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Reports on the issuance of commercial papers in Florida. Request for the expansion of the paper-backed pool of the Sunshine State Governmental Financing Commission; Creation of a commercial paper program by the Hillsborough County.

Reports on Florida issuers' increased interest in commercial paper programs, according to industry professionals and government officials.

Reports on the launch of Miami-Dade County, Florida's $400 commercial paper program. Hiring of Merrill Lynch and Co. Inc. to replace Goldman Sachs and Co. as co-manager of the program along with Lehman Brothers; Advantages of commercial paper.

Reports on the approval of three dealers for commercial paper issues and $285 million in revenue bonds in Dade County, Florida. Bond dealers; Includes Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs; Selection of Morgan Stanley to do a current refunding of $90 million of Series U Dade County Aviation bonds.

Reports on the Sunshine State Governmental Finance Commission's plan to expand its commercial paper program with an additional $600 million of authorization that will be loaned to qualified government borrowers in Florida. Permission of the commercial paper program to operate without liquidity providers; Annual credit assessment of program members; Borrowing requirements.

Reports that Miami Dade Expressway Authority will begin evaluating bids for the commercial paper program to be used in the sale of long-term bonds. Purpose for the agency's hiring of new underwriters; Worth of the total commercial papers; Estimated amount of taxable revenue bonds to be refunded.

Announces that the opponents of the Sunshine State Governmental Financing Commission's bid to expand its commercial paper loan program in Florida will have a chance to present their arguments at a dismissal hearing. Members of the Florida commission; Validation issue.

Examines the performance of municipal funds in Florida. High prices of funds inspite of plentiful supply; Types of funds supported by investors; Top performing funds; Portfolio managers' comments on some funds; Investment allocation strategies; Return rates for funds; Total income by the funds.

Focuses on Jacksonville Electric Authority's (JEA) competitive bid for five-year cap that effectively sets a rate ceiling on a portion of its outstanding commercial paper. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's winning bid; Average rates on JEA's commercial paper.

Presents news items about municipal bonds in Florida. Implications of the decision of Tampa General Hospital's board of trustees to approve the lease the publicly owned facility to a private nonprofit corporation; Revamp at Miami's Finance Department; Dade County's commercial paper program.

Reports that investment advisers have indicated that searching the secondary market for current-coupon municipal bonds is the key to success in investment in Florida. Perception that return is not worth the risk of higher-yielding paper; J&W Seligman & Co.'s Florida Municipal Fund; Adviser Richard Marrone's preference for housing and health care issues in the portfolio.

Reports that Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the P-1 rating on the Kissimmee Utility Authority's commercial paper revenue notes in conjunction with a liquidity agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank in Florida. Increase in the commercial paper program's commitment size; Extension of the credit facility to May 31, 2005.

Reports that Lee County, Florida, is evaluating its options on how to finance a jail project after county officials decided to ask for voter approval on a local option, sales tax. Plans to finance the project with a combination of commercial paper and cash; County's options if the proposed sales tax is approved or not.

Reports the high-yields deals of two health care financing prices in Miami, Florida. Increase of willingness to participate in the health care sector; Amount of deal offer by the Miami Beach Health Facilities Authority; Participation of institutional buyers in the term bond.

Reports on the plan by Florida's Sunshine State Governmental Financing Commission to expand its lending capacity. Remaining debt capacity; Provisions for borrowers under the existing program; List of members and borrowers.

Reports on the plans of Hillsborough County, Florida to competitively sell revenue bonds after the July 4 holiday weekend. Sale date; Sealed bids for the Series 2004 bonds; Use of a portion of the bond proceeds to refinance storm water commercial paper notes; Moody's Investor Service's rating to Hillsborough County's sale.

Reports on the valuation of tax-exempt and taxable revenue bonds by the Sunshine State Government Financing Commission in Florida. Utilization of the proceeds for the construction of parking garage; Improvement of the technology and museums; Reimbursement of the commercial paper program.

Reports on the institutional sale of multimillion dollars worth of electric utility system refunding revenue bonds in Florida. Possible targets of underwriters on the opening of retail order period; Reasons for the issuance of bonds; Rate points given to the deal by various ranking organizations.

Focuses on the improvement of the condition of the bond market in Florida as of January 2001. Comparison with condition of the bond market in 2000; Amount of bonds issued; Transactions made on February 12; Conduction of debt transactions by city and county governmental entities; Creation of liquidity with size.

The small south Florida city of Opa-locka, recently designated by the state to be in a financial emergency, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the Miami Herald. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the impact of the intangibles tax on the municipal bond market in Florida. Features of the tax; Comment by Robyn Fiel, portfolio manager at the Haugh Group of Funds; Factors affecting the municipal bond market performance.

Reports on the plan of Miami-Dade County in Florida to push with its plan for bond deals including aviation debt for the expansion of the Miami International Airport. Deals to provide enough proceeds for the county's bond financing; Senior manager for the deal; Commercial paper program to finance the airport program.

Broward County, Florida officials on June 30, 2003 will entice investors interested in Florida paper with nearly $190 million of refunding bonds. Some $90 million of revenue refunding bonds, Series 2003K, for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will be insured by Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. Another $98.4 million of water and sewer utility revenue refunding bonds, Series 2003B, will be insured by Ambac Assurance Corp. Standard & Poor's Corp. raised its rating on Broward's outstanding $518 million of airport system revenue bonds to A-plus from A and raised the rating to A from A-minus on $156 million of outstanding passenger facility charge and airport system revenue convertible-lien bonds. The airport's passenger base grew at an average annual rate of 8.1% between 1995 and 2002, making it the fastest growing large hub airport in the nation during this period, which included the nationwide decline in air travel following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The market for Florida debt is holding up in the face of a possible government shutdown, while the Chicago market is being penalized with wider spreads, higher yields, and a swell in bid-wanted lists after being downgraded to junk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that Florida Governor-elect Charlie Crist issued a joint press release with Senate President Ken Pruitt and Speaker of the House of the U.S. Congress Marco Rubio on November 29, 2006, stating that they would call a special session of the U.S. Legislature starting January 16, 2006. The session will focus on developing a reform plan to restructure property insurance market of Florida and provide relief to Florida residents and businesses.

Reports on the plan of two largest counties to release a multi-million of fixed-rate paper into the market in separate offerings in Florida. Negotiation between A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. and Miami-Dade County; Sale of public service tax refunding and improvement revenue bonds; Assignment of A-plus ratings by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's.

Reports the marketing of revenue bonds by the Florida Municipal Loan Council. Credit ratings of the bonds; Construction of wells for the drinking water supply; Generation of savings through the economies of scale.

Reports on plans of a public utility in Florida to sell several million dollars of short-term variable-rate revenue bonds as of December 2001. Name of the utility; Details of the bond deal; Credit ratings for the bonds.

Focuses on the revenue bond issue planned for the Adventist Health System/Sunbelt Inc. in Orlando, Florida. Deal structure; Rating of the bond issue; Outlook for Adventist Health's bonds.

Reports that Florida residents will not have to pay intangible personal property tax on trusts or accounts receivable beginning July 1, 2000. Reduction of the rate of the tax on remaining items; Tax's application to intangible personal property such as stocks, mutual funds, bonds and loans; Effects of the move on Florida bondholders; Reasons people want to own Florida municipal bonds.

Reports on the positive market response to the Florida Capital Projects Finance Authority's bond issue in November 1998. Deal's aim to fund landfill acquisition and upgrade the Dade County Recycling and Disposal Facility; Attraction of investors to the offering's high yields and its being a quality non-rated product; Other top-performing issues in the Southeast.

Reports on strategies being used by money managers to ensure the successful performance of Florida tax-exempt funds. Focus on income and yield; Top performers in terms of total return and income; Full investment in Florida paper; New issues.

Reports that a Palm Beach County, Florida retirement facility hopes an improved credit rating and demand for higher-yield paper will trigger big savings from refunding. Palm Beach County Health Facilities Authority as a conduit for Life Care Retirement Communities Inc.; Refunding deals of Life Care; Demand for Life Care's services. INSET: Southeast bond-watch..

Reports on the five-year collar placed on a variable rate bond by Orlando, Florida administrators as a precaution against rising interest rates. Provision of a letter of credit for weekly variable rate bond by Morgan Guaranty Trust Co.; Issuer's payment of the counterparty to take risk; Payment of incremental debt by the counterparty; Price of the paper at the time of the sale.

Reports the selling of revenue bonds for the Orlando and Miami international airports in Florida. Development of position in the bond market; Subject of the bond for alternative minimum tax; Conclusion of the deal through negotiations.

Reports on the Miami-Dade School Board's plan to move forward with the sale of certificates of participation (COP) and auction-rate bonds in early June 2001. Investigation into the Florida school district's spending; Rating assigned by Moody's Investors Services to the fixed-rate COPs, Series 2001A.

Reports on the potential effects of Florida Governor Jeb Bush's call for a repeal of the state's intangible tax to securities trading. Legislation on intangible tax filed in the state Legislature; Annual revenue generated by the tax; Impact of the tax cut to businesses in the state.

Focuses on the status of the municipal bond market in Florida as of 1997. Trends indicating market emphasis on bond structure; Impact of bond insurance on the state's municipal bond business; Comments from state-based brokers.

Reports on the expected approval of George Gretas' appointment as city manager of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Gretas' selection for the job on May 19, 2004; Negative outlook assigned by Standard & Poor's on the city's rating for failure to stabilize its financial position.

Reports on the plan of Lebenthal to open an office in Palm Beach, Florida. Name of top executives for the office; Development of advertising campaign to enhance name recognition; Assets management plan of Lebenthal.

Reports on the sale of variable-rate debt by the Jacksonville city government in Florida. Total amount of bonds to be sold; Bidders to the sale; Financial adviser of the sale.

The pricing of 600 million dollar of aviation revenue bonds for Florida-based Miami International Airport launched a money and refunding activity on May 15, 2003 that would enable nearly 1 billion dollar of aviation-related bonds come to the bond market in Florida during June 2003. Aviation experts said issuers of airport bonds are seeking to take advantage of low interest rates and are bringing deals, especially to meet new security regulations in the wake of the September 11, 2002, terrorist attacks. Three Florida airports will also benefit from the sale of about 25 million dollar of revenue bonds by the Capital Trust Agency that will be used to build air cargo facilities. Revenue from the bonds sold by the Capital Trust Agency will be used to build air cargo facilities at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Orlando International Airport, and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.

Reports that Miami-Dade County, Florida, will sell one of its largest bond deals to help fund a portion of Miami International Airport's multi-billion dollar capital improvement program. Management of the revenue bond sale by UBS PaineWebber Inc.; Placement of orders for the bonds by individual investors.

Focuses on the tax-exempt bonds offered by state and county issuers in Florida. Amount of the Florida Forever revenue bonds; Sale date of sales tax revenue refunding bonds; Credit rating of the Orange County transaction.

Reports the selection of Mark J. Larson as finance director and chief financial officer for Florida Municipal Power Agency in Bradenton, Florida. Career history; Job responsibilities; Educational attainment.

Reports that the School District of Hillsborough County, Florida, is planning to offer $233 million of sales tax revenue bonds in order to attract a large number of retail investors. Details regarding the certificates of participation sold by the school system in July 2001; Purpose for which the bond proceeds will be used.

Focuses on the agreement among lawmakers in Florida regarding budget cuts in the state. Value of cuts in billion dollars; Elimination of scholarships, employee positions and spending that are included in the cuts; Proposal of the Senate regarding intangibles tax which did not have governor Jeb Bush's support.

Announces the start of sale of the Florida Water Pollution Control Financing Corp.'s multi-million dollar inaugural issue of high-grade revenue bonds on June 18 and 19, 2001. Rating of the bonds; Use of funds to finance a portion of the Florida Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program.

Reports on the deal between Broward County, Florida, and developer Donahue Peebles to develop a hotel near the Broward County Convention Center. Changes in the county's original funding proposal for the hotel; Terms of the deal.

Focuses on the proposed 2001 budget in Florida by Governor Jeb Bush which removed an intangibles tax for the elderly. Investor reaction to the proposal; Justification made by Bush's government for removing the tax.