Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher unveiled proposalstoday for state and federal action to strengthen the state'sproperty insurance market and increase protections for homeownersand condominium associations after a hurricane hits.

Lawmakers at both levels must play a role in helping to ensurethat homeowners and their insurers will be able to rebuild in thewake of a catastrophe, he said.

Mr. Gallagher warned, "Eight catastrophic storms in 15 monthshave caused more than $32 billion in insured damages, and Floridahomeowners will bear the brunt of this burden if we don't act nowto implement solutions to prevent an insurance marketmeltdown."

If adopted, Mr. Gallagher said his proposals could have nationalimplications and some would require action in Congress.

Mr. Gallagher called on lawmakers in Washington to enactlegislation introduced by Rep. Ginny Browne-Waite, R-Fla., to forma national catastrophe fund.

"Private insurance [in Florida] would not exist without thecatastrophe fund," Mr. Gallagher said. Interest in creating anational system, he said, is increasing as lawmakers in otherstates realize that they too could be overwhelmed by a naturalcatastrophe. "This is an issue that is much bigger than justFlorida," he said.

Congress should also pass legislation allowing for insurancecompanies to accumulate tax-deferred catastrophic reserves, and forthe creation of catastrophe savings accounts that would enablehomeowners to save money tax-free to pay insurance deductibles orother recovery costs

"Catastrophic savings accounts would give Floridians theopportunity to save money tax-free to pay insurance deductibles anduninsured losses, as well as to strengthen their homes againsthurricanes," Mr. Gallagher said. "Money would grow over time tobetter protect Floridians from the financial threat ofhurricanes."

At the state level, Mr. Gallagher called for the enactment ofuniform building codes throughout the state, noting that homesbuilt after the enactment of codes in the wake of Hurricane Andrewshowed far less damage than those built previously.

"The past two years have proven that storms will strikeanywhere," he said, making uniform, comprehensive building codes anecessity for the entire state.

Mr. Gallagher said that state lawmakers should also ensure thatsales tax revenue collected from hurricane recovery is used to helpoffset assessments from the state catastrophe fund againsthomeowners and insurers, noting that lower assessments will betterenable insurers to pay claims and keep their rates low.

Mr. Gallagher also called for a more aggressive push to movehomeowners out of the state's insurer of last resort, the CitizensProperty Insurance Corporation. "Citizen's was not designed tohandle 600,000 homes," he said.

One solution, Mr. Gallagher said, would be to limit the coverageCitizen's offers to $1 million, forcing homeowners seeking highercoverage to move to the surplus lines market.

"Hurricanes are a way of life in Florida," Mr. Gallagher said."Preparation, planning and leadership must be a way of life aswell."