Florida lawmakers have a chance to help homeowners struggling to pay for insurance

A news roundup from the second week of the Florida Legislature's 2024 session, including top stories, notable quotes and bills on the move.

Photo credit: NOAA Satellites

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Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times had a smart story last week, noting that Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature suddenly seems willing this session to expand public property insurance.

For some people.

Within the span of about 48 hours last week, a Senate committee approved one bill allowing the state’s public insurance company to sell policies to people who own homes worth up to $1 million (the current cutoff is $700,000). And a House committee approved another bill letting Citizens Property Insurance Corp. sell policies to condo buildings even if most of the units are rented out to vacationers.

It’s quite the turnaround from 14 months ago, when the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved an industry-backed law designed to kick many Florida homeowners out of Citizens against their will — forcing them to give up their public property insurance in exchange for far more expensive private coverage instead.

Now, someone secure enough to own a million-dollar home isn’t the most vulnerable Floridian around. But it’s nonetheless nice to see Florida lawmakers showing a touch of heart and opening a public option up to a few more homeowners who are otherwise forced to pick between paying exorbitant private prices or gambling it all and going bare.

The problem is that these bills don’t go nearly far enough. Every homeowner in Florida should be able to choose a public option, too.

Opponents — like insurance industry executives and lobbyists — claim it would be too risky. But status quo is even more dangerous for Florida policyholders and taxpayers.

Right now, we let private insurance companies cherry-pick the safest and most profitable properties, while passing the most dangerous policies off on the public. We then subsidize those same private companies with taxpayer-backed reinsurance. We even cover their claims when they fail. And Floridians are ultimately on the hook for all of it.

The current system is the very epitome of privatizing profits and socializing losses.

A true public option — one from which any Floridian could buy their hurricane insurance, if they wanted to — would be both fairer and safer. A public option insurance company would, for instance, collect premiums from a broader range of properties, including newer homes built under more rigorous building codes and homes built further inland. That would spread its risk around more evenly.

A public option insurance company would also accumulate savings over time as it collects monthly premiums. It would build reserves in years in which Florida does not have a big storm — rather than spending excess cash on dividends to shareholders and inflated payments to sister companies.

It's not a perfect solution. For one thing, Florida politicians would face enormous pressure from voters to keep rates too low.

But the status quo isn’t working. Insurance rates have doubled in just the past three years. Floridians are paying the highest prices in the country. An estimated 13 percent of the state’s homeowners are going without any home insurance at all.

At the very least, Florida lawmakers owe it to their constituents to seriously study a public option proposal. And it just so happens that one has been filed this session in Tallahassee.

The bill is bipartisan: The sponsor is a Republican whose community was devastated by Hurricane Ian. The prime co-sponsor is a Democrat who practices insurance law.  

But Tallahassee is run from the top down. This bill will only get a public hearing if Republican leaders in the Florida House of Representatives — House Speaker Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) and incoming House Speaker Danny Perez (R-Miami) — allow it.

And so far they haven’t.

Quotes from the Capitol

“This bill is not about abortion.”

— Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R-Fort Myers), while presenting a bill that would allow people to file wrongful death lawsuits against abortion providers (House Bill 651).

“An unborn child is a person from the moment of fertilization, as another bill pending before this chamber clearly states — that’s House Bill 1519, which would completely ban abortion in the state of Florida, if this Legislature and the governor summoned the courage to do so. In the meantime, House Bill 651 is a good step in the right direction.”

— Andrew Shirvell, founder of Florida Voice for the Unborn, while testifying in favor of the bill that would allow people to file wrongful death lawsuits against abortion providers.

“I am an advocate of the free market.”

— Sen. Jay Collins (R-Tampa), while presenting a bill that would ban the sale of lab-grown meat in Florida, shielding the beef and poultry industries from a potential source of competition.

“No one here will ever — ever — question our desire to preserve and defend a free market.”

— Rep. Danny Alvarez (R-Riverview), while presenting another bill that would ban the sale of lab-grown meat in Florida and protect the beef and poultry industries.

“I respect agreements made between individuals when you sit down and negotiate something in the private sector and everyone else. But here? This Legislature is not bound by the last one.”

— Rep. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe), while presenting a bill that would erase city and county ordinances that require construction companies building local public-works projects to pay living wages or hire local workers. The bill would undo compromise legislation passed in 2023. And 2021. And 2017. And 2003.

“The bears are coming into our neighborhoods, not because there’s not habitat for them. They’re coming because there are simply too many bears. We have an abundance of bears. Every time I go in my cow pasture, I have to watch out for them now. And the bears have learned something that from time immemorial we had taught them differently about. And that is that, well, we’re not at the top of the food chain anymore. They think possibly they are. And so they come into our neighborhoods. They’ve learned that near people there are lots of tasty treats. And it’s only a matter of time before they go the next step and find that the people themselves are also tasty treats.”

— Rep. Dean Black (R-Jacksonville), debating in favor a bill that would allow people to shoot Florida black bears if they feel threatened.

Billtrack

In honor of the best show on television, here’s a look at some of the bills on the move this past week:

• House Bill 435: The bill would make it illegal to make or sell lab-grown meat. Passed the House Agriculture, Conservation & Resiliency Subcommittee by a 10-4 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 460: The bill would allow homebuilders to employ 16- and 17-year-old teenagers on residential construction sites. Passed the Senate Education PreK-12 Committee by a 9-2 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 601: The bill would prohibit cities and counties from independently investigating allegations of misconduct by police officers. Passed the House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee by an 11-4 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 651: The bill would allow wrongful death lawsuits to be filed on behalf of an embryo or fetus. Passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee by a 12-5 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 705: The bill would dissolve local city and county laws that require construction companies building local public-works projects to pay a living wage or hire local workers. Passed the House Local Administration, Federal Affairs & Special Districts Subcommittee by a 10-5 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 769: The bill would give a $1.3 million annual property tax break to the biomethane industry — companies that produce “renewable natural gas” extracted from sources like cow manure and landfill waste. Passed the House Energy, Communications & Cybersecurity Subcommittee by a 14-0 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 757: The bill would make it easier to sue news organizations for defamation. Passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee by a 12-4 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 820: The bill would provide tax breaks worth up to $1 million each to companies that operate day facilities for their employees or that help pay daycare costs. Passed the Senate Education PreK-12 Committee by an 11-0 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 886: The bill would give a roughly $190 million annual property tax break to timeshare developers and owners. Passed the Senate Regulated Industries Committee by a 6-0 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 901: The bill would prohibit government buildings from displaying pride flags and government employees from wearing pride-flag pins at work. Passed the House Constitutional Rights, Rule of Law & Government Operations Subcommittee by a 9-5 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1082: The bill would stop local governments from preventing agricultural companies from building housing for migrant farmworkers. Passed the Senate Community Affairs Committee by an 8-0 vote. (Vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1126: The bill would reinforce an existing law that blocks local governments from regulating plastic bottles or bags, Styrofoam cups or food containers, or any other form of single-use container or packaging used by a store or restaurant. Passed the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee by a 4-0 vote. (Vote sheet)

• House Bill 1277: The bill would impose limits on the ability of city-owned utility companies to transfer revenue to their city’s general operating funds. Passed the House Energy, Communications & Cybersecurity Subcommittee by a 13-2 vote. (Vote sheet)

Reading list

• Tampa Bay Times: Florida lawmakers could grow Citizens insurance after years of resistance

• Miami Herald: Floridians could have gotten $120 to help feed their kids. The state wasn’t interested

• WMFE: More Florida kids are losing health insurance

• Orlando Weekly: Florida Republican co-sponsor of child labor bill owns company with history of wage theft

• South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Insurance agents want to sell license plates. It’s a bad idea | Editorial

• Sarasota Herald-Tribune: New College of Florida faculty vote against college's online program with billionaire

• Tampa Bay Times: Florida education board votes to end diversity efforts at state colleges

• Miami Herald: Thousands of Florida homes flood repeatedly. You’re not allowed to know which ones

• Tampa Bay Times: Names of police who use deadly force could be shielded under proposed law

• Orlando Sentinel: Social-media ban: Florida’s latest assault on parental and constitutional rights | Commentary