In a number of not-so-surprising revelations this week, Citizen’s Property Insurance Corp. is too big, Panhandle business owners are frustrated over the pace of BP payments and Gov. Rick Scott remains unpopular, despite recent efforts to get his message out in a flurry of radio interviews around the state.

But even as Floridians continued to be unimpressed with Scott, they, and the governor, learned this week that policies the state has undertaken to reduce spending and pump up reserves are having a positive effect on the state’s creditworthiness. Standard & Poor’s this week upgraded its credit outlook for Florida, citing Republican belt-tightening and the frugal budget Scott signed into law.

While Scott and his GOP cohorts may not have much desire to borrow money – they’re preaching staying within our means, after all – it was still positive acknowledgment from an independent source that reducing spending has an upside.

But with 10 percent of Florida residents still out of work and a governor focused almost entirely on that, Scott has had a hard time getting people to like him.

Meanwhile, financial disclosures filed with the Florida Commission on Ethics show that despite tough economic times, many lawmakers remain millionaires, though some have been caught in the real estate downturn that leaves them, on paper at least, underwater just like many of their constituents.

On the national level, Florida events continue to influence the agenda. The Congress this week took a vote to water down federal clean-water standards that have stymied and enraged Florida businesses and environmental officials. And following through on Florida efforts following a much-watched trial, at least 20 states have filed versions of Caylee’s Law in response to the recent acquittal of an Orlando mother, Casey Anthony, in the death of her 2-year-old daughter.

Also this week, lawmakers traveled the state to get input on upcoming efforts to redraw political boundaries, holding a series of public hearings in preparation for the once-a-decade redistricting effort made more contentious by the addition of two congressional seats and a pair of untested constitutional amendments aimed at reducing the political shenanigans inherent in the process.


Panhandle business owners, meanwhile, continue to cry foul as they battle BP over payments they say are due them from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that on Friday marked the first anniversary of the well being capped, after spewing 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf.

CITIZENS’ RANKS SWELLING; IS SELL-OFF AN OPTION?