This week, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis addressed the Enterprise Florida, Inc.’s (EFI) September board meeting where he praised Gov. Ron DeSantis for his leadership and criticized the Biden administration’s proposed $3.5 trillion Public Infrastructure Bill, insisting it includes a “hurricane tax” that will increase insurance premiums on all Florida homeowners.
“I was proud to join the EFI Board of Directors meeting in Sarasota today,” Patronis said before taking aim at President Joe Biden’s proposal.
“I want to take this opportunity to warn all Floridians about a provision buried within Joe Biden’s ‘Human Infrastructure’ bill that creates a hurricane tax that will increase insurance premiums on all Florida homeowners. These tax hikes are sure to drive up insurance rates, run domestic carriers out of Florida, and what’s worse – make Floridians more vulnerable to hurricanes. We must let Washington know that anything that increases premiums on Floridians is a non-starter,” Patronis said.
The non-partisan R-Street Institute estimates that insurance premiums nationwide will increase between $10.8 billion to $20.3 billion a year if this tax plan is signed into law.
In Florida, the increase would be especially dramatic, since Florida families would see an annual total premium increase of up to $1.62 billion. That equates to an estimated cost increase of more than $300 per family.
