HM 371 2024
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
House Memorial 1
A memorial to the Congress of the United States, 2
urging Congress to establish a federal catastrophe 3
pool. 4
5
WHEREAS, the United States has a history of catastrophic 6
natural disasters, including, but not limited to, hurricanes, 7
tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and volcanic 8
eruptions, and 9
WHEREAS, homeowner losses from catastrophic natural 10
disasters have been on the rise as climate change triggers more 11
frequent and increasingly more destructive hurricanes, 12
tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and volcanic 13
eruptions, and 14
WHEREAS, insurance companies continue to raise premiums in 15
an attempt to remain solvent in the wake of increased claims 16
resulting from catastrophic natural disasters, and 17
WHEREAS, small private insurance companies cannot single -18
handedly afford substantial losses from having to pay claims 19
from catastrophic natural disasters, and 20
WHEREAS, many parts of the nation, especially the State of 21
Florida, have been overburdened by the increase in insurance 22
rates and the unavailability of insurance, and 23
WHEREAS, multiple insurance companies have become insolvent 24
or have stopped writing insurance in the State of Florida, and 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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WHEREAS, Citizens Prop erty Insurance, the State of 26
Florida's public insurer of last resort, has seen an increase of 27
more than 544,311 insurance policies since September 2020 and 28
now issues more than 1 million insurance policies, and 29
WHEREAS, residents of the State of Florida h ave not 30
received direct financial relief from the various measures taken 31
by the Florida Legislature to address the continuous rising cost 32
of insurance premiums, and 33
WHEREAS, states currently have limited funding to cover 34
insurance losses from federally de clared catastrophic natural 35
disasters, and 36
WHEREAS, Hurricane Ian caused damages totaling an estimated 37
$115 billion, and the Federal Government spent $5.2 billion in 38
recovery as a result of the hurricane, and 39
WHEREAS, Hurricane Idalia is projected to hav e caused 40
damages totaling $20 billion, but the full amount of federal 41
funding for the recovery is yet to be determined, and 42
WHEREAS, the Federal Government has provided, and will 43
continue to provide, resources to pay for losses from future 44
catastrophic natural disasters, NOW, THEREFORE, 45
46
Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 47
48
That the Congress of the United States is urged to 49
establish a federal catastrophe pool to spread the risk and 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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reduce the cost of insurance premiums and assist insurance 51
companies and residents of the State of Florida and this nation 52
when catastrophic natural disasters strike. 53
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch 54
copies of this memorial to the President of the United States, 55
the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 56
United States House of Representatives, and each member of the 57
Florida delegation to the United States Congress. 58