TALLAHASSEE — Today, another special session on Florida’s collapsing property insurance market, which Governor Ron DeSantis refused to put his name on, came to a close as the Legislature passed Senate Bill 2-A. As this bill heads to the Governor’s desk, Floridians can expect to now be at the mercy of their insurance company when their claims are wrongly denied, provide private corporations with another $1 billion bailout of taxpayer dollars, and force hundreds of thousands of policyholders into more expensive private plans that could raise their rates by as much as 20% this year alone. What the bill will fail to do is lower rates for consumers, reign in excessive insurance industry executive pay, or stop the secretive practice of hiding profits through affiliate companies.
Since 2018, Governor Ron DeSantis and the Republican Party of Florida have taken almost $10 million from the insurance industry as rates have more than doubled and the policyholders in our state now pay more than three times the national average for premiums.
“Here is what Ron DeSantis’ ‘freedom’ agenda really looks like: the freedom of higher costs for everyday Floridians, the freedom of massive giveaways for his large corporate donors in the insurance industry, and the freedom for those same companies to rake in massive profits while harming victims of natural disasters,” said DeSantis Watch Constituencies Director Natasha Sutherland. “As our state’s property insurance market continues to collapse and Floridians are price gouged out of their homes, Ron has tried to distract from his failure of leadership on this issue with more divisive nonsense that advances his own political ambitions to run for president. Ron’s lack of compassion and action on behalf of workers and seniors on fixed incomes in need of real relief is just more proof the only thing he actually cares about is himself.”