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Hurricane Catastrophe Fund Vote Likely Today

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 29, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - It's unclear whether state officials will sign off today on the deal with financier Warren Buffett to shore up Florida's Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.

Gov. Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum agreed July 2 to negotiate a $224 million deal with Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, in exchange for his pledge to buy up to $4 billion in state bonds if Florida receives massive hurricane damage this season.

But the plan's details have remained in the works, subject to final approval at today's State Board of Administration meeting. A draft provided to The Tampa Tribune on Monday indicated the deal would be triggered if losses to the fund reached $16 billion this season.

Sink said Monday that "it's uncertain as to whether or not it'll be approved, because the negotiations are still ongoing." She would not elaborate, but added, "If some of the deal points are not sewed up the way they should be, I'm certainly not going to support it."

State officials pursued the deal in response to uncertainty in the financial markets and the expansion of the catastrophe fund's risk exposure by $12 billion, to $28 billion, in 2007.

Because the deal will not raise premiums, the final vote need not be unanimous. McCollum spokeswoman Sandi Copes would not say how the attorney general would vote.

Sink had complained about the lack of options presented by the catastrophe fund's overseers to protect it.

Monday, Sink reiterated her displeasure. "I don't intend to be here next year, looking at a deal like the one Warren Buffett put forward."

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or cdolinski@tampatrib.com.

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