HB 1097 would rename Florida’s existing Florida Catastrophic Storm Risk Management Center at Florida State University as the Florida Center for Excellence in Insurance and Risk Management and broaden its statutory mission. The bill expands the center’s research focus beyond catastrophic storm risk to include the broader insurance market, consumer protections, claims handling, reinsurance and catastrophe bonds, building mitigation, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, the My Safe Florida Home Program, and multiple lines of insurance such as health, life, workers’ compensation, and motor vehicle insurance. It also directs the center to disseminate findings, sponsor educational events, and conduct research in response to legislative or Office of Insurance Regulation requests.
A major feature of the bill is a new requirement that the center work with the Office of Insurance Regulation to produce an annual report analyzing Florida’s property insurance market, including 1-, 5-, 10-, and 20-year outlooks and recommendations to improve availability, affordability, and disaster preparedness. The first report would be due by January 1, 2026, and updated at least every two years. The bill also requires the center to develop a program with the Office of Insurance Regulation and Florida State University’s Actuarial Science Program to encourage actuarial students to enter public-sector work in risk management and insurance.
The bill further shifts responsibility for the public hurricane loss projection model from Florida International University to Florida State University through a type two transfer. The Office of Insurance Regulation would be required to contract with the renamed center to manage, maintain, and update the model, and the center would be allowed to use the model for its statutory duties. Fees for private-sector access to the model would remain tied to reasonable operating and maintenance costs, but the bill exempts the office and the center from those fees. The bill also makes conforming changes to the annual hurricane loss data reporting statute so that the FSU center, rather than FIU, publishes the required report.
The overall sentiment reflected in the available record is limited because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, but the bill appears policy-oriented and technical rather than overtly controversial on its face. It is aimed at strengthening state-level insurance research capacity and improving the state’s ability to analyze and respond to property insurance market conditions and catastrophic risk. However, the transfer of the public hurricane loss projection model from FIU to FSU is a notable institutional change that could draw attention from affected universities and stakeholders in the insurance modeling process.
The main point of contention likely centers on the relocation of the public hurricane loss projection model and associated duties from Florida International University to Florida State University, including the transfer of personnel, records, contracts, and funds. Another possible area of interest is the bill’s expansion of the center’s scope into broader insurance policy research and its new reporting obligations, which may be viewed as either a useful enhancement of state oversight or an additional administrative burden. The bill ultimately died on the Second Reading Calendar, indicating it did not advance to final passage in the House.
The bill amends sections 1004.647, 627.06281, and 627.06292 of the Florida Statutes. It renames and expands the Florida State University-based research center, adds new research and reporting duties, requires collaboration with the Office of Insurance Regulation on a recurring property insurance market report, and transfers the public hurricane loss projection model and related responsibilities from Florida International University to Florida State University by type two transfer. It also updates the statutory reporting framework for hurricane loss data and exempts the center and the office from model access fees.
The available context suggests generally favorable or at least pragmatic support for the bill’s goals of improving insurance research, market analysis, and hurricane risk modeling. Because there are no transcripts or vote tallies, there is no documented debate in the provided record, but the measure appears to have been treated as a technical policy bill focused on strengthening state insurance expertise. Its failure to advance beyond the Second Reading Calendar suggests it did not secure enough momentum for final passage.
The most notable potential controversy is the transfer of the public hurricane loss projection model from Florida International University to Florida State University, including the reassignment of duties, staff, contracts, and funds. That institutional shift could affect university stakeholders and the existing model-management structure. A secondary point of possible contention is the bill’s broader expansion of the center’s role into multiple insurance lines and policy areas, which could raise questions about scope, duplication of effort, or administrative burden.