DeSantis to let lawmakers decide on special session for property insurance

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis is leaving it to the Florida Legislature to decide whether to hold a special session on property insurance and condominium safety laws.

Both were top issues for lawmakers going into the 2022 session, but got bumped over contentious and emotional debates over culture war issues, including bills to restrict what teachers can say about sexuality and race in the classroom.

At a news conference in Wellington on Monday to tout teacher pay increases, DeSantis said he’d “welcome it” if the Legislature decides to call a special session, noting they failed to achieve those goals during the regular session.

“If they can get an agreement, we should do it,” DeSantis said. “I am confident we will see something along those lines in the next year. I’m ready. I’ve got a pen ready, so if they do it I will be receptive to it.

Lawmakers also could come back to deal with redistricting if DeSantis vetoes the new congressional maps as promised.

Florida homeowners face a looming property insurance crisis, with companies suspending writing new policies and some going out of business. Several lawmakers filed bills this year to address the skyrocketing premiums, but they failed to reach consensus by the end of session.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t get more done this year, but that is part of the process. We decided it’s better for the next Legislature to take it up,” Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, told reporters March 11, the day the session was supposed to end.

He said the industry was definitely in crisis and a special session was possible in the coming months as hurricane season approaches.

“The Senate had a pretty good formation of a property insurance bill this session. We just didn’t finish,” Simpson said.

Much of the blame for the rising costs has been laid at the feet of the roofing industry, which insurers say are filing countless lawsuits against them demanding that they fully replace aging roofs. Last year, a law was passed that limited solicitation by roofing companies, but a federal judge blocked it.

House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, told reporters on March 14 there were lots of unresolved issues on the bill, especially when it came to the Senate’s deductible plan, and they just ran out of time.

“We passed incredibly significant reform last session,” Sprowls said. “But everybody in the insurance space says it takes 18 months (for changes to take effect) and we’re six months going in.”

Likewise, he said, the clock ran out on negotiations over last-minute changes in the condominium safety bill, spawned by the collapse of a residential tower in the Miami suburb of Surfside that killed 98.

The tragedy exposed the state’s lax regulation of condominium towers. Lawmakers sought to require inspections after 30 years and make association boards conduct studies to determine the cost of future repairs and collect that money from residents to set aside in a reserve account.

But in the last days of session, House and Senate leaders clashed over inspection schedules for the aging structures and eliminating a loophole that makes reserve accounts optional.