TALLAHASSEE – Nearly a month after Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would be calling state lawmakers back to the Florida Capitol for a second time this year to address the state’s property insurance crisis, the specific dates of the legislative session have not yet been publicly announced.
Some lawmakers believe the special session could occur in mid-December, when legislators are already planning to be in Tallahassee for other scheduled meetings.
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“The governor announced in October that he is working with legislative leadership to convene a special session in December to pass additional reforms to further stabilize Florida’s property insurance market that will introduce more competition and policies designed to lower the prices for consumers,” the governor’s spokesperson told News 6 Monday. “We will continue working with President-Designate [Kathleen] Passidomo and Speaker-Designate [Paul] Renner to find innovative solutions to address these issues and look forward to announcing additional details regarding the planned special session soon.”
Republican State Senator Jeff Brandes, who is leaving the legislature due to term limits, believes his colleagues need to address one-way attorney’s fees, roof replacement costs, and possible rate increases for Citizens Insurance policyholders.
“I think you’re going to get things accomplished [during the special session]. The question is, is it enough?” Brandes told News 6 earlier this month. “The industry as a whole has stage 4 terminal cancer right now.”
Insured losses from Hurricane Ian now exceed $8.7 billion, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.
Damage from Hurricane Nicole is still being tallied, and the state has not yet released any official figures.
CoreLogic, a global property information, analytics, and data-enabled solutions provider, estimates that privately insured gross modeled losses from Nicole will be less than $750 million.
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