Links
Welcome
News You Can Use
In the Know
Education Central
Compliance Corner
Case Notes
Enforcement Actions
Contact Us
Issues
 |
Department Home | Agent and Agency Home | Insurance Insights Home Vol. 11, No. 1 - February 2022 |
Welcome
Dear Fellow Floridians:
The 2022 Legislative Session is in full swing and I want to give you some insight into some of our priority bills and how they have progressed through the legislative process.
I'm very pleased to say that the Florida House of Representatives included our "Home Hardening" initiative in their tax package this year. This initiative provides tax relief to homeowners to "harden" their homes from storms by installing impact-resistant windows, impact-resistant doors, and impact-resistant garage doors. My mission is to help homeowners strengthen their home while saving on taxes and insurance premiums.
House Bill 1115 and Senate Bill 1054, regarding financial literacy requirements was reported favorable in the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee and the Senate Rules Committee. I believe financial literacy is vital to life-long financial stability and this important proposal will require Florida high school students to earn at least one-half credit of instruction in financial literacy or money management and will teach students about banking practices, money management, credit scores, managing debt, loan applications, insurance policies and local tax assessments.
Our fire investigators put themselves in harm's way ever day to protect our communities and we must protect them from job-related cancers.
House Bill 557, Fire Investigator Cancer Treatment Benefits, sponsored by Representative Salzman, was reported favorable in the House Appropriations Committee. House Bill 557 adds fire investigators to the existing firefighter cancer coverage. The bill moves next to the House Commerce Committee.
I've also made it my mission every year to fight fraud in our state and House Bill 749 does just that. Sponsored by Representative Clemons, HB749 was recently reported favorable in the House State Administration & Technology Appropriations Subcommittee. This proposal increases penalties on unlicensed public adjusters who break the law; will combat fraudulent telemarketing calls by requiring licensed warranty agencies to identity their full business name an license number immediately; will force big corporations to allow Floridians to easily cancel subscriptions without forcing consumers to hop through a bunch of hoops; and will empower Florida policyholders by ensuring digital insurance applications will communicate with the digital driver's license. The bill moves next to the House Commerce Committee.
These are just a few of the great initiatives we put forth this legislative session to support our first responders, fight fraud, and enhance the services provided by the Department of Financial Services. For more updates, please visit our DFS News homepage.
Sincerely,
Jimmy Patronis
Chief Financial Officer
State of Florida
