I would like to thank the publisher and team of The Light magazine for all of their hard work for making the magazine possible. As a contributor to the magazine for years, and as a reader since the start, I appreciate the content they provide our local community. District 100, where I live and serve, is made up of seven coastal Broward County municipalities, with Lighthouse Point being at the heart of it all. As we go into the 2025 Legislative Session, Team 100 arrived back in Tallahassee to represent you on South Florida’s essential issues. We will be back start-ing the committee meeting process in January and February and Legislative Session in March of 2025.
I am committed to working with my colleagues and focusing on lowering property insurance. This is the number one issue that we must continue to improve. Working with my fellow members in both the Florida House and Senate, we will continue to make Florida a more afford-able place to live. While the legislature has made reforms over the past few years, there is still work to do. As reported, we have reformed litigation in the insurance markets. Additionally, we have expanded the reinsurance market so that we can provide more competition and lower the cost for homeowners.
The state and the Office of Insurance Regulation are seeing continued growth in participation of the Citizens Depopulation program. 18 companies have been approved to assume more than 1,000,000 polices through November 2024. The latest takeout approvals include 8 companies for a total of 235,035 personal residential policies through the month of November. The cost of reinsurance continues to decrease for Florida carriers. This year, most companies paid less for reinsurance than they did in 2023. The average risk-adjusted cost for 2024 was down 0.7%, a large reduction from last year’s change of a 27% increase from the prior year. The appetite for condominium association policies has continued to increase as admitted carriers seek to take out these policies from Citizens, resulting in a $15 billion reduction of exposure.
As the holiday season approaches, I wanted to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and a happy holiday season. This season offers a time to reflect on the past year, but also to look forward. We have made great progress in Florida, but I am committed to moving our state even further forward over the next two years. I am grateful for your support throughout the years, and I appreciate your feedback and input on the challenges that our community faces.
As always, it is an honor to serve you as your State Representative in Tallahassee.
