Lawmakers must fix housing crisis in special session

Palm Beach County and many parts of Florida have become too expensive to live. It shouldn't take skyrocketing housing and insurance costs to convince state leaders to get their heads out of the sand on these issues.

This month's special session of the Florida Legislature provides the ideal forum for lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis to address these parallel problems.

For starters they can make one fix that will ease the shortage of affordable housing: They can restore 100% funding from the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund, a source of money specified for affordable housing but which state leaders for years have instead raided as a piggy bank for pet projects, tax breaks and other expenses unrelated to housing.

The trust fund generates roughly $400 million annually, in doc stamp revenue from home sales. The fund is supposed to be used for housing initiatives. But, since 2002, governors and state lawmakers have diverted $2.3 billion from it. It didn't help that, last year, lawmakers backed off diverting some 70 percent of it and agreed to use "only" use half of it for other things, in this case for climate change programs. Restoring full funding should be an easy fix in the upcoming special session.

More: Editorial: Housing funds aren't a piggy bank for Florida lawmakers

Special session is appropriate venue

Just as challenging is the state's property insurance crisis, the main focus of this month's special session. Florida homeowners face skyrocketing insurance premiums as companies suspend accepting new business, restrict the types of homes they cover and cancel policies altogether.

Again, there are potential solutions: fighting fraud, quelling lawsuits, developing acceptable rate structures, helping undercapitalized insurers and stemming the flow of desperate companies to Citizens Property Insurance, Florida's supposed insurer of last resort.

In 2021, the Legislature passed two bills that were signed into law — SB 76 and SB 1598. A federal judge imposed a temporary injunction against SB 76, which would have helped curb fraudulent roof repairs and thus eased upward pressure on insurance rates. SB 1598's new regulations on public adjusters remain in effect.

FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Enforcing existing laws could solve Florida's property insurance crisis

This year, the House and Senate came up with SB 1728, which would have placed further restrictions on fraudulent roofers. But, at the last minute of the regular session, the two chambers couldn't agree and the bill died. Close may count in horseshoes, but not when our insurance premiums come due.

"The citizens of Florida are (Gov. DeSantis') priority and as insurance has become increasingly burdensome, he's taken notice — and now — taken action by issuing the call for a special session," Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for the governor, said. But just calling a meeting isn't enough.

Typically, before the Legislature returns to the capitol for a special session, lawmakers either have or are close to an agreement on a bill that might address the problem at hand. At the moment, there's no hint of any insurance deal, leaving property owners threatened by higher bills and cancellations. Homeowners should press their representatives not to delay.

Local projects need Sadowski money

The housing problem is dire. A recent study by Florida Atlantic University and Florida Gulf Coast University found renters in South Florida were paying 19% more than what they would under normal market conditions.

Local communities deserve credit for stepping up efforts to incentivize construction, even as help from the state lags.

Palm Beach County commissioners, for example, are considering asking voters to approve a $200 million bond to bolster affordable housing construction. County and Riviera Beach city officials recently broke ground on a $35 million apartment complex as an affordable housing alternative. The city of West Palm Beach is well on its way to meeting its three-year plan of building 600 affordable housing units, and two Delray Beach projects expected to be completed next year will see 80 workforce homes built.

The governor and lawmakers should be open to fully funding Sadowski only for its intended purpose, so more projects like these can move forward.

Drops in the bucket? Yes. It will take time and money to address Florida's housing crisis, which makes this month's special session even more urgent. We hope it's not another missed opportunity.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida's housing crisis must be part of the upcoming special session