Declarations

$11 billion question

“There’s no question that state legislators believe drivers’ licenses should be as secure as is possible. The $11 billion question is, ‘Who’s going to pay for it?'”

National Conference of State Legislatures Executive Director William T. Pound on the prospect of states meeting a May 2008 federal deadline for making driver’s licenses more secure and absorbing costs that could mount to more than $11 billion over five years. States are asking the federal government for more time and money to comply with the 2005 Real ID Act, which was passed to keep driver’s licenses out of the hands of terrorists and to make it tougher for illegal immigrants to get state-issued IDs.

Human psychology

“The CFO needs to be engaged in the legislative process. You have to understand the human psychology of those 160 members of the Legislature … You have to have relationships to get things done.”

Florida Republican chief financial officer candidate Tom Lee

A political office

“That is exactly the reason I’m running for CFO. All of the reasons we have heard Tom Lee say. We don’t need a politician running for the office of chief financial officer.”

Florida Democratic chief financial officer candidate Alex Sink

Sisterly suit

“Nobody wants to be sued. I’ve never been sued before. I’m not sure how it’s going to play out.”

Karen Rigsby upon learning that she and her sister are being sued by their former employer, E.A. Renfroe & Co., a Birmingham, Ala.-based insurance adjusting firm. Renfroe alleges that Cori and Kerri Rigsby broke the law when they turned over reams of internal State Farm records to attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs. To help him build cases against the insurer for denying claims after Hurricane Katrina. Renfroe’s lawsuit, filed this month in a federal court in Alabama, accuses the sisters of violating the Alabama Trade Secrets Act and breaching confidentiality agreements with the company.

First flood

“I looked at my car and it was just swimming inside. I was shocked. I’ve never been in a flood before.”

Karen Cooper after she waded through waist-deep water to her car during the September weekend storm at The Crossings at Bent Creek in Kentucky. Flooding in Kentucky brought on by heavy rains caused at least eight deaths.