Posted on 05/05/2023 8:55:28 AM PDT by conservative98
Ron DeSantis, the rightwing Republican governor of Florida and a likely 2024 presidential candidate, has handed favors to his big-money donors in the insurance industry at the expense of cash-strapped residents of his state, a new report claims.
The report, “How Ron DeSantis sold out Florida homeowners”, draws on contributions from the American Federation of Teachers union, the non-profit Center for Popular Democracy, the voting rights group Florida Rising and the dark money watchdog Hedge Clippers.
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the report’s authors suggest, that DeSantis’s administration has put the insurance companies’ interests ahead of Florida’s own citizens, who are battling homeowner insurance rates nearly triple the national average.
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Brown, a community liaison specialist for public schools, added: “The insurance everywhere here is crazy from Broward all the way to Dade. I’ve asked so many people and they’ve said the same thing. Their insurance has gone sky high.”
The report argues that the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation is dominated by industry insiders who approved insurance price hikes at greater rates than were seen under previous governors.
“Evidence is mounting that big insurance has blocked proposals that would have lowered costs for consumers,” it continues. “A 2022 proposal by state senator Jeff Brandes claimed to reduce insurance and save Floridians ‘$750 million to $1 billion a year’ by allowing smaller insurance companies to access the catastrophic reinsurance fund. The insurance-heavy business lobby reportedly blocked the plan.”
The authors draw a contrast with Louisiana, which they say has a more robust property casualty insurance market despite similar hurricane risks. Unlike DeSantis’s insurance industry handouts, they contend, Louisiana conditions its subsidies to the insurance industry on increased participation in the state property insurance market.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
DeSantis, who ran a successful re-election campaign last year, and Friends of Ron DeSantis, a political action committee that supported him, have taken a combined $3.9m in contributions from insurance industry players. If donations to the Republican party of Florida since 1 January 2019 – days before DeSantis assumed office – are added, this total swells to more than $9.9m.
The authors’ analysis of campaign finance data also found that two property casualty insurance firms donated a combined total of $125,000 to DeSantis’s 2023 inaugural celebration, which marked the beginning of his final term as governor in the term-limited state.
It is no coincidence, the report’s authors suggest, that DeSantis’s administration has put the insurance companies’ interests ahead of Florida’s own citizens, who are battling homeowner insurance rates nearly triple the national average.
They write: “Instead of fixing problems with Florida’s property insurance industry, DeSantis has lavished the industry with favors and benefits while everyday Floridians suffer.”
These benefits have included the creation of $2bn taxpayer-funded reinsurance fund. Such funds exist to insure the insurers and prevent them being wiped out during a catastrophic event. Usually, insurance companies buy such coverage on the open market but, in Florida, DeSantis chose to use tax dollars to provide access to a state-subsidised insurance fund.
DeSantis accused of favoring insurance-industry donors at residents’ expense
I exposed a lot of this corruption in my exclusive report last week, which President Trump posted on his Truth Social account.
The victims are all Florida home owners. https://t.co/JANH9JeNcP— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) May 3, 2023
It is always surprising to see how cheaply career politicians sell themselves and their constituents.
Wow! Amazing. This morning, President Donald Trump posted my recent expose of @GovRonDeSantis’s involvement in Florida’s insurance scam that is impacting millions of Floridians!
Thank you, President Trump!
You can read my expose here: https://t.co/lV89xmK1XE pic.twitter.com/pvdp6gfbWC— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) April 29, 2023
Ron DeSantis is living so deep in your head that you rely on the American Federation of Teachers for your dirt?
The Antichrist media thanks you for posting their articles.
If you were a victim of Hurricane Ian and you’re still waiting for your claims to be fulfilled by Citizens Insurance in Florida, you probably won’t be getting your money…
You can thank Governor DeSantis. https://t.co/lV89xmK1XE— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) May 3, 2023
Laura hates florida so much she moved there. Should be a rule that you cant vote in a state you move to for twenty years. Keep carpet baggers out.
All groups known for their neutral, non bias, disinterested take on Florida politics I am sure.
The Guardian - read no further
Democrats
Well he does it for free so they do save a buck or two. Maybe they’ll give him a fancy plaque of gratitude.
Sorry, but this is a vulnerability for DeSantis. Florida is wonderful, but the cost of insurance has skyrocketed for everyone I know here.
uhhhh....favoring the insurance co’s these days IS favoring the home owner, since we need the insurance co’s to insure our property
By that logic Obamacare is the greatest healthcare legislation ever.
The MSM has literally declared war on Republicans and Conservatives.
They are trying to destroy anyone who has leadership skills, including Conservative leaders in foreign countries like Israel, Hungary, and Brazil.
They are disappear-ing or camouflage-ing every issue that reflects badly on the Political Left.
WRONG. DeSantis invoked tort reform for one so the insurance co’s don’t get their asses sued off by predator attorneys that then gets passed directly to the consumer.
Been saying this for months. This will ruin his career politically. Because he’s not taking care of us his constituents, but the insurance company donors. Florida is becoming not where woke goes to die but we’re homeowners drowning in debt from insurance payments. Or move out of Florida because it’s too expensive here. He made a bad decision on this one and I’m sure it’s not the first or the last.
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