State Capitol Briefs

State Capitol Briefs

The New Service Of Florida

OSTERHAUS NAMED SOLICITOR GENERAL

Timothy Osterhaus has been named Florida solicitor general, becoming state government’s top appellate lawyer, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Tuesday. Osterhaus, who received his law degree from the University of Virginia, has served as deputy solicitor general since 2007. Former Solicitor General Scott Makar was appointed earlier this year to a spot on the 1st District Court of Appeal.

BERGER NAMED TO APPEALS COURT

Wendy Berger, who served as an assistant general counsel for former Gov. Jeb Bush, was appointed Tuesday to a seat on the Daytona Beach-based 5th District Court of Appeal. Gov. Rick Scott appointed Berger, 43, to fill an opening caused by the retirement of Judge David Monaco. Berger, a Florida State University law-school graduate who lives in St. Augustine, has served as a circuit judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit since 2005.

LAWSUIT FILED IN DISPUTE ABOUT STATE HEMOPHILIA CONTRACT

A losing bidder for a contract to provide services to hemophiliacs in the Medicaid program has filed a lawsuit against the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, alleging violations of the of state’s  Government in the Sunshine Law. CuraScript LLC filed the lawsuit last week in Leon County Circuit Court. Meanwhile, an administrative law judge rejected another challenge CuraScript filed in the Division of Administrative Hearings. The dispute centers on a contract to provide supplies and services, such as case management, to Medicaid beneficiaries who have hemophilia. CuraScript has provided the services in the past, but AHCA re-bid the contract this year and announced it would award contracts to Caremark LLC and Coram LLC, according to court documents. In the circuit-court case, CuraScript contends that AHCA appointed a three-person board to evaluate the bids and make recommendations. But it argues that the sunshine law was violated because the board never met publicly.

POLITICS AND ELECTIONS

JULIEN ALLEGING VOTE FRAUD

A Democratic Miami state representative who narrowly lost a primary that pitted him against a fellow incumbent is claiming election fraud. Miami’s CBS-4 reported Tuesday that Rep. John Patrick Julien, the loser in the Democratic primary for House District 107, is asking the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office to investigate the primary, which was won by Rep. Barbara Watson, D-Miami Gardens, by 13 votes following a recount. Watson and Julien were drawn into the same district in this year’s redistricting. The Miami-Dade prosecutor’s office hasn’t said whether it plans to investigate.\

FLORIDA NOT GETTING DELEGATES BACK

Florida is still going to see its delegation to the Republican National Convention — held next week in Tampa — cut in half for breaking party rules on when the state could hold its presidential primary. But all of the would-be delegates will be allowed on the convention floor, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told the Tampa Bay Times’ political blog The Buzz. The other half of what would have been the Florida delegation will instead be designated as “honored guests,” Priebus said. The state will also lose 160 guest passes. “They received 90 percent of every penalty available to us,” Priebus said.