The Florida Democratic Party held a press conference alongside House Democratic Caucus members in response to Farmers Insurance Group leaving Florida and slammed Republicans for failing to deliver on insurance reforms.
Farmers Insurance Group announced that it would no longer write new policies or renew existing homeowner, auto and umbrella policies, affecting about 100,000 policies. Florida Democrats said this is only the most recent insurance provider to abandon Florida, noting that at least 10 other companies have recently dropped coverage.
Democrats also said that despite two Special Sessions over the last 12 months, Republican leadership has failed to deliver effective insurance reforms in the legislature, adding the Republican leadership in the Florida Legislature is “out of its depth.”
“People can’t afford to live here. If they are even able to find property insurance, the premiums are through the roof,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried. “You’re seeing in some areas, 40%, 50%, 60% increases in their premiums and that is completely unacceptable.”
“Trickle-down economics doesn’t work, and neither does trickle-down insurance relief,” Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell added. “The Republicans have led us to play whack-a-mole….when it comes to property insurance.”
“We have Republican voters that are frustrated by the lack of leadership from their own party,” Orlando State Representative Anna Eskamani said. “Maybe instead of banning books, they should be focused on these types of problems. I assume one of the books they banned is ‘How To Run a Competent Government.'”
“We are sitting on billions of dollars in surplus that’s supposed to be available for a rainy day,” added State Representative Hillary Cassel. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re in the middle of a storm — we’re no longer waiting on a rainy day. This is a flood like we’ve never seen.”
A full recording of the press conference is available online.
