Florida Senate - 2022                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 2-D
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì892970<Î892970                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  05/23/2022           .                                
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       The Committee on Appropriations (Boyd) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 337 - 490
    4  and insert:
    5         (a)A RAP insurer that has any private reinsurance that
    6  duplicates RAP coverage such insurer would receive for the 2022
    7  2023 contract year shall notify the board in writing of such
    8  duplicative coverage no later than June 30, 2022. Participation
    9  in the RAP program for such RAP insurers shall be deferred until
   10  the 2023-2024 contract year.
   11         (b)A new participating insurer that begins writing covered
   12  policies in this state after June 1, 2022, is deemed to defer
   13  its RAP coverage to the 2023-2024 contract year.
   14         (7) RAP PREMIUMS.—Premiums may not be charged for
   15  participation in the RAP program.
   16         (8) CLAIMS-PAYING CAPACITY.—The RAP program shall not
   17  affect the claims-paying capacity of the FHCF as provided in s.
   18  215.555(4)(c)1.
   19         (9)INSOLVENCY OF RAP INSURER.—
   20         (a)The RAP reimbursement contract shall provide that in
   21  the event of an insolvency of a RAP insurer, the RAP program
   22  shall pay reimbursements directly to the applicable state
   23  guaranty fund for the benefit of policyholders in this state of
   24  the RAP insurer.
   25         (b)If an authorized insurer or the Citizens Property
   26  Insurance Corporation accepts an assignment of an unsound RAP
   27  insurer’s RAP contract, the FHCF shall apply the unsound RAP
   28  insurer’s RAP contract to such policies and treat the authorized
   29  insurer or the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation as if it
   30  were the unsound RAP insurer for the remaining term of the RAP
   31  contract, with all rights and duties of the unsound RAP insurer
   32  beginning on the date it provides coverage for such policies.
   33         (10)VIOLATIONS.—Any violation of this section or of rules
   34  adopted under this section constitutes a violation of the
   35  insurance code.
   36         (11)LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.—The board is authorized to take any
   37  action necessary to enforce the rules, provisions, and
   38  requirements of the RAP reimbursement contract, required by and
   39  adopted pursuant to this section.
   40         (12)RULEMAKING.—The board may adopt such rules as are
   41  reasonable and necessary to implement this section, and it is
   42  the intent of the Legislature that all rules adopted to
   43  implement this section will be done as emergency rules pursuant
   44  to s. 120.54(4).
   45         (13) APPROPRIATION.—
   46         (a)Within 60 days after a covered event, the board shall
   47  submit written notice to the Executive Office of the Governor if
   48  the board determines that funds from the RAP program coverage
   49  established by this section will be necessary to reimburse RAP
   50  insurers for losses associated with the covered event. The
   51  initial notice, and any subsequent requests, must specify the
   52  amount necessary to provide RAP reimbursements. Upon receiving
   53  such notice, the Executive Office of the Governor shall instruct
   54  the Chief Financial Officer to draw a warrant from the General
   55  Revenue Fund for a transfer to the board for the RAP program in
   56  the amount requested. The Executive Office of the Governor shall
   57  provide written notification to the chair and vice chair of the
   58  Legislative Budget Commission at least 3 days before the
   59  effective date of the warrant. Cumulative transfers authorized
   60  under this paragraph may not exceed $2 billion.
   61         (b)If General Revenue Funds are transferred to the board
   62  for the RAP program under paragraph (a), the board shall submit
   63  written notice to the Executive Office of the Governor that
   64  funds will be necessary for the administration of the RAP
   65  program and post-event examinations for covered events that
   66  require RAP coverage. The initial notice, and any subsequent
   67  requests, must specify the amount necessary for administration
   68  of the RAP program and post-event examinations. Upon receiving
   69  such notice, the Executive Office of the Governor shall instruct
   70  the Chief Financial Officer to draw a warrant from the General
   71  Revenue Fund for a transfer to the board for the RAP program in
   72  the amount requested. The Executive Office of the Governor shall
   73  provide written notification to the chair and vice chair of the
   74  Legislative Budget Commission at least 3 days before the
   75  effective date of the warrant. Cumulative transfers authorized
   76  under this paragraph may not exceed $5 million.
   77         (c)No later than January 31, 2023, and quarterly
   78  thereafter, the board shall submit a report to the Executive
   79  Office of the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
   80  Speaker of the House of Representatives detailing any
   81  reimbursements of the RAP program, all loss development
   82  projections, the amount of RAP reimbursement coverage deferred
   83  until the 2023-2024 contract year, and detailed information
   84  about administrative and post-event examination expenditures.
   85         (14)EXPIRATION DATE.—If no General Revenue Funds have been
   86  transferred to the board for the RAP program under subsection
   87  (13) by June 30, 2025, this section expires on July 1, 2025. If
   88  General Revenue Funds have been transferred to the board for the
   89  RAP program under subsection (13) by June 30, 2025, this section
   90  expires on July 1, 2029, and all unencumbered RAP program funds
   91  shall be transferred by the board back to the General Revenue
   92  Fund unallocated.
   93         Section 2. (1)No later than June 30, 2022, each insurer
   94  that participates during the 2022-2023 contract year in the
   95  Reinsurance to Assist Policyholders program under s. 215.5551,
   96  Florida Statutes, shall reduce its rates to reflect the cost
   97  savings realized by participating in the program through a rate
   98  filing with the Office of Insurance Regulation or by amending a
   99  pending rate filing. The insurer shall make no other changes to
  100  its rates in the filing.
  101         (2)No later than May 1, 2023, each insurer that defers
  102  participation in the Reinsurance to Assist Policyholders program
  103  until the 2023-2024 year under s. 215.5551, Florida Statutes,
  104  shall reduce its rates to reflect the cost savings realized by
  105  participating in the program through a rate filing with the
  106  Office of Insurance Regulation or by amending a pending rate
  107  filing. The insurer shall make no other changes to its rates in
  108  the filing.
  109         (3)The Office of Insurance Regulation shall expedite the
  110  review of the filings made under this section.
  111         Section 3. Effective July 1, 2022, paragraphs (a) and (b)
  112  of subsection (2) and subsection (10) of section 215.5586,
  113  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  114         215.5586 My Safe Florida Home Program.—There is established
  115  within the Department of Financial Services the My Safe Florida
  116  Home Program. The department shall provide fiscal
  117  accountability, contract management, and strategic leadership
  118  for the program, consistent with this section. This section does
  119  not create an entitlement for property owners or obligate the
  120  state in any way to fund the inspection or retrofitting of
  121  residential property in this state. Implementation of this
  122  program is subject to annual legislative appropriations. It is
  123  the intent of the Legislature that the My Safe Florida Home
  124  Program provide trained and certified inspectors to perform
  125  inspections for owners of site-built, single-family, residential
  126  properties and grants to eligible applicants as funding allows.
  127  The program shall develop and implement a comprehensive and
  128  coordinated approach for hurricane damage mitigation that may
  129  include the following:
  130         (2) MITIGATION GRANTS.—Financial grants shall be used to
  131  encourage single-family, site-built, owner-occupied, residential
  132  property owners to retrofit their properties to make them less
  133  vulnerable to hurricane damage.
  134         (a) For a homeowner to be eligible for a grant, the
  135  following criteria must be met:
  136         1. The homeowner must have been granted a homestead
  137  exemption on the home under chapter 196.
  138         2. The home must be a dwelling with an insured value of
  139  $500,000 $300,000 or less. Homeowners who are low-income
  140  persons, as defined in s. 420.0004(11), are exempt from this
  141  requirement.
  142         3. The home must have undergone an acceptable hurricane
  143  mitigation inspection after July 1, 2008 May 1, 2007.
  144         4. The home must be located in the “wind-borne debris
  145  region” as that term is defined in the Florida Building Code s.
  146  1609.2, International Building Code (2006), or as subsequently
  147  amended.
  148         5. The building permit application for initial construction
  149  of the home must have been made before January 1, 2008 March 1,
  150  2002.
  151         6.The homeowner must agree to make his or her home
  152  available for inspection once a mitigation project is completed.
  153  
  154  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  155  And the title is amended as follows:
  156         Delete lines 19 - 52
  157  and insert:
  158         providing for deferral of coverage under the program;
  159         prohibiting premiums from being charged for
  160         participation in the program; providing that the
  161         program does not affect the claims-paying capacity of
  162         the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund; requiring the
  163         program to pay reimbursements directly to the
  164         applicable state guaranty fund in the event of
  165         insolvency; specifying requirements for the Florida
  166         Hurricane Catastrophe Fund if an insurer or the
  167         Citizens Property Insurance Corporation accept
  168         assignments of unsound insurers; providing that
  169         certain violations are violations of the insurance
  170         code; authorizing the board to enforce certain
  171         requirements; authorizing the board to adopt rules;
  172         providing legislative intent; requiring the board to
  173         submit a written notice within a certain timeframe to
  174         the Executive Office of the Governor relating to the
  175         program funds, under certain circumstances; providing
  176         a requirement for the notice and subsequent requests;
  177         requiring the Executive Office of the Governor to
  178         instruct the Chief Financial Officer to draw a warrant
  179         for a transfer to the board for the program under
  180         certain circumstances and to provide notification to
  181         specified persons within a certain timeframe;
  182         prohibiting cumulative transfers from exceeding a
  183         specified amount; providing reporting requirements;
  184         providing for expiration and transfer of unencumbered
  185         funds; requiring certain property insurers to reduce
  186         rates to reflect certain cost savings through rate
  187         filings by a specified date; prohibiting such insurers
  188         from making other rate changes; requiring the Office
  189         of Insurance Regulation to expedite the review of
  190         certain filings; amending s. 215.5586, F.S.; revising
  191         homeowner eligibility criteria