Article
Courtesy of WPTV Channel 5
By
Forrest Saunders
Published February 2, 2024
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WATCH VIDEO |
TALLAHASSEE — What the state considers a successful grant program to help
harden Florida homes against hurricanes took a big step closer to sticking
around for another year.
A bill making it happen is now ready for a vote in the full state Senate.
That’s as lawmakers also eye bringing it to condo owners.
The My Safe Florida Home program was an explosive success
when officials reincarnated the early 2000s idea in 2022. So
much so, that it ran out of funds and had to be refilled in
a recent special session. State lawmakers are now looking at
its future and have several ideas for what to do next.
Wednesday was just the latest win for the My Safe Florida
Home program. The upper chamber's Fiscal Policy Committee
unanimously sent it to the full Senate for consideration in
the coming weeks.
MSFH seeks to harden more Florida homes against hurricanes
by providing those who qualify with up to $10,000 in grant
dollars to install things like impact-resistant windows. The
added benefit — so say supporters: a stronger home also
means cheaper insurance. |
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"It’s lowered premiums on individual insurance policies,"
Republican Sen. Jim Boyd of Bradenton, said. "I think the average was
$800-$900 per policy. That’s significant.”
Boyd’s bill would refill the program’s coffers with more than $100 million
for the next fiscal year. With it, new rules would put low-income and senior
homeowners (60 plus) first.
"It prioritizes — as we haven’t done in the past on My Safe Florida Home —
those that could probably use the help the most," Boyd said.
That’s not all lawmakers are hammering together. A pilot program is in the
works to create the My Safe Florida Condo program, which is basically what
it sounds like.
"The idea was we have this wildly successful program for homeowners — why
shouldn’t it also include homeowners who live in condo associations?"
Democrat Rep. Christine Hunschofsky of Coconut Creek, who is helping sponsor
the House version of the bill, said.
Hunschofsky said the initial run would allot $25 million, and again target
low-income elder populations.
"We’re going to see how it goes," she said. "See how popular it is. See if
it needs to be tweaked — if some of the definitions— but the point here is
we want to help."
Both of the bills for Florida homes and condos rely on the bigger bill, the
budget, to happen. That's good news for supporters. Gov. Ron DeSantis is a
fan of the MSFH program and wants it to become a permanent fixture in the
Sunshine State.
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