R-Pensacola) and Dave Murzin (R-Pensacola), along with local elected officials from Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa Counties, were on hand Saturday at the Pensacola Civic Center to promote the program. CONTINUED
 

Tax Watch Executive Director Dominic Calabro, left, CFO Alex Sink, center, and second from right, Mike Jennings, Tax Watch chairman, congratulate 2007 Davis Productivity Award winners.

 

 FLORIDA TAX WATCH PRESENTS EFFICIENCY STUDIES

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink joined Governor Charlie Crist as Florida Tax Watch announced three new reports, which according to Tax Watch, “identified numerous ways the state government can both cut cost and increase accountability, efficiency and effectiveness in the wake of the call to cut $ 1 billion from the state’s budget.” 

As CFO and former Vice Chair of Florida Tax Watch, Sink is a strong proponent of identifying ways that government can operate in a more streamlined fashion and provide Floridians with better service.  In addition to working with the Governor and legislative leaders to develop long-term financial plans for the state, CFO Sink plans to use the report to identify ways the Department of Financial Services can implement cost-saving ideas.

Recent Prudential Financial/Davis Productivity Award winners were honored as the call for entries for the next series of awards goes out. The Davis Productivity Awards honor state government for increasing performance and productivity.
 

 

 

 

 

Florida Financial Services Commission members:

 CFO Sink, Agriculture Commissioner Bronson, Governor Crist and Attorney General McCollum.
FLORIDA FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION ADOPTS RULE TO PROTECT MILITARY PERSONNEL FROM INSURANCE SALES FRAUD

The Florida Financial Services Commission, which is comprised of Gov. Charlie Crist and members of the Cabinet, adopted a Rule proposed by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty that will protect active duty service members of the U.S. Armed Forces from dishonest and predatory insurance sales practices in Florida.


This new Rule defines as deceptive behavior the solicitation of soldiers by insurers to purchase life insurance coverage. In the multi-state case, the insurer solicited soldiers on base urging them to purchase more life insurance when in fact nearly all soldiers already had $250,000 in low-cost life insurance provided and partially subsidized by the federal government.

“Florida was part of a $70 million multi-state settlement last year against a Texas-based company accused of improper sales of insurance and investment products to U.S. military personnel,” McCarty said. “We want to make sure we have the appropriate regulations in place to prevent this from happening again to Florida residents.” CONTINUED

Click on map to enlarge

 STATE PURCHASES 51 MILES OF RAIL-TRAIL IN CENTRAL FLORIDA

The Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, today approved the purchase from Florida East Coast Railway of slightly less than 51 miles of abandoned rail corridor for $16 million. The cost is 61% of the appraised value. Forty miles of the trail falls in Volusia County, while the rest in Brevard County. This purchase is particularly notable because it is Florida's largest single trail purchase ever. The corridor will be converted into recreational trails that may become part of a larger greenway project linking Maine to Key West. Once completed, the trail will have a 10-foot wide asphalt or rubberized path allowing water to seep into the ground. The path will narrow to about eight feet wide in environmentally sensitive areas. A four- to eight-foot-wide dirt horse trail will run parallel. Volusia and Brevard counties are responsible for creating the trail and managing it once complete.

 

 RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNOR AND CABINET ON FINANCIAL PLANNING WEEK

WHEREAS, the Financial Planning Association of Florida is the membership organization for the financial planning community, representing 1,800 members dedicated to supporting the financial planning process as a way to help Floridians achieve their goals and dreams; and

WHEREAS, by becoming aware of the value of financial planning, including tax, estate, investment, risk and retirement planning, citizens will have the tools necessary to increase their financial literacy and learn to apply the financial planning process to their personal situations; and



WHEREAS, the financial planning process provides a template for assessing, evaluating and achieving financial objectives through personal goal setting, budgeting, making smart financial decisions and monitoring results; and CONTINUED

 


 

 CFO SINK ANNOUNCES ARREST OF FORMER AGENT WHO STOLE MORE THAN $90,000 IN PREMIUMS FROM MORE THAN 40 VICTIMS

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced the arrest of a former insurance agent who allegedly pocketed tens of thousands of dollars in premiums and left dozens of homeowners in Pasco, Hernando and Hillsborough counties without coverage during the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons.

Bruce Anthony Fonte, 53, former owner of the now-defunct Family Insurance, located in Port Richey, is charged with organized scheme to defraud in the first degree, punishable by up to 30 years in prison if he is convicted. The arrest is a result of an investigation and joint effort on the part of multiple divisions of the Department of Financial Services, including the Division of Insurance Fraud (DIF), the Division of Agent and Agency Services, the Division of Legal Services, and the Division of Consumer Services. Fonte turned himself in this morning to the Pasco County Jail.

“This individual abused his customers’ trust and put them at great risk for his own personal gain,” said CFO Sink, who oversees the Department. “I commend those who worked quickly to stop additional customers from being harmed.” CONTINUED

 

 

 

 MY SAFE FLORIDA HOME PROGRAM TO BE ON HAND AT DEERFIELD BEACH HURRICANE EXPO
Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink announced members of the My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) program will be on hand at a hurricane expo in Deerfield Beach Saturday, to sign up homeowners for free wind inspections and to raise awareness about the safety and financial incentives available through the MSFH program.

The Virtual Hurricane expo, hosted by the Disaster Survival House, is a week-long event featuring free information and resources for consumers about hurricane preparedness. In addition to registering homeowners for free wind inspections, representatives from the MSFH program will conduct a presentation about the program at the expo on September 22. Broadcasts of hurricane preparedness presentations will be streaming live online at www.GetTalkingNOW.com from September 20- September 25 and will remain available online after the expo is completed, to serve as a resource for consumers. CONTINUED