Florida House of Representatives District 51 Candidate Janet C. Long Has a Plan

District 51 candidate Janet Long has developed a five point plan to stabilize the property insurance industry in the State of Florida. The plan includes:

Support the reorganization of CITIZENS so that it becomes a real insurance company organizationally and statutorily. This would create competitive rates and they would be required to do the same risk analysis as any other company. They would no longer be required to have the highest rates over the private market.

Secondly, the plan provides for the initiative and leadership to organize an insurance consortium for windstorm coverage that can be formed regionally. The region would be made up of the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic states up to Maine. These states would then participate in a larger pool for windstorm coverage operating similar to the national flood insurance program. The regional consortium would lobby Congress for tax exempt savings for the catastrophic windstorm coverage.

The plan will help to encourage the private market place to come back to Florida by creating a regulatory environment that works to insure that there is a cap on their liability (up to $150,000 to $200,000). The next level of risk would be provided by various levels of re-insurance.

The hurricane catastrophe fund must be reorganized to benefit the consumer. The legislature must stop taking dollars out of the fund for other purposes. All of the assessments on the catastrophe fund as well as on Citizens needs to be reviewed.

Finally, the plan proposes the creation of a property insurance savings plan. The PISA would be a tax exempt opportunity for policyholders to help themselves mitigate their losses. For every premium paid to property insurance, a certain percentage would be placed in an interest bearing savings account. These dollars could potentially be matched by the private market, Citizens, the State and the Cat fund. Those dollars can be used by the property owner for hardening one's home or mitigating the deductibles in the event of a storm. For those Floridians who have no mortgage and are forced to self-insure this tax exempt savings account would assist them in mitigating losses. This plan would ask for a tax credit for every homeowner who takes the initiative to harden their homes. These homeowners should not be penalized for doing the right thing.

This year has been a fortunate year for Floridians with regards to the weather; however, following years may not be as fortunate and the crisis relating to insurance coverage needs to be handled. This five point plan is the number one component of Janet Long's campaign platform. Janet Long stated, ".I have the willingness, background, experience and knowledge to 'hit the ground running' in an effort to provide real leadership and solutions. People, public policy, and public service are more important than partisanship."