Hello Everyone,
Evelyn here,
In this week's edition of the Attorney General's News Brief, General Bill McCollum speaks on the preparedness during the hurricane season, and the measures that can be taken the assist those left with damage property after a national weather disaster.
----------
Attorney General's News Briefs
July 20, 2007
Message from Attorney General Bill McCollum
As July begins to come to a close, we have weathered one-third of the
hurricane season. While the season has been mild to this point, I want
to remind Floridians not to grow lax in your efforts to stay prepared in
the event a storm should threaten our state. Every measure we can take
to be ready in advance of a natural disaster certainly improves our
chances of successfully protecting our families and homes to the
greatest extent possible.
This week, the State Board of Administration took an additional step
towards early preparation by increasing cash reserves available through
the state’s catastrophic insurance fund to pay claims immediately after
a major storm. As a member of this Board, it is my responsibility to
ensure that the State of Florida is in a position to provide as much
assistance as possible to our residents in the wake of a natural
disaster.
While this action will certainly help protect our state in the coming
months, there are additional steps which I feel must be taken to ensure
our long-term protection against devastating storms and relief from
extremely high windstorm insurance premiums. Therefore, I proposed a
Cabinet resolution which was passed urging Congress to create a National
Catastrophic Insurance Program. The risk of catastrophic events like
hurricanes and earthquakes should be spread across all states, not
shouldered by one.
The federal government already provides billions of dollars in taxpayer
supported assistance to victims of national disasters. By creating a
National Catastrophic Insurance Program, we will assure that more
property losses from windstorm or earthquakes or other national
disasters are covered by private insurance, thereby reducing taxpayer
costs and the costs to the federal government when disasters strike.
It is my hope that this resolution will encourage the debate and the
passage of legislation now being discussed in Washington for a national
catastrophic plan.
The skyrocketing cost of insurance is one of the greatest problems
facing Floridians today, if not the most severe problem. Only by
creating such a national program can we expect to see homeowners’
insurance premiums in Florida significantly reduced and stabilized
for the future.
----------
Evelyn out.
