Buchanan, Gregory review 2023 legislative session at South County Tiger Bay luncheon

VENICE – Memories of the late Nancy Detert mixed with talk about affordable housing, home rule and insurance reform Friday afternoon, as South County Tiger Bay hosted its annual review of the legislative session.

State Rep. James Buchanan, R-Osprey, said that he and Detert shared some similar passions, including affordable housing and improving the foster care system.

Detert, a member of the Sarasota County Commission when she died in April, had previously represented Sarasota County in both the state House and Senate chambers.

Buchanan reflected on how Detert called him to ask for additional funding for Loveland Center – the morning of the day appropriations bills were due.

Detert said she hoped for $15 million to expand the housing component at Loveland.

They started with $5 million but eventually with the help of Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, they got the full $15 million placed in the state budget currently awaiting the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Buchanan was accompanied at the event by state Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Lakewood Ranch.

Earlier: Questions about home rule, housing and insurance reform highlight legislative update

Gregory filled in for state Sen. Joe Gruters, as well as state Rep. Michael Grant, who represents Charlotte County and south Sarasota County, including Englewood, North Port and a potion of southern Venice.

South County Tiger Bay was joined by the Venice Area Board of Realtors and and the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce, while retired Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight moderated.

Live Local Act a double-edged sword

Knight asked Gregory and Buchanan about the $1.5 Billion Live Local Act, which will pump more than $700 million into affordable and attainable housing. He asked why the bill took away local control on key issues such as zoning, parking, density and setbacks.

Gregory said it was a compromise response to the need for affordable and attainable housing, categories that are not being met in Florida’s building boom.

“What we were not building were any homes close to where people work and could afford to live there,” Gregory said. “They were commuting to areas well outside of where they should have been to have a good quality of life.”

“What we found in areas around the state – not Sarasota County – but what we found were county commissioners who were not willing to allow that kind of development, homes that people could classify as attainable or affordable.”

Gregory said he preferred more local control and was leery that the funds would go to support more tax-credit funded housing that eventually flips to market rate.

Buchanan, a co-sponsor of the house version of the bill, said the long-term hope is that local incentives for free-market participation in affordable housing, such as density bonuses tied to attainable homes, would kick in.

Tort reform claimed as key to insurance rate reduction

When Knight asked about what the Legislature could continue to do about property insurance reform, he noted that despite a special session and passage of Senate Bill 2A, property owners have not yet seen relief.

“Should they expect to see some additional relief during forthcoming legislative sessions?” he asked.

Buchanan noted that the special session was followed by the arrival of Hurricane Ian.

“We are a state that’s prone to natural disasters, so that’s something that we’re never going to be able to get past,” Buchanan said. “But as it relates to this session, one thing we were able to do – and Tommy is going to love talking about this – we did have meaningful tort reform this season.”

Gregory, who admitted to relishing the nickname “Tort Reform Tommy” he received from the attorney general, pointed out that insurance claims are the largest cause of increased rates.

After Ian, he noted that, “When people came by with clipboards and say, ‘You had some damaged shingles up there, I can get you a free roof’ – there is no free roof.

“If you got a free roof or your neighbor got a free roof, you paid for it and so did everybody else in the neighborhood,” he added. That’s just one small example.”

Gregory pointed to the elimination of “one-way attorney's fees” that awarded fees to attorneys in recovery lawsuits as one aspect of tort reform that should drive premiums down and lead to more insurance providers writing policies in Florida.

“Your Legislature is going to take some heat for that but it’s going to save all Floridians a lot of money at the end of the day.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Buchanan, Gregory recap legislative session at South County Tiger Bay