XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.republicans, alt.politics.usa
XPost: alt.elections

https://www.wptv.com/money/real-estate-news/florida-lawmakers-eye-home-insurance-bills-in-final-week-of-legislative-session

Florida lawmakers are now in the final week of this year's
legislative session. Along with many issues they're facing,
homeowners insurance remains a major topic of discussion.

"We have the money to make things happen," state Rep. Jervonte
Edmonds, D-West Palm Beach, said. "This Legislature has given
us so much pushback in addressing one of the biggest issues
in Florida."

Bills from Democrats got no traction with the Republican majority,
who have made progress on some proposals, including more funding
for the My Safe Florida Home program.

. . .

This is not just a Florida thing - although the impact
of hurricanes does complicate things there.

A while back, a news blurb indicated that the mayor
of West Palm Beach had to cancel his windstorm coverage
because the price had gone out of sight (and I'm sure
his salary is well into the six-figures). That's
just BAD.

Alas, mega-disasters DO happen - and seemingly more often
these days. In the southeast it's hurricanes mostly, large
cities can just be TRASHED in a day. Out west it's been
FIRES (and now floods/mudslides) plus the omnipresent
threat of The Big One in Cal.

As populations and the
associated infrastructure grew fast, the potential sudden
liability from natural disasters grew - now SO high
that they are no longer offering some kinds of insurance
or have increase prices to where said offerings are
effectively non-existent. The only people in coastal
Florida that can get good windstorm insurance are the
people who have enough cash that they really don't
NEED said insurance.

Is there a fix ??? Well, NO, not really. Large disasters
can happen at any time and NO commercial entities can
stash-away enough money to cover it all (maybe more than
once per year depending). General economic "growth" tended
to cover things in previous decades, but the USA ain't
doing nearly as well as it used to.

It is not going to be practical to move giant chunks
of civilization to "less disaster-prone" parts of
the country either. Oh, some of those areas have
hidden geological faults underneath ... could wind
up like SanFran. Many also get floods, and terrible
drought, from time to time - not AS "safe" as they
may seem from short-term stats.

FEDERAL insurance ? That kinda-sorta exists thru FEMA
and a few others - but the pols really don't want the
tax hit required to fill-in for private disaster
insurance. Oh, and people in "safer" areas will scream
about subsidizing the "idiots" elsewhere. Bad politics.

So, meanwhile, I suspect the only "solution" is NO
NATURAL-DISASTER INSURANCE for most. If it breaks,
you fix it ... or not. Trade yer mini-mansion for
a single-wide and make do. Maybe Trump will make
the USA the world powerhouse it once was yet again ...
but don't count yer chickens ...

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