Insurance

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.

"Insurance rationing by the leading insurers is becoming the mechanism by which climate risk is starting to impact municipal issuers," said Triet Nguyen, vice president of strategic data operations at DPC Data.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. reported that private insurance companies assumed 650,399 policies from the state's last-resort carrier in 2023.

The budget proposal keeps $16.3 billion in reserves and pays down an additional $455 million in debt. While providing $1.1 billion in tax relief to residents, the plan is $4.6 billion lower than the current fiscal year's budget.

Lawmakers are looking for ways to slow the rising cost of property insurance, provide additional relief to victims of Hurricane Idalia, bolster efforts against anti-Semitism and support Israel while targeting Iran.

The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association is getting ready to head back to the market next week with a variable-rate bond deal after successfully selling fixed-rate bonds last week to help fund claims from insolvent insurance companies.

Houston is one of the largest U.S. cities to set up a trust to help fund non-pension retiree benefits such as healthcare.

A proposed IRS regulation boosts the amount of bonds that can be guaranteed by nearly 86% to about $218 billion.

The top two municipal bond insurers wrapped $28.224 billion in 2022, a 30.1% decrease from the $37.486 billion of deals done in 2021, according to Refinitiv data.

The state's benchmark debt ratio for debt service to revenue is at 3.78% — well below a 6% target and 7% limit.

Among the special session charges: "Improve the financial stability of the Citizens Property Insurance Corporation," Florida's bond-funded insurer of last resort.

After four hurricanes and 11 insurer insolvencies, a $458 million deal for the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association supplies capital to pay claims.

The Texas House rejected a proposal to expand coverage for Texans who have low-paying jobs that do not provide health insurance.

Maria Doulis of the Citizens Budget Commission and Howard Cure of Evercore Wealth Management examine how the state's Medicare cost crisis could affect the city's budget. They also discuss the MTA, public housing and property tax overhaul. Paul Burton hosts.

All three entities have liquidity available to pay claims before turning to bonds to finance losses, said Moody's Investors Service.

Gov. Paul LePage and state lawmakers are at odds about how to fund a voter-approved Medicaid expansion that was supposed to take effect on July 2.

Bradley Wendt, a former investment banker with extensive experience in municipal bonds, interest rate swaps, and other fixed income products, joins Treasury's Office of Domestic Finance.