SB 114 renames the Florida Catastrophic Storm Risk Management Center at Florida State University as the Florida Center for Excellence in Insurance and Risk Management and expands its mission beyond storm-risk research to broader insurance-market analysis. The bill directs the center to conduct and disseminate research on Florida’s insurance market, consumer protections, claims handling, reinsurance and catastrophe financing, building resilience, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, My Safe Florida Home, and other insurance lines. It also requires the center to support the Legislature and the Office of Insurance Regulation with research responsive to inquiries and requests.
The bill creates a new requirement that the center, working with the Office of Insurance Regulation, produce an annual report analyzing Florida’s property insurance market and projecting its outlook over 1-, 5-, 10-, and 20-year horizons. The report must include recommendations to improve availability and affordability of property insurance and to strengthen preparedness for catastrophic events, with an initial report due by January 1, 2026 and updates at least every two years. The bill also requires a program with the Office and Florida State University’s actuarial science program to encourage public-sector actuarial careers, and it authorizes the center to use the public hurricane loss projection model when needed for its duties.
The bill significantly changes the administration of the public hurricane loss projection model by requiring the Office of Insurance Regulation to contract with the Florida Center for Excellence in Insurance and Risk Management to manage it. The center must continually evaluate and update the model, and a type two transfer moves all related powers, duties, records, personnel, contracts, property, and funds from Florida International University to Florida State University. Conforming changes are made to the statute governing annual hurricane loss data reports, while preserving confidentiality protections for insurers and policyholders.
The overall sentiment appears strongly supportive and noncontroversial. The bill passed its recorded Senate committee and floor votes unanimously, including 8-0 in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education, 18-0 in Senate Appropriations, and 37-0 on third reading. That voting pattern suggests broad agreement that the state should strengthen insurance research capacity and centralize model management at Florida State University.
The main point of potential contention is institutional and administrative rather than policy-based: the transfer of the public hurricane loss projection model from Florida International University to Florida State University. The bill also expands the center’s role into broader insurance-market analysis and gives it a more direct relationship with the Office of Insurance Regulation, which could raise questions about workload, governance, and the balance between academic research and regulatory support. However, no formal opposition is reflected in the available vote history or transcripts.
The bill amends sections 1004.647, 627.06281, and 627.06292, Florida Statutes. It renames and expands the Florida State University center’s statutory mission, requires new insurance-market reporting and research functions, and shifts management of the public hurricane loss projection model from Florida International University to Florida State University through a type two transfer. It also changes the reporting structure for hurricane loss data while maintaining existing confidentiality limits on insurer and policyholder information.
The bill’s legislative reception was uniformly positive. Recorded votes in committee and on the Senate floor were unanimous, indicating broad bipartisan support and little visible controversy over the policy goals. The discussion context provided does not include transcripts, but the vote history suggests the measure was viewed as a technical, research-oriented insurance bill with statewide benefits rather than a divisive policy change.
The most notable issue is the relocation of the public hurricane loss projection model and related functions from Florida International University to Florida State University. That administrative transfer could be viewed as shifting institutional authority and resources, even though the bill frames it as a type two transfer and preserves the model’s public purpose. A secondary area of interest is the bill’s expanded research mandate, which ties the center more closely to insurance regulation and legislative requests; however, no explicit opposition or competing viewpoints are reflected in the available materials.