Florida Lawmakers Fund Home Hardening Program, Idalia Recovery in Special Session

The Florida House of Representatives and Senate moved quickly this week to approve more funding for the state’s popular home-hardening program, along with grants, loans and tax breaks for areas hit by Hurricane Idalia in August. But a last-ditch effort to require more reporting from insurers was shot down in the special legislative session.

And an idea to provide more state-backed, low-cost reinsurance for Florida property insurers, which some have called the missing piece for a recovering market, was barely mentioned.

House Bill 1C, passed by the House on Tuesday and the Senate Wednesday morning, will provide another $176 million for the My Safe Florida Home program, which provides matching grants up to $10,000 for wind-mitigation retrofits, including stronger roof-to-wall connections and window and door protection. Homeowners who partake can receive discounts – or smaller increases – on their property insurance premiums. Another $5 million will fund administration of the program.

The program, revived last year, has designated more than $200 million in grants but proved so popular that it has almost run out of funds, officials have said.

The House bill also will appropriate $25 million to the Florida Housing Finance Corp. for one year, to fund Hurricane Idalia recovery, including assistance to homeowners to help cover insurance deductibles.

The legislation also will provide another $215 million in different forms for Idalia recovery, including aid to farmers to cover crop and equipment loss not covered by insurance.

Part of the bill met with some concern that developer-friendly measures would obviate the very restrictions needed to help prevent losses in future storms. The News Service of Florida and the Tampa Bay Times reported that the bill prohibits, for two years, local governments from raising building fees or placing some types of limits on development in the hurricane-hit Big Bend part of the state.

A group known as 1000 Friends of Florida argued that the language could be used to block local requirements to raise or harden buildings in vulnerable areas.

Special sessions are usually limited to a tight agenda, outlined in legislative leaders’ and the governor’s proclamation for the gathering. House Bill 29C, offered by Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, was not brought to the House floor Tuesday, news outlets reported. It would have required more reporting about insurers’ payments to managing general agencies and other affiliates.

A plan known as the Florida Insurance Rate Reduction Mechanism would set up another state-backed reinsurance program, similar to but at a lower level than the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. The idea is to give Florida-based insurers some relief on reinsurance rates, which have soared in the last two years. The savings could be passed on quickly to policyholders, advocates have said.

The idea did not make it on to the legislative agenda this week. Another bill, Senate Bill 102, by Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami, also gained little attention. It would make the state’s insurance commissioner an elected position and would prohibit the commissioner from working for regulated entities for at least 7 years after leaving office. The bill also would establish an insurance regulation commission and would bar insurers from claiming insolvency if they continue to operate in other states.

The full bill can be seen here. A legislative staff analysis is here.

Photo: Florida House of Representatives Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo in May. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Topics Florida Legislation