Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
It’s looking like lawmakers won’t address Florida’s troubled property insurance in the upcoming Special Session, and U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist is grabbing at the chance to pin the rate hikes on Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Prices are rising and Floridians are hurting, but Gov. DeSantis is ignoring the problem — he’d rather focus on culture wars and his 2024 political ambitions,” Crist said in a released statement.
Five companies last year opted not to renew more than 120,000 policies, and another company went insolvent. The moves put pressure on the rest of the market, which received large rate increases by state regulators, driven mostly by surges in roof claims and litigation costs.
“Gov. DeSantis has turned a deaf ear to the insurance crisis facing our state. When I was Governor, I lowered property insurance premiums,” Crist said. “And when I’m elected, I’ll do it again.”
Crist has tangled with Florida’s complex property insurance market before. When he was a Republican Governor from 2007-2011, he famously said “good riddance” to State Farm. At that time, the insurance giant threatened to leave the state in the face of Crist’s refusal to soften regulations or allow larger rate hikes as the market rebounded from the massive losses stemming from the damaging 2004-2005 storm seasons.
Evening Reads
“Political melee: election-year redistricting upends careers and turns allies into enemies” via Anthony Man of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“Parkland killer trial opens with questioning of potential jurors” via David Fleshler and Rafael Olmeda of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“First look at questions asked in controversial Florida university viewpoint diversity survey” via Tristan Wood of Florida Politics
“Union urges Florida faculty to ignore controversial survey” via The Associated Press
“New York City Mayor to Floridians: Come here where you can say gay” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
“Why we should keep boldly going where no one has gone before” via Scott Kordella and Christian Zur of the Orlando Sentinel
“Video of man killed by Miami cop shows officer on ground as another cop fires fatal shot” via Charles Rabin of the Miami Herald
“French election opens up as Marine Le Pen surges” via Roger Cohen of The New York Times
“Russia faces global outrage over bodies in Ukraine’s streets” via Oleksandr Stashevskyi and Nebi Qena of The Associated Press
“U.S. seizes superyacht of Russian billionaire close to Vladimir Putin” via Spencer S. Hsu of The Washington Post.
“Disney: Guardians of Galaxy ride opens at Epcot in May” via Dewayne Bevil of the Orlando Sentinel
Quote of the Day
“Revoking Title 42 authority will supercharge the already skyrocketing flow of illegal aliens, increasing drug, human, and sex trafficking.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis on President Joe Biden’s administration ending the pandemic border policy.
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