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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 VE 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
risk pool to spread the risk and reduce the cost of 4
property insurance premiums. 5
6
WHEREAS, the United States has a history of catastrophic 7
natural disasters, including, but not limited to, hurricanes, 8
tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and volcanic 9
eruptions, and 10
WHEREAS, as of November 1, 2024, there were 24 confirmed 11
weather disaster events in the country with losses exceeding $1 12
billion each, and 13
WHEREAS, in September 2022, Hurricane Ian, the deadliest 14
hurricane to strike the State of Florida since the 1935 Labor 15
Day hurricane, killed 149 residents, and, as one of the 16
costliest weather disasters in the United States history, with 17
damages estimated at $115 billion, the hurricane required 18
Federal Government recovery support totaling $8.69 billion, and 19
WHEREAS, in August 2023, Hurricane Idalia, with da mages 20
estimated at $3.6 billion, was the strongest hurricane to strike 21
Florida's Big Bend region in more than 125 years, and 22
WHEREAS, in August 2024, Hurricane Debby caused flooding 23
across the Southeastern United States, with damages and economic 24
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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 VE S
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losses estimated at $28 billion in the nation and insured losses 25
estimated at $89.5 million in Florida, and 26
WHEREAS, Hurricane Helene in September 2024 and Hurricane 27
Milton in October 2024 caused, together, damages estimated at 28
more than $4 billion in Florida and $100 billion nationally, and 29
WHEREAS, as climate change triggers frequent, destructive 30
hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, and earthquakes, 31
homeowner losses from natural disasters have been on the rise 32
and insurance companies continue to raise prem iums, and 33
WHEREAS, many parts of the nation, especially Florida, have 34
been overburdened by the increase in rates and unavailability of 35
insurance, and 36
WHEREAS, multiple insurance companies have become insolvent 37
or have stopped writing insurance in the Sta te of Florida, and 38
WHEREAS, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida's 39
public insurer of last resort, has seen an increase in policies 40
since September 2020, and the corporation now issues nearly one 41
million policies and is seeking a 13.5 percent r ate increase for 42
the standard homeowner's insurance in an effort to decrease its 43
financial vulnerability, and 44
WHEREAS, Florida's residents have not received direct 45
financial relief from the various measures taken by the Florida 46
Legislature to address the continuous rising cost of insurance 47
premiums, and 48
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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 VE S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
WHEREAS, states currently have limited funding to cover 49
insurance losses from federally declared natural disasters, and 50
WHEREAS, the Federal Government has provided, and will 51
continue to provide, resource s to pay for losses from future 52
catastrophic natural disasters, NOW, THEREFORE, 53
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Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 55
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That the Congress of the United States is urged to 57
establish a federal catastrophe risk pool to spread the risk and 58
reduce the cost of property insurance premiums and assist 59
insurance companies and residents of the State of Florida and of 60
this nation when natural disasters strike. 61
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch 62
copies of this memor ial to the President of the United States, 63
the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 64
United States House of Representatives, and each member of the 65
Florida delegation to the United States Congress. 66