Special Session 2022A December 14, 2022

This week the Florida Legislature held the fourth special session this year. During the brief three-day special session, legislators quickly focused their efforts on three pieces of legislation seeking to provide relief to Floridians impacted by a pair of late-season hurricanes. The following is a brief synopsis of the legislative bills approved during this week’s Special Session 2022A.

Key Legislative Actions & Bill Summaries

Property Insurance Reform SB 2A (Boyd) seeks to stabilize the residential insurance market and lower consumer costs. The bill aims to address abuses with the assignment of benefits, frivolous litigation and concerns about Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Notably, the bill eliminates one-way attorney fees in suits arising in residential or commercial property insurance, eliminates a policyholder’s ability to execute an assignment of benefit for all property insurance policies, and reduces the time limit for providing notice of a loss to a property insurer from two years to one year for initial or reopened claims and from three years to 18 months for supplemental claims. Anticipated shortages in the reinsurance market are addressed through a new optional state reinsurance program, the Florida Optional Reinsurance Assistance Program. The bill also requires insurers to communicate, investigate and pay valid claims more promptly.

Disaster Relief SB 4A (Hutson) packages several disaster relief efforts aimed at aiding those impacted by Hurricane Ian and Nicole. Of note for local governments, the bill: Extends the due dates for property taxes levied in 2022 for property owners whose property was destroyed or rendered uninhabitable by Hurricane Ian or Nicole Authorizes property tax refunds for residential properties that were made uninhabitable for at least 30 days by either hurricane for the portion of the year that the residence was unusable Appropriates $350 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Division of Emergency Management (DEM) to provide the full match requirement for FEMA Public Assistance grants to local governments affected by the two hurricanes  Appropriates $150 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation: $60 million shall be provided to local governments to assist persons with the repair or replacement of housing, relocation costs, housing reentry assistance, and insurance deductibles $90 million shall be used to fund the Rental Recovery Loan Program to promote development and rehabilitation of affordable housing in affected areas Appropriates $251.5 million from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for:  Beach erosion projects ($100 million) Hurricane Restoration Reimbursement Grant Program ($50 million) Hurricane Stormwater and Wastewater Assistance Grant Program ($100 million) DEP for administrative costs ($1.5 million)

Toll Relief SB 6A (DiCeglie) directs the Florida Turnpike Enterprise to establish a toll relief program effective January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023, for all Florida toll facilities or Florida toll facility entities that use a Florida-issued SunPass transponders. Toll road users who record 35 or more qualifying transactions per transponder per calendar month will be eligible for an account credit equal to 50% of the amount paid in that calendar month for the qualifying transactions.

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