HB 269

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to hurricane preparedness and insurance;
3	creating the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation
4	Mission Review Task Force; providing purposes; requiring
5	a report; providing report requirements; providing for
6	appointment of members; providing responsibilities;
7	specifying service without compensation; providing for
8	reimbursement of per diem and travel expenses; providing
9	meeting requirements; requiring the corporation to
10	assist the task force; providing for the expiration of
11	the task force; requiring the Chief Financial Officer to
12	provide a report on the economic impact on the state of
13	certain hurricanes; providing report requirements;
14	amending s. 553.73, F.S.; limiting the authority of the
15	Florida Building Commission to modify certain codes and
16	standards under certain circumstances; requiring
17	counties and municipalities to enforce certain windborne
18	debris protections and structural guidelines; requiring
19	the commission to amend the Florida Building Code to
20	require application of certain standards and eliminate
21	certain exceptions; prohibiting amendment of the Florida
22	Building Code to diminish certain requirements;
23	authorizing the commission to amend the code to enhance
24	certain requirements; amending s. 10, ch. 2007-1, Laws
25	of Florida; revising reporting requirements for the
26	commission's voluntary "Code Plus" guidelines; providing
27	an appropriation; providing an effective date.
28
29	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
30
31	Section 1.  (1)  The Citizens Property Insurance
32	Corporation Mission Review Task Force is created to analyze
33	and compile available data and to develop a report setting
34	forth the statutory and operational changes needed to return
35	Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to its former role as
36	a state-created, noncompetitive residual market mechanism that
37	provides property insurance coverage to risks that are
38	otherwise entitled but unable to obtain such coverage in the
39	private insurance market. The task force shall submit a report
40	to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker
41	of the House of Representatives by January 31, 2009. At a
42	minimum, the task force shall analyze and evaluate relevant
43	and applicable information and data and develop
44	recommendations concerning:
45	(a)  The nature of Citizens Property Insurance
46	Corporation's role in providing property insurance coverage
47	only if such coverage is not available from private insurers.
48	(b)  The ability of the admitted market to offer policies
49	to those consumers formerly insured through Citizens Property
50	Insurance Corporation. This consideration shall include, but
51	not be limited to, the availability of private market
52	reinsurance and coverage through the Florida Hurricane
53	Catastrophe Fund, the general adequacy of the admitted
54	market's current rates, and the capacity of the industry to
55	offer policies to former Citizens Property Insurance
56	Corporation policyholders within existing writing ratio
57	limitations.
58	(c)  The appropriate relationship of rates charged by
59	Citizens Property Insurance Corporation to rates charged by
60	private insurers, with due consideration for the corporation's
61	role as a noncompetitive residual market mechanism.
62	(d)  The relationships between the exposure of Citizens
63	Property Insurance Corporation to catastrophic hurricane
64	losses, the corporation's history of purchasing inadequate or
65	no reinsurance coverage, and the corporation's lack of
66	adequate capital to meet its potential claim obligations
67	without incurring large deficits.
68	(e)  The adverse effects on the people and the economy of
69	this state of the large, multiyear deficit assessments by
70	Citizens Property Insurance Corporation that may be levied on
71	businesses and households in this state, and steps that can be
72	taken to reduce those effects.
73	(f)  The operational implications of the variation in the
74	number of policies in force over time in Citizens Property
75	Insurance Corporation and the merits of outsourcing some or
76	all of its operational responsibilities.
77	(g)  Changes in the mission and operations of Citizens
78	Property Insurance Corporation to reduce or eliminate any
79	adverse effect such mission and operations may be having on
80	the promotion of sound and economic growth and development of
81	the coastal areas of this state.
82	(2)  The task force shall be composed of 17 members as
83	follows:
84	(a)  Three members appointed by the Speaker of the House
85	of Representatives.
86	(b)  Three members appointed by the President of the
87	Senate.
88	(c)  Three members appointed by the Governor who are not
89	employed by or professionally affiliated with an insurance
90	company or a subsidiary of an insurance company.
91	(d)  Eight members appointed as representatives of
92	private insurance companies as follows:
93	1.  Two members representing two separate insurance
94	companies in this state that each provide at least 300,000
95	property insurance policies statewide at the time of the
96	creation of the task force.
97	2.  Two members representing two separate insurance
98	companies in this state that each provide at least 100,000 but
99	no more than 299,000 property insurance policies statewide at
100	the time of the creation of the task force.
101	3.  Two members representing two separate insurance
102	companies in this state that each provide fewer than 100,000
103	property insurance policies statewide at the time of the
104	creation of the task force.
105	4.  Two members appointed by the Chief Financial Officer
106	representing insurance agents in this state, at least one of
107	whom represents the largest property and casualty insurance
108	agent's association in this state.
109
110	Of each pair of members appointed under subparagraphs 1., 2.,
111	and 3., one shall be appointed by the President of the Senate
112	and one by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
113	(3)  The task force shall conduct research, hold public
114	meetings, receive testimony, employ consultants and
115	administrative staff, and undertake other activities
116	determined by its members to be necessary to complete its
117	responsibilities. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation
118	shall have appropriate senior staff attend task force
119	meetings, shall respond to requests for testimony and data by
120	the task force, and shall otherwise cooperate with the task
121	force.
122	(4)  A member of the task force may not delegate his or
123	her attendance or voting power to a designee.
124	(5)  Members of the task force shall serve without
125	compensation but are entitled to receive reimbursement for
126	travel and per diem as provided in s. 112.061, Florida
127	Statutes.
128	(6)  The appointments to the task force must be completed
129	within 30 calendar days after the effective date of this act,
130	and the task force must hold its initial meeting within 1
131	month after appointment of all members. The task force shall
132	expire no later than 60 calendar days after submission of the
133	report required in subsection (1).
134	Section 2.  The Chief Financial Officer shall provide a
135	report on the economic impact on the state of a 1-in-250-year
136	hurricane to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and
137	the Speaker of the House of Representatives by March 1 of each
138	year. The report shall include an estimate of the short-term
139	and long-term fiscal impacts of such a storm on Citizens
140	Property Insurance Corporation, the Florida Hurricane
141	Catastrophe Fund, the private insurance and reinsurance
142	markets, the state economy, and the state debt. The report may
143	also include recommendations by the Chief Financial Officer
144	for preparing for such a hurricane and reducing the economic
145	impact of such a hurricane on the state. In preparing the
146	analysis, the Chief Financial Officer shall coordinate with
147	and obtain data from the Office of Insurance Regulation,
148	Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the Florida Hurricane
149	Catastrophe Fund, the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss
150	Projection Methodology, the State Board of Administration, the
151	Office of Economic and Demographic Research, and other state
152	agencies.
153	Section 3.  Subsection (3) of section 553.73, Florida
154	Statutes, is amended, and subsection (13) is added to that
155	section, to read:
156	553.73  Florida Building Code.--
157	(3)  The commission shall select from available national
158	or international model building codes, or other available
159	building codes and standards currently recognized by the laws
160	of this state, to form the foundation for the Florida Building
161	Code. The commission may modify the selected model codes and
162	standards as needed to accommodate the specific needs of this
163	state, but only to the extent that any such modifications
164	strengthen the structural integrity of buildings constructed
165	in compliance with provisions of the Florida Building Code
166	relating to wind protection. Standards or criteria referenced
167	by the selected model codes shall be similarly incorporated by
168	reference. If a referenced standard or criterion requires
169	amplification or modification to be appropriate for use in
170	this state, only the amplification or modification shall be
171	specifically set forth in the Florida Building Code. The
172	Florida Building Commission may approve technical amendments
173	to the code, subject to the requirements of subsections (7)
174	and (8), after the amendments have been subject to the
175	following conditions:
176	(a)  The proposed amendment has been published on the
177	commission's website for a minimum of 45 days and all the
178	associated documentation has been made available to any
179	interested party before any consideration by any Technical
180	Advisory Committee;
181	(b)  In order for a Technical Advisory Committee to make
182	a favorable recommendation to the commission, the proposal
183	must receive a three-fourths vote of the members present at
184	the Technical Advisory Committee meeting and at least half of
185	the regular members must be present in order to conduct a
186	meeting;
187	(c)  After Technical Advisory Committee consideration and
188	a recommendation for approval of any proposed amendment, the
189	proposal must be published on the commission's website for not
190	less than 45 days before any consideration by the commission;
191	and
192	(d)  Any proposal may be modified by the commission based
193	on public testimony and evidence from a public hearing held in
194	accordance with chapter 120.
195
196	The commission shall incorporate within sections of the
197	Florida Building Code provisions which address regional and
198	local concerns and variations, but only to the extent that any
199	such modifications strengthen the structural integrity of
200	buildings constructed in compliance with provisions of the
201	Florida Building Code relating to wind protection. The
202	commission shall make every effort to minimize conflicts
203	between the Florida Building Code, the Florida Fire Prevention
204	Code, and the Life Safety Code.
205	(13)  Each county and municipality in this state shall,
206	at a minimum, enforce the windborne debris protections and
207	structural guidelines adopted by the American Society of Civil
208	Engineers in the standard commonly referred to as ASCE 7-02.
209	Notwithstanding s. 109, chapter 2000-141, Laws of Florida, the
210	Florida Building Commission shall amend the Florida Building
211	Code to require application of ASCE 7-02 throughout the state
212	and to eliminate all exceptions providing less stringent
213	requirements. Provisions of the Florida Building Code,
214	including those contained in referenced standards and
215	criteria, relating to wind resistance shall not be amended
216	pursuant to this subsection to diminish construction
217	requirements; however, the commission may amend the provisions
218	to enhance those construction requirements.
219	Section 4.  Subsection (2) of section (10) of chapter
220	2007-1, Laws of Florida, is amended to read:
221	Section 10.
222	(2)  The Florida Building Commission shall develop
223	voluntary "Code Plus" guidelines for increasing the hurricane
224	resistance of buildings. The guidelines may be modeled on the
225	requirements for the High Velocity Hurricane Zone and must
226	identify products, systems, and methods of construction that
227	the commission anticipates could result in stronger
228	construction. The commission shall include these guidelines in
229	its report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of
230	the House of Representatives during the 2009 Regular Session
231	of the 2008 Legislature.
232	Section 5.  For the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the
233	nonrecurring sum of $250,000 is appropriated from the General
234	Revenue Fund for the purpose of implementing the provisions of
235	this act relating to the Citizens Property Insurance
236	Corporation Mission Review Task Force.
237	Section 6.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.