This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
STORAGE NAME: h1263.IBS
DATE: 1/30/2024
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 1263 My Safe Florida Home Program
SPONSOR(S): LaMarca
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 7028
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Insurance & Banking Subcommittee Fortenberry Lloyd
2) State Administration & Technology
Appropriations Subcommittee
3) Commerce Committee
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
The My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) Program was created in 2006 within the Department of Financial Services (DFS)
to perform mitigation inspections of site-built, single-family, residential properties (inspections), and mitigation grants
(grants) to eligible applicants to make their homes less vulnerable to hurricane damage. The MSFH Program received
$250 million in appropriations for the Fiscal Year 2006-2007, but was not funded again until 2022. Since then, the
Legislature has provided approximately $433 million in subsequent additional funding to the MSFH Program.
Mitigation inspections are limited to homesteaded properties. Funds may be used to inspect townhouses to
determine if opening protection mitigation would help decrease the risk of hurricane damage and grant funds may
be used to pay for such opening protection mitigation if warranted. The value of the mitigation grant-eligible
homes is currently $700,000. While initially limited to homes within the wind-borne debris region, the MSFH
Program is currently a statewide program.
The bill makes additional changes to the MSFH Program. It allows homeowners to submit subsequent mitigation
inspection and grant applications for the same home if certain criteria are met. Pursuant to the bill, DFS may request
that an applicant provide additional information if the application contains errors or omissions. An application is
considered withdrawn if an applicant does not respond to a request for additional information within 60 days.
In order to receive grant funds, homeowners must agree to provide DFS with information from their homeowners’
insurers that identifies discounts in premiums have received as a result of improvements made with grant funds.
The bill eliminates the requirement that DFS maintain a list of participating contractors for the grant portion of the
MSFH Program. Participants in the program may choose any properly licensed contractor to perform the
improvements.
The bill specifies that grant-funded opening protection improvements includes exterior doors, garage doors,
windows, and skylights. Current law allows DFS to require that improvements be made to all openings, including
exterior doors, and garage doors as a condition of reimbursing a homeowner approved for a grant. The bill adds
windows and skylights to the list of openings that must be improved in their entirety for a homeowner to be
reimbursed.
The bill requires that, for the first 60 days DFS accepts inspection and grant applications following any
legislative appropriation, DFS must prioritize the review and approval of applications by low- and moderate-
income persons and those applicants who are at least 60 years old.
The bill has no impact on local government revenues or expenditures or state government revenues. It has a
significant impact on state expenditures. The bill may have a positive direct economic impact on the private sector.
The bill is effective on July 1, 2024. STORAGE NAME: h1263.IBS PAGE: 2
DATE: 1/30/2024
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
In 2006, the Legislature created the My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) Program within the Department of
Financial Services (DFS) with the intent that the Program provide trained and certified inspectors to
perform inspections for owners of site-built, single-family, residential properties (mitigation inspections)
and grants to eligible applicants, subject to funding availability.
1
The purpose of the MSFH Program
was to “develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated approach for hurricane damage
mitigation.”
2
The MSFH program allowed DFS to undertake a public outreach and advertising campaign
to inform consumers of the availability, and benefits, of the mitigation inspections and grants.
3
It
required the development of brochures for distribution to general contractors, roofing contractors, and
real estate brokers and sales associates to explain the benefits of residential hurricane damage
mitigation to homeowners.
4
Hurricane Mitigation Inspections
The purpose of the mitigation inspections was to determine:
What mitigation measures were needed;
What insurance premium discounts might have been available; and
What improvements to existing residential properties were needed to reduce the properties’
susceptibility to hurricane damage.
5
The mitigation inspections had to include, at a minimum:
A report that summarized the results and identified recommended improvements the
homeowner could take to mitigate hurricane damage;
A range of cost estimates regarding the recommended mitigation improvements; and
Insurer-specific information regarding premium discounts correlated to current and
recommended hurricane mitigation improvements.
6
DFS was required to maintain a list of hurricane mitigation inspectors who were authorized to conduct
the mitigation inspections for the MSFH Program.
7
DFS entered contracts with wind certification entities
to provide mitigation inspections. In order to be eligible for the contracts, the entities had to use
hurricane mitigation inspectors who, at a minimum:
Were certified building inspectors;
Were licensed as general or residential contractors;
Were licensed and professional engineers and had passed the appropriate equivalency test of
the building code training program;
Were licensed professional architects; or
Had at least two years of experience in residential construction or residential building inspection
and had received specialized training in hurricane mitigation procedures.
8
1
S. 215.5586, F.S.
2
Id.
3
S. 215.5586(3), F.S.
4
S. 215.5586(7), F.S.
5
S. 215.5586(1)(a), F.S.
6
Id.
7
S. 215.55186(6), F.S.
8
S. 215.5586(1)(b), F.S. STORAGE NAME: h1263.IBS PAGE: 3
DATE: 1/30/2024
Mitigation Grants
The purpose of the mitigation grants component of the MSFH Program was to retrofit single-family
homes to make them less vulnerable to hurricane damage.
9
To be eligible for a grant, the following
criteria must have been met:
The homeowner must have had a homestead exemption on the home to be retrofitted;
The home must have had an insured value of $300,000 or less, unless the homeowner was
classified as a low-income person;
The home must have undergone an acceptable hurricane mitigation inspection after May 1,
2007;
The home must have been located in the “wind-borne debris region” as defined in the
International Building Code; and
The building permit application for initial construction of the home must have been made before
March 1, 2002.
10
In addition, the homeowner had to match the grant award on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to $10,000, for
the actual cost of the mitigation project, and the state’s contribution could not exceed $5,000.
11
Low-
income homeowners were eligible for grants of up to $5,000, and were not required to provide a
matching amount to receive a grant.
12
Matching fund grants were also available to local governments
and nonprofit entities for projects to reduce hurricane damages to single-family homes.
13
Grants could be used on previously-inspected existing structures or on rebuilds.
14
If recommended by a
hurricane mitigation inspection, grants could be used for the following improvements:
Opening protection.
Upgrading exterior doors, including garage doors.
Bracing gable ends.
Reinforcing roof-to-wall connections.
Improving the strength of roof-deck attachments.
Upgrading roof coverings from code to code plus.
Installing secondary water barrier for roofs.
15
DFS was required to issue an annual report on the activities of the MSFH Program that accounted for
the use of any appropriated state funds, the number of inspections requested and performed, the
number of grant applications received, and the number and value of grants approved.
16
The MSFH Program was appropriated $250 million in Fiscal Year 2006-07.
17
As of May 2009,
approximately $93 million in MSFH grants were allocated to 32,000 homes, and approximately 400,000
homes received a MSFH home inspection.
18
DFS requested that Risk Management Solutions (RMS),
conduct an impact analysis of the MSFH program, and RMS released a report of the impact analysis on
May 14, 2009 (report).
19
In the report, RMS concluded that the MSFH grants were beneficial to the
State of Florida, individual homeowners, and the insurance industry.
20
RMS indicated that the predicted
reduction in loss as a result of the grant projects completed far exceeded the grant money spent.
21
9
S. 215.5586(2), F.S.
10
Id.
11
Id.
12
Id.
13
Id.
14
Rebuilds were defined as site-built, single-family dwellings under construction to replace homes that were destroyed or significantly
damaged by hurricanes and deemed unlivable by a regulatory authority. S. 215.5586(2)(e), F.S.
15
S. 215.5586(2)(e), F.S.
16
S. 215.5586(10), F.S.
17
Risk Management Solutions, Analyzing the Effects of the My Safe Florida Home Program on Florida Insurance Risk, May 14, 2009,
https://www.ipcc.ch/apps/njlite/srex/njlite_download.php?id=5036 (last visited Jan. 26, 2024).
18
Id.
19
Id.
20
Id.
21
Id. STORAGE NAME: h1263.IBS PAGE: 4
DATE: 1/30/2024
While the MSFH Program was never repealed from law, additional funding was not provided until May
2022.
2022 Renewal of the MSFH Program
During the 2022D Special Session, the Legislature passed a property insurance bill (SB 2-D), in which
it renewed the funding for the MSFH Program by appropriating $150 million in nonrecurring funds from
General Revenue (GR) to DFS for the Program for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. The funds appropriated
were allocated as follows:
$115 million for mitigation grants.
$25 million for hurricane mitigation inspections.
$4 million for education and consumer awareness.
$1 million for public outreach for contractors and estate brokers and sales associates.
$5 million for administrative costs.
SB 2-D reappropriated any unexpended balance of funds from the appropriation remaining on June 30,
2023, to DFS for the 2023-2024 fiscal year to be used for the MSFH Program. The appropriation will
expire on October 1, 2024. SB 2-D gave DFS the authority to adopt emergency rules to implement the
MSFH Program.
SB 2-D made additional modifications to the MSFH Program. It required that an application for a
mitigation grant include a provision that requires an applicant to make his or her home available for
inspection once a mitigation project is completed. The bill changed the monetary limits for eligibility for
mitigation grants so that homes with an insured value of $500,000, or less, qualify for the program.
SB 2-D required that homes that receive mitigation grants have undergone home mitigation inspections
after July 1, 2008, and have received permits for initial construction before January 1, 2008. The
homeowner must also match grant funds on the basis of $1 from the homeowner for every $2 provided
by the state up to a maximum state contribution of $10,000 towards the actual cost of the mitigation
project undertaken on the eligible home.
The bill enhanced the reporting requirements for DFS under the MSFH Program by requiring that the
report include the following received by homeowners from insurers as a result of the mitigation funded
by the program:
The average annual amount of insurance premium discounts; and
The total annual amount of insurance premium discounts.
2022 MSFH Program Implementation
Following the passage of SB 2-D, DFS procured a vendor to administer the MSFH Program, qualified
inspectors to conduct mitigation inspections, and qualified contractors who agreed to provide mitigation
repairs and retrofitting under the grant portion of the Program.
22
DFS compiled a list of approved
vendors that homeowners participating in the MSFH Program may choose for inspections and
mitigation work.
23
On November 18, 2022, a web-based application for homeowners to request mitigation inspections and
grant funds went live.
24
Between May 26, 2022 and February 28, 2023, 16,724 mitigation inspections
were completed and 2,979 grant applications were approved.
25
Inspectors completing mitigation inspections under the MSFH Program must complete the Uniform
Mitigation Verification Inspection Form (Inspection Form), as revised by the Office of Insurance
22
Florida Department of Financial Services, Agency Analysis of 2023 House Bill 881, p. 1 (Mar. 1, 2023).
23
Id.
24
Id.
25
Id. STORAGE NAME: h1263.IBS PAGE: 5
DATE: 1/30/2024
Regulation on January 12, 2023.
26
The mitigation inspection report provided to the homeowner includes
the completed Inspection Form, as well as the information already required by statute,
27
including:
A summary of the results of the mitigation inspection identifying recommended improvements a
homeowner may undertake;
A range of cost estimates regarding the recommended improvements; and
Estimated property insurance premium discounts based on the mitigation measures the
homeowner has completed.
28
2023 Developments to the MSFH Program
Following the significant interest in the program in 2022 and early 2023, the Legislature made
additional changes to the statutory framework for the MSFH Program during the 2023 Regular Session.
These changes included changes to the inspection and grant eligibility requirements, and program
management changes.
Single-family home eligibility for mitigation inspections was limited only to homesteaded properties.
29
Funds from the MSFH Program may now be used to inspect townhouses to determine if opening
protection mitigation would help decrease the risk of hurricane damage.
30
If an inspection determines
that opening protection mitigation would decrease such risk, grant funds from the MSFH Program may
be used to pay for the mitigation.
31
The value of the mitigation grant-eligible homes was also increased
from $500,000 to $700,000.
32
The designation of a specific portion of the grant funds for low-income recipients was removed, but
increases the overall grant award for low-income recipients from $5,000 to $10,000.
33
The program’s
geographic eligibility area was broadened to include otherwise in eligible homes outside the wind-borne
debris region, in effect making it a statewide program.
Among the project management changes implemented, home inspectors must be licensed, in addition
to certified.
34
This requirement conforms with other statutory chapters that address home inspectors.
Funding for the MSFH Program
As of December 2023, the Legislature has appropriated a total of $433 million for the MSFH Program
since May 2022.
35
In addition to the $150 million appropriated during the 2022D Special Session, this
includes $100 million in grant funding appropriated during the 2023 Regular Session and an additional
$176 million in grant funding appropriated during the 2023C Special Session.
36
26
Id.
27
S. 215.5586(1)(a), F.S.
28
Department of Financial Services, supra note 22, at 2.
29
The homestead requirement was already in place for the grant portion of the MSFH Program under s. 215.5586(2), F.S., prior to the
2023 Regular Session.
30
S. 215.5586(1)(a), F.S.
31
S. 215.5586(2)(f), F.S.
32
S. 215.5586(2)(e)2., F.S.
33
S. 215.5586(2)(h), F.S.
34
S. 215.5586, F.S.
35
Department of Financial Services, 2023 Annual Report of My Safe Florida Home, p. 1.
36
Id. at p. 6. The mitigation grant funding is by far the largest component of the MSFH Program. STORAGE NAME: h1263.IBS PAGE: 6
DATE: 1/30/2024
Results of the MSFH Program
Between November 2022, and December 2023, the MSFH Program has provided more than 94,000
homeowners with hurricane mitigation inspections and approved more than 23,000 grant applications.
37
Over 73 percent of those homeowners who have completed participation in the grant component of the
MSFH Program have seen their homeowners insurance premiums drop or stabilize, and many are
paying premiums at or below the state average.
38
According to DFS, upon applying to the MSFH
Program, the average premium of the applicants was 55.1 percent higher than the average Florida
homeowner’s premium.
39
Based upon the decrease in premium following participation, DFS has
concluded that the MSFH Program participation is comprised of higher-than-average risk homeowners,
which is consistent with the goal of helping those with homes at greatest risk.
40
Effect of the Bill
The bill makes additional changes to improve the operation and effectiveness of the MSFH Program. It
allows homeowners to submit subsequent mitigation inspection and grant applications for the same
home if the following criteria are met:
The original application was denied or withdrawn due to errors or omissions in the application;
The original application was denied or withdrawn because the home did not meet the eligibility
criteria at the time of application, and the homeowner reasonably believes the home is now
eligible for an inspection or grant; or
The MSFH Program’s eligibility requirements have changed since the date of the original
application, and the homeowner reasonably believes the home is now eligible for an inspection
or grant.
Pursuant to the bill, DFS may request that an applicant provide additional information if the application
contains errors or omissions. DFS may consider an application withdrawn if it does not receive a
response to its request for additional information within 60 days of notifying the applicant of errors or
omissions.
The bill provides additional criteria for homes to be eligible for mitigation grants. Homeowners must
agree to provide DFS with information from their homeowners’ insurers that identifies premium
discounts received as a result of improvements made with grant funds.
The bill eliminates the requirement that DFS maintain a list of participating contractors for the grant
portion of the MSFH Program. Instead, participants in the program may choose any properly licensed
contractor to perform the improvements.
The bill specifies that opening protection that may be improved with grant funds from the MSFH
Program includes exterior doors, garage doors, windows, and skylights. Current law allows DFS to
require that improvements be made to all openings, including exterior doors, and garage doors as a
condition of reimbursing a homeowner approved for a grant.
41
The bill adds windows and skylights to
the list of openings that must be improved in their entirety for a homeowner to be reimbursed.
The bill requires that, for the first 60 days DFS accepts inspection and grant applications following any
legislative appropriation, DFS must prioritize the review and approval of applications in the following
order:
Low-income persons who are at least 60 years old;
All other low-income persons;
Moderate-income persons who are at least 60 years old;
37
Id. at p. 1. Because the grant portion of the MSFH Program is fulfilled based on reimbursement to homeowners after proof of
completion of mitigation projects, the money to fulfill these grants has been reserved, but not all of it has been paid to the homeowners
yet.
38
Id.
39
Id. at p. 2.
40
Id.
41
S. 215.5586(2)(f), F.S. STORAGE NAME: h1263.IBS PAGE: 7
DATE: 1/30/2024
All other moderate-income persons;
42
and
All other applicants.
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1. Amends s. 215.5586, F.S., relating to the My Safe Florida Home Program.
Section 2. Provides an appropriation for the MSFH Program of $100 million in grants and $7 million in
administrative costs.
Section 3. Provides an effective date of July 1, 2014.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
The bill contains significant state expenditures. It appropriates the following nonrecurring funds from
General Revenue to DFS for the MSFH Program:
$100 million for mitigation grants; and
$7 million for administrative costs related to the mitigation grants.
It also provides that DFS may not continue to accept grant applications or create a waiting list in
anticipation of additional funding unless the Legislature provides express authority to do so.
See Fiscal Comments.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
To the extent that homes that participate in the MSFH Program receive mitigation credits or premium
discounts under their property insurance policies and are less exposed to risk as a result of mitigation
retrofitting using grant funds, the MSFH Program will have a positive direct economic impact on
homeowners. Hurricane mitigation contractors may also see an increase in project activity.
42
The relevant definitions of low- and moderate-income persons are found in s. 420.0004, F.S. STORAGE NAME: h1263.IBS PAGE: 8
DATE: 1/30/2024
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
While the bill contains appropriations of $100 million for mitigation grants and $7 million for
administrative costs related to the implementation of the grants, the House’s proposed General
Appropriations Act (GAA) for Fiscal Year 2024-2025,
43
includes $200 million for mitigation grants,
approximately $17 million for mitigation inspections, and approximately $7 million for administrative
costs related to both components of the MSFH Program. Consideration could be given to eliminating
the appropriations in the bill and funding the program through the GAA.
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
Not applicable. This bill does not appear to affect county or municipal governments.
2. Other:
Lines 292–305: The bill may contain an invalid delegation of legislative authority. It directs DFS to
prioritize inspection and grant applications from low-income persons and those who are at least 60
years old for the first 60 days that the application period is open following any appropriation of funds
for the MSFH Program. While the bill provides details on the categories of applicants to be
prioritized, it does not give any instructions to DFS about how it is to accomplish the prioritization
process. Consideration should be given to either amending the bill to instruct DFS on how to
complete the process or to expressly give DFS rulemaking authority to create a prioritization
process.
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY:
The bill neither authorizes nor requires administrative rulemaking. However, see III.A.2., Other
Constitutional Issues.
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS:
Lines 183-184 and 189-190: These lines provide redundant requirements for homes to undergo
mitigation inspections in order to be eligible for mitigation grants. An amendment is suggested to
eliminate the redundancy.
See also III.A.2., Other Constitutional Issues.
IV. AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES
43
See PCB APC 24-01 (2024).