TALLAHASSEE, Florida – Florida lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Monday for a special legislative session.
The main goal is to allow lawmakers to express their support for Israel.
Committees in both chambers approved bills that underscore that effort, including a bill that would expand restrictions on state investment in companies with ties to Iran, which has supported Hamas.
“We’ve been working on legislation like this for years. I mean, I’ve been out of the legislature since 2012. And I sponsored one of these bills, many years ago. So every year it gets, you know, a little bit more aggressive when it doesn’t seem to be completely working,” said Ellyn Bogdanoff, a consultant for the Jewish Federations of South Florida.
Bogdanoff said that while people in the Jewish community are excited about the support, there’s still an undercurrent of sadness related to the conflict.
“To have the support of your elected leaders at a time like this, I think, is extremely important, because in the past in history, they haven’t always had the support of elected leaders, and then they became victims. So they’re very happy,” Bogdanoff said.
Also under consideration is a $35 million grant programme to help secure Jewish schools, synagogues and other institutions.
“I think people are unaware of the threat that we live under and the amount of security that our institutions need in order for us to feel safe. And I think this is the state of Florida saying that our citizens deserve to be protected from hate of any kind. And we welcome it, and it’s an unfortunate reality. Believe me, we would rather not have it, but the threat is very real and significant,” said Josephine Gon, executive director of community affairs for the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County.
Several other issues are also on the table during the special session, including property insurance.
Contrary to what many may think, property insurance reform will not be addressed during this special session.
What will be addressed, however, is the My Safe Florida Home program.
It’s a risk mitigation program that allows homeowners to invest in making their homes more resilient to storms, such as strengthening roofs and upgrading windows or exterior doors.
But the fund ran out of money last year, and there’s a backlog of nearly 80,000 homeowners still waiting for funding.
Lawmakers have proposed replenishing the fund with more than $180 million.
Mark Friedlander, Florida spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, said homeowners who participate in the programme also get a discount on their property insurance.
“In the state of Florida, home insurers are required to give a discount if you take certain risk mitigation steps. So it’s a mandated process, so if you reinforce your roof, for example, and you spend that money, you get a discount on your policy, and every company does it differently. But we’ve seen that on average it’s about $1,000 per home that has participated. So it’s risk mitigation,” Friedlander said.
Lawmakers are also expected to address relief funding for areas affected by Hurricane Idalia, particularly the Big Bend area of Florida, which was directly hit in August.
The special session is expected to conclude on Thursday evening.
