Whereas, as reported by Columbia Business School, because climate change is a major risk in Florida, many home insurers are at a high risk of insolvency;

Whereas, following catastrophic hurricane losses, major insurers left the Florida market entirely, leaving small, local, and less stable insurers behind, many of which have already gone insolvent;

Whereas only mortgages protected by home insurance from insurers with a high financial strength rating are eligible for the government mortgage-backed security program, which maintains liquidity in the mortgage market, and as a result of this, the United States housing market increasingly depends on the credibility of these ratings;

Whereas an insurance rating agency called Demotech has become increasingly utilized by smaller home insurers in Florida;

Whereas Demotech rates 98 percent of insurers A or above;

Whereas insurers rated by Demotech are 30 times as likely to become insolvent as those graded by rival rating companies;

Whereas, even when Florida homeowners are able to find a stable insurer, they are still forced to pay increasingly high home insurance premiums, now averaging $14,000 annually;

Whereas the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation reports that home insurance rates in Florida have risen 34 percent since late 2022;

Whereas Florida State law allows Citizens Property Insurance, the State-backed insurer of last resort, to levy a surcharge on all policyholders to recoup losses if its reserves fall short, levies that may be uncollectable in real life; and

Whereas there are credible scenarios in which the losses of Citizens Property Insurance exceed its ability to pay claims: Now, therefore, be it