Staff Reports
Often opposite property insurers in the courtroom, state Rep. Hillary Cassel may bring a unique perspective to a special committee tasked with addressing past and future storms affecting the Sunshine State.
Republican House Speaker Paul Renner unveiled Friday committee assignments for the 2024 Session. Cassel, a Dania Beach Democrat, is among the five members from her party named to the Select Committee on Hurricane Resiliency and Recovery.
Before election to the Florida House in 2022, Cassel co-founded a law firm with her husband (Cassel & Cassel) that exclusively handles owner claims against property insurers.
In Tallahassee, Cassel is outspoken in the insurance space and holds herself out as a consumer advocate. The sophomore legislator has argued for more restrictions on Florida property insurers. She’s also publicly criticized some of the state’s hurricane-response efforts in the past, taking the state’s insurance helpline to task. Earlier this month, she co-hosted a town hall event addressing property insurance issues in Florida with fellow Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, who will also sit on the special committee.
The public should know more about the scope of the hurricane committee when the House releases committee schedules, which include meeting agendas. The schedule for the first committee week, beginning Sept. 18, will come “shortly,” Renner wrote to members in a Friday memo.
The committee, which stands only through 2024, is chaired by Rep. Michael Grant, a Port Charlotte Republican. Homestead Democratic Rep. Kevin Chambliss will serve as the Ranking Member.
Cassel will also sit on the Infrastructure Strategies Committee and two of its subcommittees. She will also separately sit on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget Subcommittee and the Energy, Communications, and Cybersecurity Subcommittee.
So-called committee weeks occur before the Legislative Session, slated to begin on January 9.
