FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed legislation providing hurricane relief assistance and moving to shore up the state’s property insurance market in the wake of Hurricanes Ian and Nicole this year.

Those were two pieces of legislation passed by lawmakers in a special session last week, and the signings wrapped up the work for which the session was called.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Ron DeSantis signed property insurance and hurricane relief bills Friday

  • The signings completed the work called for in last week's special session

  • The insurance bill seeks to stabilize Florida's insurance market, DeSantis said

  • The relief bill will, among other concerns, help get trailers where needed more quickly, he said

On Thursday, DeSantis signed the third bill, creating a Toll Relief Program which will provide 50% account credits to frequent commuters using specific toll roads across the state and paying with transponders. The Toll Relief Program begins on Jan. 1 and runs through Dec. 31, 2023.

According to DeSantis, the hurricane tax relief measure allows the state to provide permanent tax relief for owners whose property is deemed uninhabitable because of damage caused by hurricanes Ian and Nicole and provides $750 million to support ongoing recovery efforts.

Funding for those ongoing recovery efforts includes:

  • $350 million to support local government matching requirements for FEMA public assistance
  • $150 million to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection(DEP) to help support local beach renourishment and projects
  • $100 million to DEP to repair and reconstruct local wastewater and stormwater infrastructure that was damaged by hurricanes Ian and Nicole
  • $150 million to support homeowners and renters affected by the storm, including programs like deductible assistance and immediate housing

“We (Florida) has a record surplus so I’m going to use it to be able to help in these situations,” DeSantis said. “So, we’re not waiting for other people to do our jobs for us.”

One of the most interesting revelations that DeSantis said the legislation will fund is with housing assistance that will quickly put trailers on properties for people whose homes are uninhabitable.

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DeSantis said FEMA has been waiting for waivers on getting trailers to properties in flood-prone areas because of concerns that those properties could flood again in severe weather before repairs are completed.

“That’s slowed the ability to get trailers to folks who need it on their property,” DeSantis said.

Funds from that $150 million allocation will be used, among other concerns, to allow the state to get trailers on those properties quickly and not have to wait for FEMA so they have a place to live while their homes are being repaired, DeSantis said.

“It doesn’t matter now because the repairs will be done by the next hurricane season so it doesn’t matter that it’s in a flood zone,” he said.

Regarding matching funds for FEMA assistance, DeSantis said the costs have been so high that FEMA will reimburse 90% of the costs required. Federal rules call for the state to reimburse 5%. Normally, local governments would have to reimburse the other 5%, but this measure will allow the state to cover those costs for local governments, DeSantis said.

“So, this will free up local funds to undertake additional recovery and mitigation efforts,” DeSantis said.

In addition to providing funds for beach renourishment and projects, the bill will support a new hurricane reimbursement grant program which will assist homeowners with coastal hardening and fortification to protect their property against coastal erosion from hurricanes, DeSantis said. Those funds could be used for seawalls and temporary structures.

The property insurance legislation moves to stabilize the state’s insurance market by making the state more attractive to companies to compete for business in the state and not to leave because of the costs of insuring after major storms, the governor said.

According to DeSantis, a major roadblock to affordable insurance in Florida is litigation, and the property insurance legislation will “reign in the incentives to litigate.” He said Florida represents 8% of property insurance claims nationwide but 80% of litigation costs in property insurance.

Florida is one of the few states that have allowed this to happen, DeSantis said. The state seeks to get its laws more in line with the rest of the country, he said.

Some critics have said the legislation doesn’t protect property owners from soaring insurance costs, but DeSantis said the legislation is designed to stabilize the market, in large part by stopping frivolous litigation and scams that he said have been ongoing for decades.

“We need to create an environment where people want to come in and compete for your business,” DeSantis said.

The property insurance bill also enhances the Office of Insurance Regulation’s ability to complete market conduct reviews of property insurance following a hurricane to hold insurance companies accountable for abuse of the property appraisal process, and it clamps down on timelines for insurers to get payments out to owners, DeSantis said.

The measure also builds on reforms approved in May to provide additional funding for temporary reinsurance support to help ensure that insurers can obtain it so they don’t have to leave the state or shut down because of high payouts.

“You can’t dump everybody on Citizens Property Insurance (the state-backed insurer of last resort),” DeSantis said. “It’s not solvent if you have a major event. (To make it solvent), they can assess everybody if you have a major event. You may not even have had anything to do with the hurricane, but you can get a major assessment.”