The struggle to fix Florida's insurance crisis

Oct 30, 2023

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HUDSON, FLORIDA - AUGUST 30: In an aerial view, a home smolders after burning as Hurricane Idalia passed offshore on August 30, 2023 in Hudson, Florida. Hurricane Idalia hit the Big Bend area as a Category 3 storm on the Gulf Coast of Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Good morning and welcome to Monday.

The Legislature’s special session is a week from today, and one issue that isn’t going away is the high prices Floridians pay to insure their homes against hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Lawmakers aren't planning on dealing with property insurance reform directly during the Nov. 6-9 special session — but they do want to help Floridians with high costs. Often, insurers will charge higher premiums or won’t agree to take on some customers until they first pay tens of thousands of dollars to replace their doors and windows to make their homes more wind-resistant.

Legislators will consider replenishing the My Safe Florida Home Program, which gives Floridians grants of up to $10,000 to help them pay for changes to their homes. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis told WJHG on Sunday that he’d like to see up to $175 million added.

Even that much money would likely go fast, especially in a state that’s home to more than 22 million people. This year’s fund totaled $215 million, and it accepted about 21,000 refund applications. But another 17,000 are still waiting until more funding is added, and no one else can submit an application in the meantime.

Also, analysts admit they don’t have a good sense of when property insurance prices will go down, citing the high cost of reinsurance and the likelihood of more severe storms are ahead. They’d previously projected the reforms legislators passed this year — including a law making it harder for people to sue their insurers — would take 18 months to show results.

While a couple new companies have entered the market, others have left or scaled back. Families are paying an average of $6,000 a year for coverage on top of their mortgages and utilities, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Many who’ve already paid off their mortgages are choosing to gamble their homes and forego coverage.

The Legislature already has tried to tackle the property insurance issue at least four different times since 2021 during special and regular sessions.

“I understand the frustration, I share it, and I am always talking with stakeholders and trying to find new solutions,” Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said in a memo previewing the special session. Her memo also promised to send funding and tax relief to families in the Big Bend area and to agricultural companies hurt by Hurricane Idalia.

— WHERE'S RON? Gov. DeSantis will attend a Miami fundraiser initially set for August, that had to get pushed back due to Hurricane Idalia. The event will accept donations in cryptocurrency.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for Playbook? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com

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... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ...

BIG PAYDAYS — DeSantis allies and appointees are getting high paychecks for jobs that include leading his culture-war battles, reports CNN’s Steve Contorno. A few examples include New College of Florida’s President Richard Corcoran, who will make up to $1.3 million a year. Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who makes about $447,000 a year when adding his paid position at the University of Florida College of Medicine; and Secretary of State Cord Byrd’s $188,000 paycheck.

CNN finding: 59 people in DeSantis’ office earn more than $100,000 a year, double the amount then-Gov. Rick Scott had.

SCHOOL CHOICE — Florida parents are frustrated with the organization that manages Florida’s school voucher system, reports the Orlando Sentinel’s Jeffrey S. Solochek. “After battling for months over delayed and inaccessible funding, with few answers to their many questions and complaints, parents have launched a social media review campaign against long-time scholarship funding organization Step Up for Students. They want state lawmakers and the general public to know of their struggles as the Legislature heads to a Nov. 6 special session where lawmakers will consider putting more money into the system to meet rising demand.”

REINFORCED — Security increased around Florida Capitol complex after trespassing incident, by POLITICO’s Gary Fineout. Court and law-enforcement records show that the man who trespassed, Omar Kadir Salla, 37, was arrested two days after an Oct. 17 incident by authorities in St. Lucie County. He was charged with felony trespassing on a construction site and he was subsequently released on bond.

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PENINSULA AND BEYOND

TAMPA SHOOTING — DeSantis offers to boost security after multiple people killed or wounded, by POLITICO’s Kimberly Leonard. Authorities said a feud between two groups escalated Saturday night into a shooting in the Ybor City area of Tampa, which is a hub for Halloween festivities. The assailants opened fire right as crowds of people had poured into the streets from bars and clubs that had just closed for the night, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said during a Sunday morning press conference. Two died and 18 were injured, though some of the injuries may have been caused by stampeding when people fled, Bercaw said. A local news station reported that a 14-year-old boy was among those killed.

CLOSE TO HOME — A Florida man who was visiting his son in Maine was among those killed in last week’s mass shooting, reports Shira Moolten of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “On Wednesday night, the son, Breslin Macnei, took his father, Keith Macneir, to Schemengee’s Bar and Grill in Lewiston so that he could meet his union brothers, telling him to wait there while they left for a quick union meeting … That was the last time they talked. He returned to the bar to get his father about an hour later, but a police officer was standing outside and wouldn’t let him in.”

DISNEY LAWSUIT — The governing district that controls the land surrounding Walt Disney World is slow-walking providing requested documents to Disney, court documents say, per a report from the Associated Press’ Mike Schneider. Both sides have dueling lawsuits — one in federal over free speech and the other in state court over who can control the area. A hearing is set for mid-December but Disney wants a delay for more than two months.

A message from Alibaba:

DESANTISLAND

FIRST IN FLORIDA PLAYBOOK — DeSantis, who has targeted gender identity and LGBTQ issues as governor as part of his "anti-woke" agenda, last year congratulated a Florida transgender influencer — and not one who regretted transitioning.

In a June 22 letter, the governor praised Ashley Brundage for winning the Florida Commission on the Status of Women's Spirit of Community Award. He went so far as to call her a "shining example of a positive role model."

Brundage runs a Tampa-based leadership training and consulting company called Empowering Differences.

"As Governor, and the father of three children, I believe that community involvement is essential as we work to improve and enrich the lives of others and engage in the issues that impact Florida families," he wrote to Brundage. "Thank you for your selfless contributions to fellow Floridians."

Asked what she thought of his statements and actions on the trans community, Brundage said in a short interview: "He probably is not educated and hasn't met enough of us because he failed to show up to the luncheon to give me the award. I think that once people get to know others and hear we're all just people on this planet and they realize we have an economic impact to the state that then they'll realize it's obviously good for business to be open and inclusive to all."

A spokesperson for DeSantis' campaign declined to comment and a spokesperson for his administration didn't respond to a request for comment.

— Daniel Lippman

CAMPAIGN MODE

TODAY — The Florida Association of State Troopers will endorse Sen. Rick Scott for reelection during an event in St. Augustine, Fla. The groups specifically praised Scott’s pay increases for law enforcement officers when he was governor.

SENATE RACE — Republican Keith Gross, who’s challenging Scott, was once kicked off the ballot in Georgia, reports NBC News’ Matt Dixon. “In 2008, at age 24, Gross ran as a Democrat for an Atlanta-area state legislative seat. That campaign was marred by allegations that he had lied about his eligibility to run for the seat. A resident in the district filed a complaint in early 2007 challenging whether Gross had lived in Georgia for two years or the House district for one year, as required in the state. After hearings, an administrative law judge said he was ‘troubled’ by Gross’ testimony and claims and ruled against him.”

CAMPAIGN FINANCE ANALYSIS — Companies, lawyers and lobbyists with business before Florida were among DeSantis donors last quarter, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Anthony Man. “Campaign finance reports filed this month show dozens of contributions from executives with Florida Power & Light Co. and Juno Beach-based parent company; leaders of gambling operations owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida; officials with the GEO Group, a private prison company headquartered in Boca Raton; and officers of AshBritt, the disaster recovery company based in Deerfield Beach.”

ISRAEL POLICY — Jewish donors have told DeSantis’ advisers that they want him to speak out against Nazi demonstrators in Florida, two donors anonymously told the New York Times’ Nicholas Nehamas and Maggie Haberman. DeSantis has previously said he didn’t want to give oxygen to a small group of “knuckleheads” and claimed some were fake and angling for publicity.

FILE - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis listens as former Vice President Mike Pence and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy speak during a Republican presidential primary debate hosted by FOX News Channel Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in Milwaukee. In the foreground are moderators Brett Baier and Martha MacCallum. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

GOP FIELD NARROWS — DeSantis didn’t mention former Vice President Mike Pence dropping out of the presidential race when he took the stage after him Saturday at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas, but he later posted on X that Pence was “a principled man of faith who has worked tirelessly to advance the conservative cause.”

EYES EMOJI — The question of when Pence would leave the race was talked about during the wedding of one of the daughters of Mori Hosseini, a DeSantis donor, reported The Messenger’s Marc Caputo and Alec Dent. “The general belief by DeSantis’ team is that everyone who drops out helps DeSantis, and everyone else is just not sure that’s true,” one of the sources said.

Note: Pence has not endorsed anyone and The Messenger cited anonymous sources saying Pence has “grown alarmed with the governor’s right-wing activist populism.”

MAGA INC. — The super PAC backing Trump will go back to attacking DeSantis in Iowa via ads, reports NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher. The ads, which will total hundreds of thousands of dollars, will accuse DeSantis of being insufficiently conservative because he has supported Puerto Rico becoming a state. When he was a congressman, DeSantis cosponsored legislation that laid out a way that Puerto Rico could become a state.

RALLYING CRY — Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried presented Florida Democrats with a 10-year plan to “Take Florida Back” during a fundraising dinner in Orlando this weekend, reports Florida Politics’ Jacob Ogles. During her speech she compared DeSantis’ policies and leadership style to that of Gov. Scott Walker’s policies in Wisconsin — noting that state was now blue.

DENIED — “The Pinellas County Democratic Party won’t boost or recognize John Liccione as a candidate in the Congressional District 13 primary to take on Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna,” reports the Tampa Bay Times’ William March. “That’s because Liccione failed the party’s vetting process, said county party chairperson Jennifer Griffith.”

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TRANSITION TIME

— Desantis appointed United States Marine Corps veteran Mark Thieme as director of the new Florida State Guard.

ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN

BIRTHDAYS: Ivanka Trump, Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel … former state Rep. Ron Saunders

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