TAMPA, Fla. – As Florida’s homeowners dispute insurance denials from last year’s hurricanes, state reforms intended to improve service and bring down our bills are coming under scrutiny.

The backstory:

In 2022, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis made it harder to sue home insurance companies and offered those companies additional state-backed reinsurance – state money to subsidize the private market.

Before this passed, some lawmakers doubted subsidies for the insurance companies and making it harder for consumers to sue them would help consumers.

“It’s corporate welfare. It’s only helping big businesses, and my constituents are not going to feel any relief as a result of it,” said Michael Grieco, who served as a Democratic state representative from 2018-22.

READ: Home insurance nightmares continue months after 2024 hurricanes

Then in 2023, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed DeSantis delivered the biggest insurance bailout in history and crushed Florida homeowners whose houses were destroyed. Trump claimed Florida’s insurance commissioner did nothing, while Floridians’ lives were ruined.

For context, Trump and DeSantis were running against each other at the time.

Dig deeper:

State lawmakers said it would take more time for their changes to pay off. They said we would need to wait a year and a half to see the results.

However, homeowners reported their premiums continued to rise through 2023.

For example, in Pinellas County, Dave Lesko’s home insurance bill increased from $5,500 to $7,500 in 2023, after he had renovated and bolstered it with stronger windows. Then in 2024, his bill rose to $17,000.

“I thought so at first I read the number wrong. I had to get my glasses and double-check, but it’s correct and it’s actually a 120% increase from last year,” Lesko said.

Then Florida took hits from Hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton.

And Weiss Ratings found a sharp increase in damage claim denials compared to prior storms in prior years.

“Some of the bigger providers in the state have denial rates close to 50%, so half of the claims are being denied,” said Weiss Ratings founder Dr. Martin Weiss.

Weiss Ratings shows 14 property insurers in Florida closed more than half their claims in 2024 with no payments. Weiss notes that does not include claims that fall outside the policy’s coverage (like mistakenly filing flood claims on a home policy).

Florida home insurance: Reviewing the impact on state reforms

In Washington, U.S. Republican Senator Josh Hawley flagged the rise in denial rates in calling for a congressional investigation.

The Republican Governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, cited Florida’s reforms as a model for what not to do.

“They tried wholesale tort reform that insurance companies said would lower rates in Florida and today, policyholders in Florida struggle to get the very claims paid on the policies they paid for,” Gov. Jeff Landry said.

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The other side:

Florida’s insurance commissioner disagrees. Michael Yaworsky notes more insurance companies are doing business in Florida. He said rates have leveled off in Florida, and some are going down.

“We are seeing that stability has emerged throughout the marketplace,” Yaworsky said.

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After losing a commitment from four-star linebacker Izayia Williams, who is now on his fifth commitment after flipping to Ole Miss, the Florida Gators are poised to replace him with another high-ranked recruit.

Four-star Malik Morris of Lakeland (Fla.) on Tuesday revealed his final six schools of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Missouri and Texas A&M. Morris (6-1, 225 pounds) is rated as the nation’s No. 8 linebacker prospect and No. 131 overall prospect in the class of 2026, according to Rivals.

While Florida will have to fend off strong recruiting from rivals Miami, Georgia and Alabama, the Gators appear to be the front runner after earning a string of predictions to receive a pledge from Morris.

On3’s Corey Bender and Blake Alderman both gave predictions in March and April for Morris to end up with Florida.

The Gators will have a chance to seal the deal this summer when Morris takes an official visit with the program on June 13 after visits Miami on May 30 and Texas A&M on June 6. Morris has not announced a scheduled commitment date.

“Florida fits right in my heart, man,” Morris told On3 in March after an unofficial visit. “I like a lot of places, but Florida fits in my heart. It’s just something special. I’m taking these trips and getting the experiences.”

A pledge from Morris would immediate boost the Gators’ 2026 recruiting class, which is left with one pledge in four-star quarterback Will Griffin after recent decommitments from Williams, four-star safety Devin Jackson and four-star corner Jaelen Waters.

However, the Gators are in a strong position to build its class with a heavy official visit schedule this summer and with predictions to land a slew of recruits in Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy interior offensive lineman G’Nivre Carr, Dyke (Va.) four-star defensive lineman Valdin Stone, Cocoa (Fla.) four-star defensive back CJ Hester and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy tight end Kekua Aumua.

TAMPA, Fla. – Gov Ron DeSantis announced Monday Florida Highway Patrol troopers will be enforcing immigration law just like federal agents.

This week, more than 100 FHP troopers were the first state officers in the country to be sworn in as special deputy U.S. Marshals.

DeSantis said the troopers will be able to enforce immigration law independently from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“It empowers state troopers to execute federal warrants and remove dangerous criminal aliens from our communities,” DeSantis said.

During the news conference in Tampa, DeSantis was with Larry Keefe, the executive director of the State Board of Immigration Enforcement.

Keefe held up the state’s Immigration Enforcement Operations Plan, a 37-page “Florida blueprint” that he said is a “prototype” for other states to follow.

Dave Kerner, the executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said deputized troopers have federal authority to detain, investigate, apprehend, and deport.

The ramp-up follows Operation Tidal Wave last month. A state-federal partnership to detain more than 1,000 migrants in Florida in less than a week.

“We were told Tidal Wave was so successful and the trend or pattern for the state of Florida. What we are doing is such that is the new normal,” Keefe said.

DeSantis also released a statement saying Florida submitted a plan to the federal government to “contribute new detention facilities” and a proposal to deputize Florida National Guard JAGS as immigration judges.

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