Charlie Crist was on the attack Monday, ripping Gov. Ron DeSantis over his mishandling of the Florida property insurance mess.
Did I say mess? That might understate the issue because it could be a full-blown catastrophe when Hurricane Ian finishes tossing the state around like a ragdoll.
DeSantis, of course, won’t listen to Crist and will dismiss his charges as politically motivated. However, there is someone the Governor should have listened to long ago, and it’s a member of his own Republican party.
I refer, of course, to outgoing state Sen. Jeff Brandes.
He was a modern-day Cassandra on this issue, repeatedly warning what could happen if a big hurricane struck. Hurricanes are a part of life here. I mean, this is Florida.
Brandes begged, pleaded and did his best to convince DeSantis and lawmakers to realize what was happening to Florida’s insurance market. He dug deep into the weeds on this issue. Brandes knew the fuse was burning.
Instead, during the Regular Legislative Session this year, the Governor remained fixated on scaring the bejeebers out of his base on nonissues like critical race theory. Rather than demand insurance reform, DeSantis focused on marginalizing LGBTQ+ people and banning books.
And why work to solve a problem that affects millions of Floridians when you get air time on Fox News for attacking Disney?
So, the insurance market is teetering, and homeowners in the path of this storm could pay the price. Oh, and Disney still rakes in cash.
When the Governor finally called a Special Session to deal with the issue, it was widely seen as a giveaway to insurance companies at homeowners’ expense.
It didn’t stop the bleeding. Rates are still increasing past what many can afford, and thousands of customers face turning to state-run Citizens Property Insurance.
“Socializing more risk into the government-run insurance company is NOT the answer,” Brandes said in a Facebook post on Sept. 1. “Fixing the litigation/insurance market IS. Florida can’t be the most hurricane-prone state and also the most litigious state. Those two things cannot coexist and have lower property insurance rates.”
In August, United Property & Casualty Insurance Co. announced it would leave the Florida market.
Five companies were declared insolvent earlier this year, and FedNat could become the sixth Florida company to leave customers in the lurch. Florida’s Department of Financial Services petitioned to put the company into receivership.
And here comes Ian.
Brandes, who exits the Senate because of term limits, nailed it in comments to City and State Florida.
“We can dig ourselves out, but understand, if you walk five years into the jungle, you don’t turn around and walk out in five days,” he said.
“It’s going to take time, but frankly, we have to turn around first. The Legislature has turned 40 degrees, but it hasn’t turned 180.”
It doesn’t seem like Ian is willing to wait that long.
Desantis after this hurricane, as the citizens of Florida discover their homeowners insurance will not cover their claims. Desantis really screwed up not addressing this problem, just in time for the election.
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