Bush Eyes Special Insurance Session

Florida Republican Gov. Jeb Bush is seriously considering calling a special session of the legislature to deal with the state's insurance crisis, his office confirmed yesterday.

Anthony DeLuise, spokesman for the Republican governor, said he would only call such a session if lawmakers could reach some consensus on solutions to the capacity crunch.

Republican Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings currently chairs a commission looking at a variety of proposals to deal with the shortage and high price of coverage.

The panel is holding a session in Orlando Thursday at which reinsurance executives will look at a number of methods of expanding reinsurance capacity. Primary carrier and agent representatives will also take part.

Sam Miller, executive director of the Florida Insurance Council, said speculation about such a special session has been fairly strong for weeks now and he feels it could be a good venue for providing insurance solutions.

Earlier this month, the state established a Joint Underwriting Authority to provide windstorm coverage for small commercial operations.

One of the proposals the Jennings Commission is looking into centers on expanding the current $250 million mitigation program that provides on-site inspections and matching grants to retrofit homes to make them withstand storms better.

A second option would strengthen the law requiring carriers to give premium incentives to policyholders who fortify their homes according to prescribed requirements.

And finally, the panel is studying adopting a uniform grading system for determining the ability of homes to withstand storms and making that information available to buyers at the time of sale.