With the Atlantic hurricane season officially beginning two weeks from now, there’s a couple of quick items to share before we take a deeper dive into the FEMA Review Council’s report and its expected impact on Florida, especially with federal flood insurance, plus the latest on the statewide drought and wildfires. Please be sure to mark your calendar to attend the 26th Annual Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund Participating Insurers Workshop on June 10-11 in Orlando. It’s in-person only (no virtual option) and there’s no fee to attend. This is the place to get essential updates, expert insights, and practical guidance for meeting Cat Fund requirements.
Leading into hurricane season, we’ve seen the persistent conflicting news reporting on the true average homeowners insurance premium in Florida. A recent article published by the USA Today Florida Network, Why you shouldn’t believe those grim Florida insurance national reports, helps set the record straight: the true answer is $3,815 – not the $5,800 to $9,400 figures generated by the TheZebra.com and BankRate.com’s of the world. A big shout-out to Security First Insurance President Melissa Burt DeVriese, quoted throughout the article, for educating the reporter and the public with real terms and examples of true costs, and the real situation in Florida’s property insurance market. Please read it and share it!
Back at the state Capitol, the budget chiefs of the House and Senate huddled with staff this past weekend to begin hashing out unresolved issues from the various conference committees that concluded their work this past Friday. The House and Senate going into this three-week special session were $1.4 billion dollars apart on a state budget for the fiscal that starts July 1. While progress was made, the still unresolved issues focus on Everglades restoration, Medicaid payment rates for hospitals, and various higher education issues. Senate President Albritton and House Speaker Perez gave members this week off while leaders resolve the remaining issues. They’ll return next Tuesday (May 26) to hopefully find a final budget ready to review over the three-day cooling off period before a final vote and adjournment on Friday, May 29.
Governor DeSantis meanwhile, is still signing bills into law from the regular legislative session that ended in March. From our Bill Watch list, he signed the measure that updates Florida’s captive insurance statutes by authorizing the formation and regulation of Protected Cell Captive Insurance Companies. He also signed into law a bill dropping building permit requirements for work on single-family homes valued at $7,500 or less, as well as a measure putting restrictions on data centers powering artificial intelligence, including new regulations on their electricity and water use.
Up next, the next steps in FEMA’s ‘significant moment of reform,’ the big change being pushed as part of that with the National Flood Insurance Program, plus the latest on the drought and wildfires, and a terrific story about father and son police officers who became Florida heroes!
LMA Newsletter of 5-18-26
