Florida Senate Minority Leader Lori Berman on Legislative Session Priorities

Senate Democrats' Priorities

• 🎯 Affordability is the headline agenda for Senate Democrats, with a focus on three key areas.
• 🏠 One priority is lowering property insurance through a compact with 14 states to create a high-risk catastrophic insurance fund, spreading risk to reduce premiums.
• 🔑 Another affordability measure aims to help first-time home buyers by reducing documentary stamp taxes.
• 💰 A third bill, dubbed the "Florida Doge bill," seeks to recover state money from perceived abuses and return it to taxpayers, addressing issues like no-bid contracts and misuse of funds.

Property Insurance and Taxes

• 📈 Despite past reforms, property insurance premiums remain excessively high, causing financial strain for homeowners.
• 💡 The proposed 14-state catastrophic risk pool is seen as a potential solution to significantly lower premiums, addressing the lack of federal government action.
• 🏡 Regarding property tax, Democrats are open to measures that help senior citizens stay in their homes, particularly those based on income level, and support for first-time home buyers.

Gun Control and Redistricting

• 🚫 Democrats strongly oppose lowering the age for purchasing long guns from 21 to 18, citing brain development in younger individuals and the importance of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act.
• ⚖️ The Fair Districts Act is cited as a reason to oppose the governor's call for a special session on redistricting, arguing that any redistricting at this time would be for partisan purposes and violate the constitutional amendment.
• 🗓️ A mid-cycle redistricting is deemed unnecessary as it should be based on decennial census figures, not interim population changes.