F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

HM 371 2024
1 House Memorial
2 A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
3 urging Congress to establish a federal catastrophe
4 pool.
5
6 WHEREAS, the United States has a history of catastrophic
7 natural disasters, including, but not limited to, hurricanes,
8 tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and volcanic
9 eruptions, and
10 WHEREAS, homeowner losses from catastrophic natural
11 disasters have been on the rise as climate change triggers more
12 frequent and increasingly more destructive hurricanes,
13 tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and volcanic
14 eruptions, and
15 WHEREAS, insurance companies continue to raise premiums in
16 an attempt to remain solvent in the wake of increased claims
17 resulting from catastrophic natural disasters, and
18 WHEREAS, small private insurance companies cannot single -
19 handedly afford substantial losses from having to pay claims
20 from catastrophic natural disasters, and
21 WHEREAS, many parts of the nation, especially the State of
22 Florida, have been overburdened by the increase in insurance
23 rates and the unavailability of insurance, and
24 WHEREAS, multiple insurance companies have become insolvent
25 or have stopped writing insurance in the State of Florida, and
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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HM 371 2024
26 WHEREAS, Citizens Property Insurance, the State of
27 Florida's public insurer of last resort, has seen an increase of
28 more than 544,311 insurance policies since September 2020 and
29 now issues more than 1 million insurance policies, and
30 WHEREAS, residents of the State of Florida have not
31 received direct financial relief from the various measures taken
32 by the Florida Legislature to address the continuous rising cost
33 of insurance premiums, and
34 WHEREAS, states currently have limited funding to cover
35 insurance losses from federally declared catastrophic natural
36 disasters, and
37 WHEREAS, Hurricane Ian caused damages totaling an estimated
38 $115 billion, and the Federal Government spent $5.2 billion in
39 recovery as a result of the hurricane, and
40 WHEREAS, Hurricane Idalia is projected to have caused
41 damages totaling $20 billion, but the full amount of federal
42 funding for the recovery is yet to be determined, and
43 WHEREAS, the Federal Government has provided, and will
44 continue to provide, resources to pay for losses from future
45 catastrophic natural disasters, NOW, THEREFORE,
46
47 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
48
49 That the Congress of the United States is urged to
50 establish a federal catastrophe pool to spread the risk and
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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HM 371 2024
51 reduce the cost of insurance premiums and assist insurance
52 companies and residents of the State of Florida and this nation
53 when catastrophic natural disasters strike.
54 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State dispatch
55 copies of this memorial to the President of the United States,
56 the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the
57 United States House of Representatives, and each member of the
58 Florida delegation to the United States Congress.
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