HB 1053

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to insurance premiums; creating the
3	Insurance Premium Relief Grant Program for the purpose of
4	mitigating steep increases in premiums on certain
5	homestead properties; providing for the administration of
6	the program; providing prerequisites to receiving a grant;
7	providing limitations on the amount of a grant; providing
8	for the distribution of grant moneys to counties;
9	providing an application deadline; providing procedures to
10	be followed by county agencies, the Florida Housing
11	Finance Corporation, and the Legislative Budget
12	Commission; providing for administrative costs; requiring
13	that checks be made payable to grant recipients; allowing
14	the corporation to reallocate grant moneys in specified
15	circumstances; providing appropriations; providing an
16	effective date.
17
18	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20	Section 1.  Insurance Premium Relief Grant Program;
21	creation; purpose; qualifications; procedures.--
22	(1)  There is created the Insurance Premium Relief Grant
23	Program. The purpose of the program is to provide to qualifying
24	residents of this state grants that will mitigate steep
25	increases in the amount of premiums due on homestead property.
26	The county agencies that currently administer funds for
27	affordable housing under the State Housing Initiatives
28	Partnership Program shall administer this program.
29	(2)  Prerequisites to receiving a grant are:
30	(a)  The applicant must be a resident of this state.
31	(b)  The applicant's annual income may not exceed that of
32	"moderate-income persons" as defined in s. 420.602(9), Florida
33	Statutes.
34	(c)  The property for which the premium-relief grant is
35	sought must be the applicant's homestead and must have been his
36	or her homestead for at least 2 years immediately preceding the
37	date of application.
38	(d)  The current fair market value of the homestead, as
39	determined by the property appraiser and stated on the
40	applicable notice of proposed property taxes, may not exceed the
41	lesser of the median sales price of homes in the county as of
42	the date of application or $300,000, whichever is less.
43	(e)  The latest documented annual increase in the amount of
44	the insurance premium for the homestead property, which increase
45	is due to changes in the price for coverage and not to changes
46	in the types or amount of coverage or deductibles or other
47	policy changes, must equal at least 1 percent of the applicant's
48	annual income; for example, the amount of the increase in
49	premium must be at least $250 for an applicant who has an annual
50	income of $25,000.
51	(3)(a)  The amount of each grant shall be 50 percent of the
52	annual increase in the amount of the premium, with a maximum
53	grant amount of $1,000. If the amount of relief for which an
54	applicant qualifies is $10 or less, the grant may not be
55	awarded.
56	(b)  Grants must be awarded in each county to the extent
57	that funds are available. Each county must receive a pro rata
58	amount of the appropriated funds. In allocating the grant money,
59	greater priority must be given to counties in which the
60	percentages of increase in insurance premiums are the highest.
61	Grant funds must be distributed to the various counties in
62	accordance with a formula that incorporates the percentage of
63	increase in the insurance premiums for each county and the
64	number of homestead properties in each county.
65	(4)(a)  An applicant for a grant under this program must
66	submit the application on or before March 1, 2008.
67	(b)  The county agency must rank all grant applications
68	that are received by the deadline on the basis of need. Each
69	county agency must formulate detailed plans for ranking
70	applications on the basis of need and for administering the
71	program in that county and must submit those plans to the
72	Florida Housing Finance Corporation for approval.
73	(c)  The corporation must forward approved county plans,
74	together with the corporation's plan for administering the
75	program at the state level, to the Legislative Budget
76	Commission. The commission must approve the release of
77	appropriated funds.
78	(d)  Each county agency may retain for administrative costs
79	up to 5 percent of the funds allocated to that county for the
80	program. Each county agency must provide adequate public
81	awareness and education activities to notify county residents of
82	the availability of the grant program.
83	(e)  Checks for the grant moneys must be made payable to
84	the recipients of the grants.
85	(f)  Funds distributed to counties which are not committed
86	to specific grants or allocated for administrative costs by June
87	1, 2008, must be returned to the Florida Housing Finance
88	Corporation for reallocation to counties where there remains
89	unmet need for the grant program. The Florida Housing Finance
90	Corporation is granted budget authority sufficient to disburse
91	the reallocated funds to counties.
92	(5)  Moneys appropriated for the grant program must be
93	placed in unbudgeted reserve until the release of the funds is
94	approved by the Legislative Budget Commission.
95	Section 2.  The sums of $355 million from the Local
96	Government Housing Trust Fund and $145 million from the State
97	Housing Trust Fund are appropriated to the Florida Housing
98	Finance Corporation for the purpose of funding the Insurance
99	Premium Relief Grant Program during the 2007-2008 fiscal year.
100	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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