Property Insurance

It will begin on May 23, days before the start of hurricane season on June 1.

DeSantis indicated the insurance session, which he is targeting for May, would try to “bring some sanity and stabilize and have a functioning market.”

Democratic Representative Kelly Skidmore of Boca Raton said property insurance "is the most pressing issue of any issue we should have dealt with."

They range from property insurance reforms to fast-tracking the legalization of recreational marijuana.

It comes as many homeowners are losing coverage or seeing skyrocketing rates.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said lawmakers should take steps to address the state's struggling insurance industry.

The session would address rising property insurance rates — which Sen. Jeff Brandes claims are “out of control.” Gov. DeSantis voiced his support.

With lawmakers scheduled to return to Tallahassee on April 19 for a brief special session on congressional redistricting, Brandes announced Wednesday he would undertake the polling process to hold a special session on insurance if House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, and Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, failed to do so.

In a letter Wednesday to Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, and House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, Brandes said “Floridians are suffering from skyrocketing rate increases” and that he might use a provision in state law to try to spur a special session.

House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, said property-insurance changes made during the 2021 session haven't been given enough time to take effect.

She also said affordable housing and condo safety "are issues that are impacting people’s lives every day."

The governor did not include property insurance issues as part of a special session that he called Tuesday, but said more legislative action is needed after lawmakers passed a property insurance bill in 2021.