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Senate Bill 2-A is a comprehensive bill intended to ensure policyholders in this state have access to quality, affordable private market property insurance. The bill also requires insurers to communicate, investigate and pay valid claims promptly. Anticipated shortages in the reinsurance market are addressed through a new optional state reinsurance program. Excessive litigation is addressed by eliminating one-way attorney fees for property insurance and instead allowing both parties to obtain fees through the offer of judgment statute. In addition, the bill strengthens the regulatory authority of the Office of Insurance Regulation over property insurers. 

Senate Bill 4-A provides for several disaster relief efforts in the wake of the 2022 hurricane season, in which two disastrous hurricanes struck the state of Florida, resulting in widespread destruction of homes, infrastructure, agricultural lands, beaches, and more. The bill provides for the following;

• Extends the due dates for property taxes levied in 2022 for property owners whose property was destroyed or rendered uninhabitable by Hurricanes Ian or Nicole;
• Authorizes property tax refunds for residential properties that were made uninhabitable for at least 30 days by either hurricane for the portion of the year that the residence was unusable;
• Appropriates $350 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Division of Emergency Management (DEM) to provide the full match requirement for FEMA Public Assistance grants to local governments affected by the two hurricanes; 
• Appropriates $150 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, of which $60 million shall be provided to local governments to assist persons with the repair or replacement of housing, relocation costs, housing reentry assistance, and insurance deductibles. $90 million shall be used to fund the Rental Recovery Loan Program to promote development and rehabilitation; 
•  Appropriates $251.5 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Environmental Protection; 
•  Provides for the creation of a direct-support organization for the DEM to provide assistance, funding, and support to DEM in its disaster response, recovery, and relief efforts for natural emergencies. 

Senate Bill 6-A directs the Florida Turnpike Enterprise (FTE) to establish a toll relief program, effective from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023, for all Florida toll facilities that use a Florida-issued transponder or are interoperable with the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT’s) prepaid electronic transponder toll system (SunPass). The bill defines terms and provides that an account that records 35 or more transactions per eligible transponder per calendar month is eligible for an account credit equal to 50 percent of the amount paid for the qualifying transactions. 

Committees & Subcommittees

Bill Tracking Report