Florida’s growing property insurance crisis
The cost of home insurance has risen faster in Florida than any other state, with a 68% rise over the past two years. Yet Florida lawmakers closed the 2024 legislative session without passing any major legislation related to the state’s troubled property insurance marketplace.
Meanwhile, there’s a federal proposal to change how property insurance companies are insured in an effort to reduce insurance costs for customers in states that opt-in to the program. Florida Democratic Congressman Jared Moskowitz introduced the legislation last May and it has since stalled in the U.S. House.
Plus, there’s a renewed interest on the Capitol Hill into Citizens Property Insurance Corporation after Gov. Ron DeSantis said on CNBC last month that the company "is not solvent."
Guests:
- Steve Geller, Broward County Commissioner and chairs the South Florida Regional Planning Council.
- Mark Frieldander, director of the Insurance Information Institute.
Changes to real estate commissions
There could be major shifts to how real estate agents are paid, with major implications for Florida’s robust real estate market. Last week, the National Associations of Realtors proposed a settlement to resolve lawsuits over real estate commissions that would do away with the traditional 6% total commission for agents.
Guest:
- Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America.
Weekly news brief
Election Day
Florida’s presidential primary was Tuesday for Republicans. Donald Trump won with 81% of the vote, with Nikki Haley taking nearly 13%.
The Florida Democratic Party opted to cancel its presidential primary.
1.2 million voters cast ballots, with about half of all votes mailed in. But voters did trickle into polling places across the state throughout the day, as WUSF’s Meghan Bowman shares.
Haiti
A plane carrying 14 Floridians from Haiti landed this week in Orlando. The state emergency management agency coordinated the flights.
The violence and political turmoil in Haiti is an important story for Florida. Half of the Haitian immigrants who live in the U.S. call Florida home. WLRN’s Tim Padgett tells us more about the rise of gangs there.
Education
While college admission letters have been delivered, the financial details haven’t for lots of families. So the University of Florida, University of South Florida and University of Central Florida are pushing the deadline for students to commit or not to the next school year. The new deadline is now May 15, as WUSF’s Nancy Guan explains.
Sports
Spring officially began this week, which means spring training baseball is winding down and March Madness is heating up.
Florida colleges have five teams in the NCAA basketball tournaments. The UF Gators, FAU Owls and Stetson University Hatters are playing in the men’s brackets. Two of Florida’s women's teams are playing in their tournament: the Eagles from Florida Gulf Coast University and the Florida State Seminoles.
For a couple of months every year, Florida is home to 15 Major League Baseball squads. The Grapefruit League is squeezed from Dunedin to Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast, from Port St. Lucie to West Palm Beach along the Atlantic coast. Opening day is next week.
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