The billionaire and the no-bid contract

A recap of the sixth week of the Florida Legislature's 2026 session, plus a preview of week seven.

Photo credit: Urban Tallahassee

This is Seeking Rents, a newsletter and podcast devoted to producing original journalism — and lifting up the work of others — about Florida politics, with an emphasis on the ways that big businesses and other special interests influence public policy in the state. Seeking Rents is produced by veteran investigative journalist Jason Garcia, and it is free to all. But please consider a voluntary paid subscription, if you can afford one, to help support our work. And check out our video channel, too.

Editor’s note: The 2026 session of the Florida Legislature is underway, so we have temporarily turned our weekly “Florida in Five” feature into a roundup of news, notes and bill movements from the session.

Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times had a terrific story recently revealing that a billionaire megadonor is behind bills moving through Tallahassee this session that could lead to Florida condo owners paying higher prices for lower quality insurance.

The legislation would require Citizens Property Insurance Corp. — the state-backed nonprofit insurance company for Floridians who cannot find affordable coverage on the private market — to set up a new program through which loosely regulated “surplus lines” insurers could take over policies covering condo buildings and business properties.

Citizens itself would not manage this new program, which would be called the “commercial lines clearinghouse.” The legislation — House Bill 943 and Senate Bill 1028 — would instead compel Citizens to hire an outside vendor to run it.

The proposal, Mower reported, is being pushed through the Florida Legislature by lobbyists for Ryan Specialty, a Chicago-based insurance-services firm that wants that administration contact.

Ryan Specialty was founded by billionaire Patrick G. Ryan, who, along with his wife, has donated more than $50 million to Republican congressional candidates over just the past five years, according to federal campaign-finance records.

The company recently became a major funder in Florida, too. In mid-November — exactly two months before the start of this year’s legislative session — state records show that Ryan Specialty put a combined $750,000 into a pair of political committees controlled by one of its lobbying firms. The lobbyist-controlled committees then spread all that money around to an assortment of lawmakers.

So it is perhaps not surprising that Ryan Specialty now has some prominent friends in the Florida Capitol. The legislation the company is lobbying for is being sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Joe Gruters, a Republican from Sarasota who doubles as the chair of the Republican National Committee. It’s being carried through the House by Rep. Mike Redondo, a Republican from Miami who is in line to become state House speaker in a few years.

This would all be unseemly enough on its own. But it gets even seedier: Because these bills are written so that Ryan Specialty could land the clearinghouse contract without going through any kind of competitive bidding process.

A subtle provision tucked inside both bills would allow Citizens to award the clearinghouse administrator deal as a single-source contract. That would enable the agency to ignore regular bidding rules that might otherwise apply to the procurement.

An excerpt from the staff analysis of Senate Bill 1028. (Source: The Florida Senate)

There are some obvious problems with entire premise of this legislation. If it works as intended, it would lead to condo associations and business owners across Florida being shifted out of Citizens and into more expensive policies sold by surplus lines insurers — a type of insurance company whose rates are not regulated and that are exempt from basic consumer protections that standard insurance companies must abide by.

During a hearing on the Senate bill earlier this month, Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky — a guy with a pretty good track record of looking out for consumers — warned senators against leaving condo residents at the mercy of the surplus lines market. “The bargained-for-exchange belief in the surplus lines market is that the consumer who is going to purchase that type of product is of a sophistication or wealth that they do not necessarily need those state-backed protections,” Yaworksy told the Senate committee.

But there is, at least, an argument for it. Every policy passed off to a surplus lines insurer would reduce the total risk exposure for Citizens — which is, ultimately, backed by Florida taxpayers.

“To the extent we can do things responsibly to lower the volume and the ultimate liability in Citizens, I think that’s sort of incumbent on us as policymakers to do that,” Sen. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton), the incoming Senate president and one of the Legislature’s leading voices on insurance policy, said while debating in favor of Senate Bill 1028 during another recent hearing.

There is, however, no good reason for forcing Citizens to hire a private contractor to run this program — and enabling the agency to do it on a no-bid deal.

I asked Boyd, Gruters, Redondo, and half a dozen lobbyists representing Ryan Specialty if they could offer any justification at all for allowing Citizens to choose a clearinghouse administrator without a competitive solicitation. None of them would.

Through a spokesperson, Gruters did say that there are five vendors interested in bidding to be the administrator. But that’s even more reason not to let Citizens bypass a competitive process — unless, of course, your goal is to make sure that one of those vendors in particular ends up with the contract.

For its part, a spokesperson for Citizens said the agency may still choose to bid out the clearinghouse contract, if this legislation passes. But that also means that Citizens — which is run by a board of political appointees — may decide not to, either.

The likely no-bid nature of contract is not the only problem with the arrangement. During his testimony before the Senate’s Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Committee — which you can watch from 36:20 to 43:50 of this video — Yaworsky also warned that the legislation leaves ample room for potential abuses by the administrator.

“One of the challenges when we look at this bill right now is that there is no regulatory oversight whatsoever of this broker, which is referred to as the insurance administrator vendor,” he said. “There’s no regulatory oversight whatsoever over the way that that person behaves in this space.”

Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky addresses a Senate committee at a Feb. 4 hearing on Senate Bill 1028. (Source: The Florida Channel)

Yaworsky and Office of Insurance Regulation staff have suggested a number of changes.

For instance, they have proposed that Citizens be given the option of managing the commercial lines clearinghouse itself — and that Citizens be required to follow all procurement laws, if it still wants to outsource the job, rather than preemptively declaring it a single-source contract.

They have also recommended capping the total amount of fees the administrator could charge; adding guardrails to protect against conflicts of interest and self-dealing; and prohibiting the vendor from commoditizing people’s insurance policies through a strategy known as “fronting.”

Florida legislators have, at least so far, refused to make any of those changes.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that a commercial policyholder could not be forced out of Citizens against their will to a surplus lines insurer under the proposed program, though they could be forced pay a higher premium, even if they remain with the state insurer.

Billtrack

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

• House Bill 919: Renames Palm Beach International Airport as “President Donald J. Trump International Airport” and authorizes Palm Beach County to enter into a licensing agreement with one of Trump’s businesses. Prohibits the cities and counties that own Florida’s other major airports from renaming any of them. Passed the House of Representatives by an 81-30 vote (vote sheet). Passed the Florida Senate by a 25-11 vote (vote sheet). Goes to the governor to sign or veto.

• House Bill 5001: The Florida House of Representatives’ proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Passed the House of Representatives by a 101-4 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 2500: The Florida Senate’s proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Passed the Florida Senate as House Bill 5001 by 36-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 103: Eliminates local business taxes charged by cities and counties. Passed the Florida House of Representatives by an 82-26 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 191: Gives businesses and state officials more ways to deny unemployment benefits to laid-off workers. Passed the House of Representatives by an 81-31 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Joint Resolution 203: Proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate all non-school property taxes on homestead property. Passed the House of Representatives by an 80-30 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 290: Enables the state to sell land purchased for environmental conversation to agricultural companies. Passed the Florida Senate by a 38-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 838: Allows car-financing companies to charge extra processing fees when someone pays their car loan by credit card or another electronic payment system. Passed the Florida Senate by a 38-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 840: Narrows a preemption of local land-development rules that was passed last year as part of Senate Bill 180. Passed the Florida Senate by a 38-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1120: Gives the Legislature veto power over most construction projects undertaken by water management districts. Passed the Florida Senate by a 37-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 5003: Forbids state agencies from doing business with any vendors that contract with fact-checking organizations or firms that evaluate news organizations based on their accuracy and ethics. Passed the House of Representatives by 93-12 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 5503: Requires the governor to notify the Legislature before spending money in an emergency response fund on immigrant detention centers or other immigration enforcement actions. Passed the House of Representatives by an 84-18 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 5601: Enables New College of Florida to take over the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus. Passed the House of Representatives by a 76-28 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 173: Prevent teenagers from accessing birth control, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and non-emergency mental health services without permission from a parent. Passed the House Education & Employment Committee by a 12-4 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 174: Names a road in Miami after Charlie Kirk. Passed the Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations Committee by a 9-5 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 299: Enables owners of giant tracts of rural land to have their properties rezoned for development without any vote by the local county commission or town council. Passed the House Commerce Committee by an 18-3 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 314: Establishes a regulatory framework for issuers of a type of cryptocurrency known as stablecoin. Passed the Senate Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Committee by an 11-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 437: Requires state agencies and local governments to respond more promptly to public records requests and makes it easier to sue agencies that fail to comply. Passed the House Justice Budget Subcommittee by a 13-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 455: Forbids local communities from removing memorials to Civil War Confederate leaders. Passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 14-5 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 484: Establishes new regulations around electricity usage, water consumption and public disclosure of data centers. Passed the Senate Rules Committee by a 24-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 593: Expands anti-corruption laws that prohibit state officials from using their offices to interfere in elections and enacts reforms related to the “Hope Florida” scandal. Passed the House State Affairs Committee by a 21-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 641: Forbids state agencies and local governments from requiring that employees refer to co-workers by their preferred pronouns and bars private companies that receive state funding from requiring employees to attend trainings on sexual orientation or gender identity. Passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 13-6 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 657: Enables a supermajority of residents in a subdivision to dissolve their homeowners’ association. Passed the House Budget Committee by a 24-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 691: Makes it easier for homebuilders to build new subdivisions on farmland adjacent to land zoned for residential development. Passed the House State Affairs Committee by a 17-6 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 743: Criminalizes anyone who “aids and abets” a doctor providing gender-affirming care to someone under the age of 18 and empowers the attorney general to investigate and prosecute healthcare providers. Passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 14-5 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 927: Requires that cities and counties allow developers use private contractors to review development applications and to issue building permits earlier in the development process for residential subdivisions. Passed the House Commerce Committee by a 17-3 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1134: Forbids local governments from supporting diversity programs and enables the governor to suspend local elected officials who violate the prohibition. Passed the Senate Rules Committee by a 19-5 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1334: Requires Florida voters to prove their citizenship by providing copies of documents such as a passport or birth certificate when they register or have been identified by state officials as potentially ineligible to vote. Passed the Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Committee by a 9-5 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 1389: Prohibits cities and counties from blocking certain affordable housing developments through the use of height restrictions or setback requirements and gives developers more power to sue local governments for land-use discrimination when they reject affordable housing projects. Passed the House Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee by a 13-2 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 1421: Requires state agencies to identify state-owned lands that can be leased to private companies for cattle grazing. Passed the House State Affairs Committee by a 20-3 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1506: Gives courts more authority to reduce the amount of money a defendant must by pay following a civil trial if it finds the jury’s award was excessive or arbitrary. Failed to pass the Senate Rules Committee by an 11-13 vote. (vote sheet)

• House Bill 1551: Makes it harder to sue Sig Sauer and other gun manufacturers in cases where someone is injured when a gun allegedly fires without anyone pulling the trigger. Passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 13-5 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1568: Authorizes the Department of Financial Services to accept stablecoin as payment for various licensing fees. Passed the Senate Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Committee by an 11-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1588: Establishes regulations around the use of gold and silver coins as legal tender. Passed the Senate Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Committee by an 11-0 vote. (vote sheet)

• Senate Bill 1632: Gives the governor, via the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the power to designate advocacy groups as “domestic terrorist organizations” and impose financial sanctions on them. Temporarily postponed by the Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee.

• Senate Bill 7038: Enables state universities to obtain their accreditation through a new state-backed accrediting agency known as the Commission for Public Higher Education. Passed the Senate Education PreK-12 Appropriations Committee by a 9-0 vote. (vote sheet)

The week ahead

Monday

• The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee will hold confirmation hearings on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ newest appointments to the Public Service Commission, the state agency that regulates the electricity rates charged by Florida Power & Light and other monopoly power companies. The meeting begins at 4 pm. (Contact committee members)

• The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee will also hold a confirmation hearing on the governor’s appointment of Urban Meyer to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees.

Tuesday

• The House State Affairs Committee will hear House Bill 399, which would undo protections for rural land around Orlando and Miami. The meeting begins at 8:30 am. (Contact committee members)

• The House State Affairs Committee will also hear House Bill 433, which would enable the state to sell land purchased for environmental conservation to agricultural companies.

• The House State Affairs Committee will also hear House Bill 1007, which would set new regulations on data centers.

• The Senate Appropriations Committee will hear Senate Bill 1756, which would allow parents to ignore mandatory immunization requirements for public school students because they object for reasons of “conscience,” and let pharmacies sell Ivermectin without a prescription — with immunity from lawsuits over any negative health effects. The meeting begins at 9 am (Contact committee members)

• The House Health Care & Human Services Committee will hear House Bill 693, which would further restrict eligibility for health insurance through Medicaid and KidCare and on food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Access Program. The meeting begins at 3 pm. (Contact committee members)

• The House Commerce Committee will hear House Bill 943, which would require state-run Citizens Property Insurance to create a clearinghouse through which private surplus lines insurance companies could take over policies covering condo buildings and businesses and allow Citizens to award a no-bid contract to a vendor who would administer the clearinghouse. The meeting begins at 3 pm. (Contact committee members)

• The House Commerce Committee will also hear House Bill 989, which would expand laws that force Floridians to buy most new cars from middleman car dealers rather than directly from vehicle manufacturers.

• The House Commerce Committee will also hear House Bill 1217, which would prevent communities from enacting policies meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

• The House Commerce Committee will also hear House Bill 1387, which would forbid companies that receive state economic development from voluntarily recognizing new employee labor unions or from agreeing to remain neutral in union elections.

Wednesday

• The House of Representatives will hear House Bill 991, which would require Florida voters to prove their citizenship by providing copies of documents such as a passport or birth certificate when they register or have been identified by state officials as potentially ineligible to vote. The bill would also stop university students from using their student IDs as identification when they vote. The floor session beings at 10 am. (Contact House members)

• The Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee will hear Senate Bill 1632, which would give the governor, via the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the power to designate advocacy groups as “domestic terrorist organizations” and impose financial sanctions on them. The meeting begins at 1:30 pm. (Contact committee members)

• The Senate Finance and Tax Committee will hear Senate Proposed Bill 7046, an omnibus package of tax breaks. The meeting begins at 1:30 pm. (Contact committee members)

• The Senate Finance and Tax Committee will also hear Senate Proposed Bill 7048, which would address the state impacts from the federal corporate tax breaks in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

Note: The House notices committee meetings two days ahead of time, while the Senate notices them three days in advance. Click here to find the complete daily calendars in the Florida House of Representatives, and click here for the daily calendars for the Florida Senate.

Reading list

• ‘Professor Uthmeier’: Inside Florida attorney general’s $100k teaching job at UF (Miami Herald) ($)

• Florida AG defends $100K UF teaching salary at Miami anti-corruption event (Miami Herald) ($)

• How James Uthmeier became one of Florida’s most powerful politicians (Tampa Bay Times) ($)

• Florida Bill Would Waste Money on a Lose-Lose Plan to Punish Very Low-Income Parents (Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy)

• How New College turned housing dollars into a fund for athletics (Suncoast Searchlight)

• Palantir Relocated After Florida Changed Key Law (The Lever)

• Anti-ICE protests were a ‘risk factor’ for tech firm that just moved to Miami (Miami Herald) ($)

• How will the Rays use Hillsborough College’s land for a stadium? (Tampa Bay Times) ($)

• Amid debate in Congress, Florida’s Republican Legislature pushes election law changes (Politico Florida)

• Trump Organization trademark raises suspicions that family could profit from Florida airport name change (CNN)

• GOP lawmakers push to ban climate actions in FL cities; Dems fight to preserve them (Florida Trident)

• House lawmakers restore $42 million for Tri-Rail funding, but Senate approval still needed (WPTV)

• Florida House votes to add conditions for receiving unemployment benefits (Florida Phoenix)

• Florida public counsel: Duke Energy proposal on data centers puts existing customers at risk (Politico Florida) ($)

• How a Planned Disney World Vacation Turned Into Four Months in Immigration Detention (ProPublica)