Florida Phoenix
In his first speech after assuming the gavel as President of the Senate, Ben Albritton put property insurance companies on notice that he’ll be watching how well they treat policyholders who suffered property damage during the recent hurricanes.
“Be assured, together, we are going to recover and we are going to rebuild. However, we know that when a family loses everything, the first place they’re going to look for help is not the government — it’s their insurance company,” said Albritton, a Republican from Bartow.
“Floridians have been faithfully paying insurance premiums for years, sometimes decades, and now they expect their insurance company to keep up its end of the bargain. I want to make sure that impacted Floridians and insurance companies hear me loudly and clearly — we are watching. We’ve made changes insurance companies said they needed to improve competition and stabilize rates. And we’ve enacted pro-consumer transparency to protect homeowners.”
But he added this:
“The proof will be in the results. I’m not going to sit idly by if legitimate claims get denied while rates continue to rise. Period.”
Speaking to reporters later on Tuesday, Albritton was asked whether he had anything specific in mind to enforce that insurance claims are paid and that rates can remain reasonable.
In response, he mentioned that the Legislature had passed a tort-reform bill and insurer transparency and accountability measures to protect homeowners. He added that going into this Summer there were insurance companies in Florida who were “filing for rate decreases,“ a statistic verified earlier this year by Office of Insurance Regulation.
But that was before Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
“We want to make Floridians aware that we are paying attention,” he said. “Second of all, I think it’s fair to say that we’ve done a lot, already, and this thing was moving in the right direction.”
His third point was that state leaders had to make sure “what are the damages and implications in the insurance market due to Helene and Milton. That data is important. There are some that are suggesting that it’s not going to have an impact on rates in Florida … but that has yet to be seen and proven.”
Republicans in power
Albritton and Daniel Peréz, the new House Speaker, will exert major influence over how the Legislature handles property insurance and a host of other major issues over the next two years.
They’ll have plenty of Republicans to support their agendas. Once again, the GOP holds supermajorities in both chambers in the Legislature: a 28-12 lead in the Senate and an 85-35 advantage in the House.
Albritton noted that (once again) Republicans dominated in statewide elections held two weeks ago.
“The elections are over. It’s clear — by historic margins — that Floridians are pleased with the direction our state’s heading,” he said. “They’ve entrusted us in this moment to lead, to serve, and to leave our state better than we found it — that’s a high calling for each of us.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, the members of the Florida Cabinet, and Justices of the Florida Supreme Court were present for Albritton’s speech, as they did when Peréz took the gavel in the House. Albriton thanked them for attending and gave a shout-out to DeSantis for his actions during this past election cycle.
“Thank you also for your principled, focused, and dedicated leadership in the effort to defeat the abortion and the marijuana amendments,” he said while looking at the Governor. “We already have a huge number of successes to count toward our legacy, but leading the charge to defeat these two amendments was incredible.”
Whether DeSantis’ opposition to Amendments 3 and 4 was “principled” may be subject to debate. Observers have put the cost of taxpayer funds that the Governor used in opposition to those measures ranged from “nearly $20 million” to up to $50 million.
Citrus groves
Albritton worked in his family’s citrus groves after graduating from Florida Southern College. Former Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him to serve on the Florida Citrus Commission, from which he resigned in 2010 to pursue a seat in the Florida House, where he served until 2018.
Albriton then won a seat in the Senate, representing the central Florida counties of Hardee, DeSoto, Charlotte, and parts of southern Polk County and northeast Lee County.
He spoke in support of rural communities in the state, saying that with the support of the Legislature it would now be “rural Florida’s turn.” And he acknowledged that the state’s continued explosive growth poses a “serious risk” to the water supply.
“Our water is invaluable. It’s invaluable to our residents, our businesses, our economy, and our precious ecosystems. It’s invaluable to Florida’s DNA. We must continue to develop and advance solutions to rid Florida’s waterways of excessive nutrients from urban areas, septic tanks, wastewater, stormwater, and any other source harmful to nature.
“Few can deny we need more data about water. A renewed, data-driven focus on water will give us a close look at where we actually are, instead of where we think we might be. Fresh, accurate data will drive the solutions we need for the future.”
St. Petersburg Democratic Sen. Darryl Rouson said he was looking forward to Albritton’s tenure, noting that the newly elected Senate President had attended church with him.
“He spent some time with our (legislative) delegation to understand the impact of the arts funding cut by the Governor,” Rouson said. “I believe we’re setting a good positive tone, awaiting the committee assignments. That will tell a lot.”
He added that he appreciated Albritton’s selection of Miami-Dade Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia to chair the Appropriations for Criminal and Civil Justice.
“She has a great sense of justice, and I expect some big things out of her.”
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Mitch Perry reporting. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: [email protected]. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.
