Insurance

Even before January's fires in Los Angeles, change-of-address data shows residential moves based on fire risks and insurance availability.

The legislation would create a bond-financed reinsurance program to stabilize the homeowner's insurance market, which has been impacted by wildfires.

The issuing entity said it has collected enough money to pay all outstanding debt service.

A state board moved toward instituting salary-based employee premium health insurance payment system as a way to avoid a looming $1.3 billion deficit in the government's health plan budget.

The insurance market going into the Jan. 7 catastrophe already had been hit with non-renewals and cancellations -- and an overburdened state-supported insurance plan. A Morningstar analyst said the state insurance commissioner's reform strategy could have turned it around but now faces new obstacles.

Early totals on Los Angeles' trio of raging fires appear to vastly surpass devastating blazes experienced by the city over the past decade.

Brad Briner said the state may need to issue short-term debt in the near future to pay for Hurricane Helene expenses.

The agency cited the closeness of the entities to Florida's government.

When communities can't access affordable insurance, it can decrease home values, tank municipal bond ratings, and cripple the tax base — and this will only get worse if left unaddressed.

"We were originally thinking that we would offer five-, seven- and 10-year maturities, with $500 million in each tranche. But we decided today to just offer 5s and 10s — $500 million of five-year bonds and $1 billion of 10-year bonds," said Ben Watkins, Director of Florida's Bond Division.