TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Property insurance prices are skyrocketing in Florida, but it could be months before the issue is addressed by lawmakers.
Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked about the homeowners insurance crisis Tuesday in Tallahassee, and said it’s one of the issues he’d love to have the Florida legislature to address.
“There’s a lot of great things but, you know, we just went through a legislative session where they failed to deliver on some of those priorities,” the governor said. “So what I will do is I will ask the legislative leaders, ‘is there something that you can get across the finish line?’ And I will encourage them to do that.”
After announcing a lawsuit Tuesday over the federal mask mandate on public transportation, DeSantis called for a special legislative session, set to begin in April, that will address congressional redistricting maps. But the governor said it’s “absolutely possible” that other issues could be addressed once lawmakers gather.
If the homeowners insurance crisis isn’t addressed during the special session, DeSantis predicts that the legislature will tackle the issue “at the latest,” in November when the new speaker of the House takes over. Rep. Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, will officially take over the position that’s currently held by Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Clearwater, after the November midterm elections.
“It won’t go all the way to next year. I think, at the latest, it will be when Speaker Renner takes over – I think right after the election, they will punch it through,” DeSantis said. “So that’s the latest it will go. I’d like to do it before then because I think it will help try to realign incentives in the market.”
While DeSantis said there’s an overall inflation impacting prices throughout the country, the governor acknowledged “dysfunction” with the state’s insurance system.
“Florida had eight percent of the claims nationwide and over 75 percent of the litigation,” he said. “Clearly there’s some dysfunction in this.”
Four property insurance bills were introduced during the legislative session to address the crisis, but each one failed.
