Category: Politics

Posted in Florida Legislature, Politics, St. Johns County

St. Johns County Annual Legislative Delegation

Posted on by Beth Tate

St. Johns County Annual Delegation Meeting

From 9 AM to Noon on Monday, December 19, St. Johns County Residents have the opportunity to present to the St. Johns County representatives in our State Legislature. Senator Travis Hutson, Speaker Paul Renner, Representatives Bobby Payne and Cyndi Stevenson will be on hand to hear from representatives of county organizations and individual residents about their concerns.

Residents and organizations desiring to speak needed to submit speaker request forms in advance. The agenda has been set with 52 speakers on the slate. These 52 speakers will be held to a strict 3-minute time limit. If there is time, speakers who fill out a speaker card Monday morning will be allowed 3 minutes each to speak, as well.

Considering 10 minutes for the roll call, invocation, Pledge of Allegiance, and Opening Remarks, I’m calculating possibly time for 4-5 additional speakers at the end.

Speakers already on the agenda include representatives from our county organizations such as Tim Forson for the St. Johns County School District and Christian Whitehurst for the Board of County Commissioners and Nancy Sikes-Kiine and Dylan Rumrell representing our two cities of St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach.

Also on the list are representatives of Flagler College, St. Johns River State College, Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, and various civic and charitable organizations as well as private citizens.

I’ll be in attendance and will share an update after the meeting.

Posted in Florida Legislature, Politics

Florida Insurance Reform Bills – On to Governor DeSantis

Posted on by Beth Tate

Florida Insurance Bills Pass

The Insurance bill intended to stabilize the insurance industry in Florida and potentially lower insurance rates for homeowners has now passed the Florida Senate and House and will move on to Governor DeSantis to sign.

Will it help?

This is a “time will tell” situation. Theoretically, by curbing lawsuits and assignment of benefits, expenses will be lowered for insurance companies and those savings should be passed on to the insured.

Assignment of Benefits is not necessarily a bad thing but has resulted in perhaps unnecessary repairs or repairs that were not storm related. Then when insurance companies deny the claims, the contractor and homeowner can sue the insurance companies with the insurance company being responsible for the attorney fees.

 Curbing these actions may help reduce unnecessary claims. That may help insurance companies remain solvent as then be able to pass on savings to consumers. That cycle will take some time.

Another element of the bill forces homeowners out of Citizens Insurance. This may increase costs for some homeowners as they are forced into private insurance rather than the State backed Citizens Insurance.

Maintaining Citizens Solvency

What many Florida homeowners may not know is that if Citizens Insurance is not fully funded by its insured policy holders, the rest of us help out by paying a “hurricane tax” on our own private insurance bills. The most recent example of this is after the 2004-2005 hurricane season, a 1% surcharge was placed on every private insurance policy in Florida for the following 8 years.

Helping Citizen’s remain solvent and able to pay claims without implementing that surcharge helps all private homeowners insurance bills remain a bit lower.

Soothing the Pain

Two other bills were passed that were intended to help Florida residents – Property Tax Refunds for homes damaged in Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, and a rebate to “frequent users” of Florida’s toll roads for the 2023 year. A frequent user is more than 35 tolls a month – indicating using toll roads for commuting not pleasure drives.

Bottom Line

Florida homeowners will NOT see immediate relief from their high insurance bills. Any impacts of the Insurance bill won’t be felt for 2-3 years at least.

Senator Passidomo and House Speaker Renner have promised to be watching insurers to make sure these changes trickle down. They have committed to holding them accountable.

As Florida residents, let’s keep an eye on the Legislature and hold them accountable, as well.

Posted in Florida Legislature, Politics

Update on the Special Legislative Session addressing the Florida Insurance Crisis

Posted on by Beth Tate

Insurance Bill has passed the Senate and moved on to the House for review.

Several amendments have been proposed including capping insurance premium increases in line with the Consumer Price Index.

The bill is widely viewed as heavily tilted towards the insurance companies. From a purely business perspective, the bill appears to be focused on shoring up the industry and keeping insurance companies solvent AND operating in Florida.

In the long run, this could help Floridians by maintaining more choices for their insurance. In the short run, it does nothing to help the consumer with the high cost of insurance.

Interesting point raised yesterday about the requirement for Citizens insured to purchase FEMA backed flood insurance… Living on an upper floor of a condo building, an insured condo owner should not be required to purchase flood insurance. Surely there can be some commonsense measures included here?

Some other concerning areas in the bill include pushing $1 Billion in tax payer dollars into a Reinsurance fund. That means you and I will be helping to fund the insurance companies not only when we buy our insurance but funding their insurance purchases. Does that mean I’m funding my own insurance? Something to ponder.

This bill will make it much harder for homeowners to sue their insurers and even introduces an option for insurance companies to offer policies with binding arbitration clauses in exchange for a discount on your premium. Read those policies carefully when you start price shopping!

It’s expected the Insurance bill will be approved by the House today, sending our Representatives home for the Holidays.

Posted in Florida Legislature, Politics

Special Session Day 1 is Complete!

Posted on by Beth Tate

The quick ones

Disaster Relief – Senate Bill 4A – a bill introduced by Senator Travis Hutson (St. Johns County)  intended to provide relief for Floridians impacted by the one-two punch of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole this year is set to authorize a refund of ad valorem taxes for residential improvements for homes rendered uninhabitable. Additionally, the bill will allow extension and suspension of payments for property impacted by these hurricanes.

Some concerns were raised about the relief possibly being extended to “snowbirds” and others who have second homes in Florida. The concern here was the relief should be reserved for Florida residents most in need. Senator Hutson is relying on local governments to make the right decisions for their residents. He would not include these restrictions in the State level bill.

When we look at Preemption bills, this would be a step in the right direction. Local governments know best for their community. Let’s not use Preemption only when it serves our purposes.

Toll Relief – Senate Bill 6A – This bill, introduced by Senator Bill DiCeglie of Pinellas County, establishes a “toll relief” program. This one is going to be specific for those of you who use transponders as you commute on the Florida toll roads. Pass through a State toll plaza more than 35 times in a month and you can get a 50% credit on your tolls for the 2023 year.

The tough one – Florida Insurance

Senate Bill 2A, filed by Senator Jim Boyd (representing Hillsborough and Manatee Counties) is intended to address our Florida Insurance crisis. An almost identical House bill has been filed and is being heard on the floor today.

With insurance companies hiking rates, canceling policies and, in some cases, fleeing the state, the Legislature is focused on addressing the Insurance crisis.

Key elements include addressing attorney fees and Assignment of Benefits as well as shoring up the state-run Citizens Insurance.

Assignment of Benefits – where a homeowner gives a contractor the right to file a claim on their behalf, is believed to be a problem because contractors may be attributing damage to a storm in order to get reimbursement for elevated claims.

Was that 20 year old roof replaced because of storm damage? Or because of age related wear and tear in Florida weather?

If insurance companies deny the claim, because they determine it is NOT storm related, the contractor or homeowner may then sue the insurance company and therein lies the reason for addressing attorney fees. Currently, law firms benefit from filing the lawsuits because the attorney fees are paid by the insurance company. If that provision is addressed, would the number of lawsuits decline? That is the hope.

Citizens Relief?

With insurance companies abandoning. Florida or canceling policies because of aging roofs, homeowners turn to Citizens, the insurer of last resort for many Floridians. The bill attempts to provide relief for Citizen’s by requiring all Citizens insured policy holders to carry FEMA backed Flood Insurance and, if a competing policy is offered by a private insurer that is within 20% of the Citizen’s quoted rate, the homeowner must take the private insurance.

Special Session End?

The Special Session is slated to go through Friday. Word is, House Speaker Renner thinks the lawmakers can head home Wednesday night with the job of the Special Session finished.