Volume 5 Number 3
January 18, 2008
On Monday, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink will celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in both Tampa and St. Petersburg.

CFO Sink will begin the day at 6:30 a.m. at a breakfast organized by the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs, to be held at the Hyatt Regency Downtown, 211 N. Tampa St., Tampa.  She will then head to another breakfast at 7:30 a.m. organized by the National Conference of Negro Women (NCNW), to be held at the St. Petersburg Coliseum located at 535 Fourth Ave. N. More than 1,600 are anticipated to attend the two events.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday is a national day to celebrate volunteer service.  Dr. King said, "Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."  As you celebrate the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Monday, please take a moment to help someone in need in your community.

 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Friday morning, CFO Sink met with Climate Group CEO Steve Howard, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Gov. Charlie Crist and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz to discuss climate change initiatives..

EMERGING CARBON MARKETS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY CFO SINK

Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink addressed the Emerging Carbon Markets Conference, hosted by the United Kingdom Trade and Investment at the British Consul General Miami and Environmental Finance Publications.

"If we make Florida a hub for developing international carbon trade, we'll be able to energize Florida's economy," Sink told the audience.  "We have to change the way we do business and explore what opportunities clean energy offers to Floridians."

CFO Sink discussed the economic opportunities carbon markets present for Florida, and how Florida can take an international leadership role in developing these new market opportunities.  Her remarks follow her visit to the United Kingdom as a guest of the British Consulate-General in Miami, where she met with representatives from the United Kingdom on the use of carbon markets to combat global climate change. 

More than 100 attorneys, entrepreneurs, economists, academics and government officials from all over the country participated in the conference to learn about carbon trade.

 

 

 BANK OF AMERICA SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS AT NEW WORLD SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

CFO Sink spoke at the New World School of Arts during their Bank of America Scholarship Luncheon and congratulated this year's scholarship award winners.

 

 

 CFO SINK REQUESTS AUDITOR GENERAL REVIEW OF SBA

CFO Sink sent the following letter  to Senate President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio requesting the Auditor General conduct an independent review into the governance, transparency, audit processes and risk management policies at the SBA. 

January 15, 2008


The Honorable Ken Pruitt, Senate President
Florida Senate
409 The Capitol, 404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL  32399

The Honorable Marco Rubio, Speaker of the House
Florida House of Representatives
420 The Capitol, 402 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL  32399


<<SENT VIA HAND DELIVERY>>

Dear President Pruitt and Speaker Rubio:

The growing national subprime mortgage crisis, a lack of investor confidence and inadequate transparency led to the recent problems during the last few months with the Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP), a short-term investment fund for local governments managed by the State Board of Administration (SBA). CONTINUED


 

CITIZENS TASK FORCE WILL MEET FEBRUARY 1

The Task Force on Citizens Property Insurance Claims Handling and Resolution will hold a public meeting on Friday, February 1, 2008, at 8301 Cypress Plaza Drive, Suite 108, Jacksonville, Florida, from 12:00 to 4:00. Attached is a copy of the agenda and the presentations will be posted on the website by Tuesday, January 29, 2008. The link is: http://taskforceoncitizensclaimshandling.org.

Since the meeting will be held in Jacksonville, interested parties may want to listen to the meeting via conference call at Dial-in Number: (888) 808-6959, Conference Code: 4132880. If you wish to attend the meeting via conference call, please place your phone on mute and please be aware that if you place your phone on “hold” all participants will hear your “hold” music. Callers will not be able to participate in the meeting, however, if there is a specific issue that you would like to bring to the Task Force’s attention, please email your concern to Vicki Twogood by Monday, January 28, 2008. If time permits, submissions will be read during the Public Testimony period or at the next Task Force meeting that is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, February 26, 2008, in Tallahassee. The meeting will also be video recorded and posted on the website.

 

C-CERT "TRAIN THE TRAINER" PROGRAM HELD AT THE FLORIDA STATE FIRE COLLEGE

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) are not a new concept, in fact, there are 168 teams in the State of Florida. A few of them are even scattered through our college campuses. The tragedy at Virginia Tech University on April 16, 2007 shocked the entire country. Thirty students and two teachers were killed by a lone gunman. Sadly, this incident brought to light the need for CERT type operations on campuses, as college campuses are communities of their own. They share many of the same vulnerabilities and hazards as any community and need to be prepared to deal with those situations.



On January 15, 2008, Dave Casey, Bureau Chief at the Florida State Fire College in Ocala welcomed 30 representatives of colleges and community colleges from throughout the state to the first Campus-Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT) Train the Trainer program in Florida. The three day program is co-sponsored by Florida State University and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. The training was conducted by Michigan State University School of Criminal Justice under a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. CONTINUED


CFO Alex Sink and State Representative Bill Galvano held a press conference Monday in Bradenton to promote Florida KidCare and the Healthy Kids program.

 CFO SINK CONVENES HEALTHY KIDS BOARD MEETING
Board discusses administrative changes, reviews 2007 Florida children health insurance study

In an ongoing effort to increase access for affordable healthcare for Florida’s children, Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, also Chair of the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, will convene Thursday’s meeting of the Florida Healthy Kids Board.

At the meeting, the board discussed ways to enact administrative changes presented by the Health Kids Ad Hoc Committee. In July, CFO Sink appointed the committee to develop administrative suggestions to enroll more children in the Healthy Kids program, in the absence of legislative action. Additionally, the board was presented with the results of the Florida Children’s Health Insurance survey which they commissioned to exam the number of uninsured children in Florida. CONTINUED
 

This week, CFO Sink visited the Merrill Stevens Shipyard to discuss about the importance of Florida's marine industry.  Her visit follows her speech to the Marine Industries Association of South Florida at their annual summit in November 2007.		 MARINE INDUSTRIES


                       

 MY SAFE FLORIDA HOME ADVISORY COUNCIL ANNOUNCED

The My Safe Florida Home program was created to encourage Floridians to harden their homes against hurricanes, and is administered by Florida’s Department of Financial Services. Hundreds of Floridians are working with the program every day to learn how to better protect their property and families in the event of a hurricane.

The Advisory Council was created by the Florida Legislature to provide advice and assistance to the department regarding administration of the My Safe Florida Home program. The Advisory Council consists of twelve members from various stakeholders as directed by Section 215.5586, Florida Statutes.

My Safe Florida Home Program Advisory Council:
 CONTINUED