HM 11A

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
3	Congress to support a National Catastrophe Insurance
4	Program, participate in a federal/state issues summit in
5	Florida, provide specified federal tax exemptions, provide
6	a federal income tax deduction, and support the National
7	Hurricane Research Initiative.
8
9	WHEREAS, during the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, the
10	State of Florida was devastated by eight hurricanes and four
11	tropical storms, causing approximately $36 billion in estimated
12	gross probable insurance losses, and
13	WHEREAS, the hurricanes from the 2004 and 2005 hurricane
14	seasons have produced high winds, coastal storm surges,
15	torrential rainfalls, and flooding resulting in significant
16	damage to Florida and the Gulf Coast states, which has resulted
17	in displacement of policyholders from their dwellings, loss of
18	personal belongings and contents, closing of businesses and
19	financial institutions, and temporary loss of employment and has
20	created numerous health and safety issues within our local
21	communities, and
22	WHEREAS, the losses caused by the 2004 and 2005 hurricane
23	seasons have led to dramatic and economically painful increases
24	in property insurance premiums for Florida's citizens and
25	businesses, forcing many to consider relocating outside the
26	state, and
27	WHEREAS, in 1992, Hurricane Andrew resulted in
28	approximately $20.8 billion in insured losses and was previously
29	the costliest catastrophe in the United States, but Hurricane
30	Katrina alone left the Gulf Coast states with an estimated loss
31	of approximately $35 billion, and
32	WHEREAS, natural disasters continually threaten communities
33	across the United States with extreme weather conditions that
34	pose an immediate danger to the lives, property, and security of
35	the residents of those communities, and
36	WHEREAS, the insurance industry, state officials, and
37	consumer groups have been striving to develop solutions to
38	insure mega-catastrophic risks, because hurricanes, earthquakes,
39	tornadoes, typhoons, floods, wildfires, ice storms, and other
40	natural catastrophes continue to affect policyholders across the
41	United States, and
42	WHEREAS, on November 16 and 17, 2005, insurance
43	commissioners from Florida, California, Illinois, and New York
44	convened a summit to devise a national catastrophe insurance
45	plan which would more effectively spread insurance risks and
46	help mitigate the tremendous financial damage survivors contend
47	with following such catastrophes, NOW, THEREFORE,
48
49	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
50
51	(1)  That the Legislature urges the Congress of the United
52	States to support a National Catastrophe Insurance Program.
53	Policyholders require a rational insurance mechanism for
54	responding to the economic losses resulting from catastrophic
55	events. The risk of catastrophes must be addressed through a
56	public-private partnership involving individuals, private
57	industry, local and state governments, and the Federal
58	Government. A national catastrophe insurance program is
59	necessary to promote personal responsibility among
60	policyholders; support strong building codes, development plans,
61	and other mitigation tools; maximize the risk-bearing capacity
62	of the private markets; and provide quantifiable risk management
63	through the Federal Government. The program should encompass:
64	(a)  Providing consumers with a private market residential
65	insurance program that provides all-perils protection.
66	(b)  Promoting personal responsibility through mitigation;
67	promoting the retrofitting of existing housing stock; providing
68	individuals with the ability to manage their own disaster
69	savings accounts that, similar to health savings accounts,
70	accumulate on a tax-advantaged basis for the purpose of paying
71	for mitigation enhancements and catastrophic losses; and
72	providing personal income tax deductions for mitigation
73	expenses.
74	(c)  Creating tax-deferred insurance company catastrophe
75	reserves to benefit policyholders. These tax-deferred reserves
76	would build up over time and only be eligible to be used to pay
77	for future catastrophic losses.
78	(d)  Enhancing local and state government's role in
79	establishing and maintaining effective building codes,
80	mitigation education, and land use management; promoting state
81	emergency management, preparedness, and response; and creating
82	state or multistate regional catastrophic risk financing
83	mechanisms such as the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.
84	(e)  Creating a national catastrophe financing mechanism
85	that would provide a quantifiable level of risk management and
86	financing for mega-catastrophes; maximizing the risk-bearing
87	capacity of the private markets; and allowing for aggregate risk
88	pooling of natural disasters funded through sound risk-based
89	premiums paid in correct proportion by all policyholders in the
90	United States.
91	(2)  That the Legislature urges the Congress to participate
92	in a federal/state issues summit in this state to discuss and
93	develop policy positions on current and emerging issues of state
94	importance that are likely to be considered by Congress to build
95	better working relationships in order to mutually accomplish
96	goals of benefit to Floridians.
97	(3)  That the Legislature urges Congress to provide federal
98	tax exemptions for:
99	(a)  Catastrophe premium equalization deductions charged
100	and held by the state in a segregated account for the benefit of
101	insurers for use in the event of a catastrophe.
102	(b)  The Florida Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting
103	Association.
104	(4)  That the Legislature urges Congress to provide a
105	federal income tax deduction for residential property insurance
106	premiums paid by consumers to offset the dramatic cost of
107	property insurance.
108	(5)  That the Legislature urges Congress to support the
109	National Hurricane Research Initiative, which is intended to
110	foster a better understanding of hurricane prediction,
111	intensity, and mitigation on coastal populations,
112	infrastructure, and the natural environment.
113	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
114	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
115	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
116	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
117	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

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