Senate Bill sb2098c1

    Florida Senate - 2002                          CS for SJR 2098

    By the Committee on Banking and Insurance; and Senator Burt





    311-2065-02

  1                 Senate Joint Resolution No. ____

  2         A joint resolution proposing the creation of

  3         Section 20 of Article X of the State

  4         Constitution relating to the Florida Hurricane

  5         Catastrophe Fund.

  6

  7  Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  8

  9         That the following creation of Section 20 of Article X

10  of the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted

11  to the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the

12  next general election or at an earlier special election

13  specifically authorized by law for that purpose:

14                            ARTICLE X

15                          MISCELLANEOUS

16         SECTION 20.  Assets of the Florida Hurricane

17  Catastrophe Fund.--The assets of the Florida Hurricane

18  Catastrophe Fund, established by general law, shall be used

19  exclusively for paying catastrophic hurricane loss obligations

20  arising out of reimbursement contracts with insurers, paying

21  debt service on revenue bonds and financing arrangements

22  issued by or on behalf of the fund, reinsurance costs of the

23  fund, administrative expenses of the fund, and an annual

24  appropriation for hurricane loss mitigation programs. An

25  appropriation from the fund for hurricane loss mitigation

26  programs may not exceed an amount equal to thirty-five percent

27  of the fund's investment income from the fiscal year that

28  concluded two years before the effective date of the

29  appropriation. Ten million dollars must be appropriated

30  annually for hurricane loss mitigation programs in the General

31  Appropriations Act. Any additional appropriation from the fund

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2002                          CS for SJR 2098
    311-2065-02




  1  for such programs must be approved by a vote of three-fifths

  2  of the membership of each house of the legislature in a

  3  separate bill or bills for that purpose only. This section

  4  does not limit the authority of the legislature to abolish or

  5  otherwise terminate the operations of the Florida Hurricane

  6  Catastrophe Fund.

  7         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be

  8  placed on the ballot:

  9                     CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

10                      ARTICLE X, SECTION 20

11         FLORIDA HURRICANE CATASTROPHE FUND.--Proposing an

12  amendment to the State Constitution to limit the purposes for

13  which the fund's assets may be used and to provide that

14  appropriations for hurricane loss mitigation programs are

15  limited to 35 percent of the fund's investment income in the

16  next previous fiscal year in an amount of no less than $10

17  million, with any amount in excess of that figure subject to

18  an extraordinary vote of the Legislature.

19

20          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
21                   Senate Joint Resolution 2098

22

23  Requires that the Legislature appropriate $10 million from the
    Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund in the General
24  Appropriations Act for hurricane loss mitigation programs, and
    that any additional appropriation from the fund for such
25  programs must be approved by a vote of three-fifths of the
    membership of each house of the Legislature in a separate bill
26  or bills for that purpose only.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.