Ahead of hurricane season, Gov. DeSantis signs legislation to boost home hardening program

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. 3/8/24-Gov. Ron DeSantis talks about the close of the 2024 Legislative Session during a news conference, Friday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. COLIN HACKLEY PHOTO

With little over a month away from hurricane season, a program providing matching grants to homeowners who make improvements to protect against wind damage during a storm is expanding and getting an infusion of funding, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a pair of bills.

One measure (SB 7028) adds another $200 million to the My Safe Florida Home (MSFH) program to help erase a backlog. It also puts elderly, low-income residents at the front of the line for new grants.

The program has “stabilized and, in some cases, reduced insurance rates,” DeSantis said before signing the legislation at an event in Pinellas County.

MSFH provides free wind mitigation inspections for homeowners and offers matching grants of twice what the homeowner pays for an improvement project, but the grant is capped at $10,000. To be eligible, the homeowner must live in the home and have a homestead exemption on the property.

Another measure (HB 1029) sets up a pilot program to expand the grants to make them available for condo associations. There’s $30 million in the main state budget to pay for the new program, and while the Legislature hasn’t formally sent the budget (HB 5001) to DeSantis’ desk, he said that money will be available for the program when he signs it.

“Right here in Pinellas County, we have hundreds of condo associations that hug our coastline. So we thought, ‘Hey, let’s get a pilot program. Let’s encourage these folks to replace these windows … secure their roofs, replace these doors,’” said Sen. Nick DiCeglie, an Indian Rocks Beach Republican who sponsored the bill. “I anticipate this program being incredibly successful.”

Both measures take effect July 1.

“A proven way to prevent hurricane damage and property loss is to fortify homes against storms,” said Michael Carlson, president and CEO of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida (PIFF). “Gov. DeSantis, the Florida Legislature and CFO Jimmy Patronis have prioritized storm recovery and preparedness by supporting the My Safe Florida Home Program and adding funding to cover more Floridians on the waiting list. We’re also glad to see the condominium pilot legislation signed into law and hope this program proves it can reduce the risk of loss for condo owners as well.”

The MSFH program was initially set up by the Legislature in 2006, but homeowners didn’t flock to the grants. By 2009, just $92 million had been paid out to 32,000 homeowners and the program eventually was left unfunded.

But as insurance rates soared, lawmakers have now put more than $600 million back into the program since 2022. From November 2022 to December 2023, 94,000 homes were inspected under the program and 23,000 applications were approved.