Joe Henderson: Hey lawmakers — stop slaying boogeymen and start solving problems

Damage from Hurricane Michael.

Florida Republican lawmakers kept busy during the recently completed Legislative Session, slaying boogeymen here, there and everywhere.

Sure, thousands of Floridians were slack-jawed about rapidly escalating property insurance rates. Aw, but that’s so complicated. Keep things simple, with simple soundbites.

The war against the “woke” ideology took priority. And lawmakers had to ban things that teachers don’t teach in school classrooms (see theory, critical race).

Those dedicated public servants had to take courageous stands against transgender athletes. Heaven forbid a teacher might utter the word “gay” in a classroom. With all that going on, do you also expect them to care about how much your insurance bill increased?

Well, Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes does care. He repeatedly tried to coax his colleagues down from their high moral mountain to deal with something that matters to everyday people.

Brandes was not successful but he didn’t give up easily.

He urged GOP leadership to call a second Special Session to face the problem. There’s already a Special Session starting April 19 to deal with the unsolved issue of new congressional district maps. Gov. Ron DeSantis called that one after vetoing maps sent to him by the House and Senate.

Lawmakers need to settle the map issue, leaving no time to take up the insurance mess at that Session. Hence, the call for a second Session. Brandes wants to remind lawmakers that they should be concerned about this issue.

“Florida’s private property insurance market has collapsed, and it is evident we must call a Special Session to address this dire situation,” Brandes wrote in a letter to House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson. “With the 2022 hurricane season quickly approaching and an unstable market, the Legislature chose to leave homeowners exposed to a perfect storm of rising rates, limited coverage, and diminishing options.”

Interesting choice of words there: a perfect storm.

In the last year alone, four companies refused to renew more than 120,000 policies. Use the word “people” instead of “policies” to understand what that decision means. Multiply 120,000 by the number of people living in those homes, and soon you’re talking about real political consequences.

Two other insurance companies went bankrupt, and other companies imposed large rate hikes.

Living in what DeSantis loves to say is the “free state of Florida” isn’t free. For many, it’s damn near unaffordable. Is this where we remind lawmakers that people vote with their wallets and pocketbooks?

The Legislative Session is supposed to be about providing solutions to real problems. This year, though, it was about creating strawmen that they could slay. DeSantis said he is open to a Special Session but doesn’t anticipate any change until after the November election.

That seems like a rather casual approach to a significant problem.

But hey, at least teachers can’t say “gay” now.