The last two legislative sessions in Florida have been frenetic. If there was a cultural grievance Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed as he vied to become president, lawmakers were ready to cement it into law.
With the 2024 session starting Tuesday, it appears the pace in the Legislature has slowed down. Fewer bills have been filed and more than a dozen lawmakers and consultants told the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau they expect a less explosive session. Republicans who control the House and Senate have lined up bills ranging from social media regulations for children to expanding the state’s healthcare workforce. But the governor has not pitched major priorities as he did in the past.
With three years left in his term, DeSantis is declaring victory — mission accomplished — a little too early.
“I can stand here and say, I’ve delivered on 100% of what I promised I would do,” DeSantis said at a campaign event in Iowa last month.
Sure, DeSantis delivered on banning abortions after six weeks, halting gender affirming care for transgender teens and stopping discussions about LGBTQ issues in classrooms — culture war victories that did little to change the daily lives of most people.
He boasts about the state’s low unemployment numbers and economic rebound after the pandemic, but he hardly mentions stubbornly high housing costs, especially in South Florida, and the out-of-control homeowners’ insurance market.
Far from mission accomplished, these are issues that really do affect Floridians’ daily lives. While DeSantis criticizes “Bidenomics,” Florida is not the economic oasis he paints on the campaign trail.
Republicans banked on reforms that make it harder to sue insurance companies would push premiums down. But costs have continued to go up and homeowners continue to be kicked off their policies. Lawmakers have asked Floridians for patience as the reforms take effect, but a recent state report called into question the premise that frivolous lawsuits are a main driver of high premiums.
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties accounted for a disproportionate share of nearly 58,400 insurance claims that led to lawsuits in 2022, an indication of potentially fraudulent or abusive practices. Those litigated claims, however, only made up 8% of claims closed in 2022, and less than 1% of the 7.2 million policies in effect that year, the Herald/Times reported.
If there’s any chance Florida can legislate its way out of this crisis, lawmakers need to stop asking for patience and instead devote significant time and brainpower to address other facets of this crisis. Republicans and Democrats have filed several insurance-related bills; it’s unclear if any of them will become law.
On the state’s housing affordability crisis, which is prompting families to leave places like Miami-Dade, lawmakers made some progress, at least on paper. Last year, they passed the Live Local Act, the first comprehensive reforms on the issue in recent years. While promising, it remains to be seen if the changes will bring down the cost of renting or owning a home.
The Live Local Act provided funding and tax credits for affordable housing but also allowed developers to bypass local zoning and density regulations if some units are for workforce housing, leading to a proposed 18-story high rise in the middle of Miami Beach’s historic art deco Ocean Drive district that local officials can do nothing about.
Indeed, DeSantis delivered on a lot of his promises, but book bans and meddling with what teachers can say in the classroom do not pay bills. Rather than courting Iowa voters, DeSantis should use the years he has left in the Governor’s Mansion to tackle real crises.
Rather than “woke” culture, the rising cost of living in Florida must become the governor’s No. 1 enemy.
If the past two years were meant to give DeSantis headlines in conservative news outlets and build his political brand, 2024 should signal a return to normalcy. A run-of-the-mill legislative session sounds abnormal at this point, but it’s what Florida needs.
—The Miami Herald Editorial Board