Video & Transcript Research : 'FORTIFIED'
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LA
Keywords:
building codes, construction standards, state uniform construction code, local option, municipal ordinance, parish ordinance, resilient construction, FORTIFIED Home, IBHS, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, hurricane resistance, storm resilience, roof replacement, residential construction, certificate of occupancy, code enforcement, building resilience, home hardening, wind mitigation, residential roof
AL
Alabama 2025 Regular Session
Alabama House Fiscal Responsibility Committee Feb 19th, 2025
Fiscal Responsibility
Keywords:
athlete agents, commission, state regulation, Alabama, higher education, athletics, membership diversity, catastrophe savings account, catastrophe fund, storm savings, disaster savings, hurricane, windstorm, floodwaters, hail, tornado, property insurance, homeowners insurance, insurance deductible, FORTIFIED
AL
Alabama 2025 Regular Session
Alabama House Fiscal Responsibility Committee Mar 19th, 2025
Fiscal Responsibility
Keywords:
business regulation, nonprofit entities, electronic filing, merger agreements, limited liability companies, partnerships, property transfer, termination fees, HB140, private sewer systems, wastewater utilities, Public Service Commission, PSC jurisdiction, utility regulation, rate setting, rate consolidation, affiliated systems, common ownership, private utilities, sewer rates
LA
Louisiana 2026 Regular Session
Commerce, Consumer Protection and International Affairs May 6th, 2026
Commerce, Consumer Protection, and International Affairs
Keywords:
roof standards, construction code, residential property, fortified roofs, insurance, medical debt, interest rate, healthcare services, consumer protection, debt collection, Louisiana Medical Debt Protection Act, child exploitation, online reporting, platforms, cyber crime, PROTECT Act, automatic renewal, cancellation policy, subscription service, transparency
HI
Bills:
HB1739, HB1741, HB2606, HB2362, HB2608, HB2294, HB2431, HB2375, HB2582, HB2585, HB2231, HB1601, HB2424, HB1956
Keywords:
transit-oriented development, zoning, land use, urban planning, density, local governance, housing, inclusionary zoning, inclusionary mandate, affordable housing, below-market-rate housing, inclusionary housing, development exaction, impact fee, housing affordability impact fee, needs assessment study, financial feasibility, rough proportionality, essential nexus, county ordinance
Summary:
The committee on Water and Land met on February 19, 2026, and the chair opened by emphasizing strict time limits and that all bills would be deferred if the agenda was not completed before the noon session. The first major measure discussed was HB 1739 HD1, which would preempt county land-use authority in transit-oriented development areas. The Department of Planning supported the bill, saying it could promote state-funded TOD and infrastructure, while the city and county’s position was raised in questioning. Unite Here Local 5 opposed the bill, arguing it would strip counties of self-determination, disrupt state-county policy collaboration, and remove a check on unrestrained development. Committee members pressed the supporters on whether the bill was really about higher density and whether it would override local zoning and sustainability concerns.
The committee then heard testimony on HB 1741 HD1, a housing bill described by supporters as reducing inclusionary housing mandates and increasing supply. Grassroots Institute of Hawaii argued affordability mandates reduce overall housing production and raise market-rate prices, while a Zoom testifier said the bill would improve housing stability, health, and community outcomes for working families, kupuna, and young residents. Members asked about the bill’s needs assessment and who would conduct it, with a witness saying the counties would likely contract it out but that the bill did not clearly specify the reviewer.
HB 2668 HD1, dealing with water heating systems, drew testimony from the Hawaii State Energy Office and industry representatives. Supporters generally backed adding heat pumps to the law, but one solar-water-heater industry witness asked for amendments to remove or extend the current 15-year statutory life limit for solar water heaters and to update outdated standards and variance rules. A Kauaʻi Climate Action Coalition witness opposed the existing solar-only structure, arguing heat pump water heaters are cheaper, align with climate goals, and should be allowed without a variance. The Energy Office said the current law already allows variances in some cases, suggested adding high-efficiency heat pump water heaters to the exemption, and said the 15-year figure may be too short, with 18 years mentioned as a possible alternative. The committee also briefly moved through several other bills, including HB 2606 HD1 on off-site construction and HB 2362 HD1 on housing, with no notable testimony or action recorded in the excerpt.
LA
Bills:
HB241, HB267, HB467, HB673, HB744, HB798, HB1026, HB1027, HB1091, HB1096, HB1103, HB1212, HB1230
Keywords:
financial records, consumer protection, banking law, disclosure, service of process, home inspectors, board membership, licensing, term limits, Louisiana State Board, residential roof, coastal zone, fortified roof, building standards, construction code, insurance, hurricane resilience, safety, security cameras, abandoned property
OK
Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session
Business and Insurance 2ND REVISED Feb 12th, 2026 at 09:30 am
Business and Insurance
Transcript Highlights:
- Initiated by the Insurance Department, basically, the houses now are available for grants to get a fortified
- We do believe very strongly that the more fortified roofs we can put on roofs in Oklahoma will have a
- The program is not paying for the entire fortified roof; it is helping pay for the fortified roof.
- because I voted on the bill that is in place now at the insurance department, where there is the fortified
- investors, commercial builders And residential builders to maybe give them a leg up to help to add the fortified
Bills:
SB1732, SB1217, SB1443, SB1455, SB1457, SB1459, SB1465, SB1944, SB1946, SB1218, SB1942, SB1352, SB2132, SB1920, SB1285, SB1304, SB1305, SB1326, SB1590, SB1767
Keywords:
professional licensing, licensing fees, home inspection, home inspector, Construction Industries Board, CIB, contractor license, journeyman license, apprentice registration, alarm endorsement, code inspector, electrical license, plumbing license, mechanical license, permit fees, renewal fee, reciprocity, poultry house contractor, poultry house wiring, environmentally controlled poultry house
OK
Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session
Senate Legislative Session Feb 12th, 2026 at 09:30 am
Oklahoma Senate Floor Meeting
Bills:
SB2026, SB1376, SB1355, SB2115, SB1533, SB1732, SB1217, SB1443, SB1455, SB1457, SB1459, SB1465, SB1944, SB1946, SB1218, SB1942, SB1352, SB2132, SB1920, SB1285, SB1304, SB1305, SB1326, SB1590, SB1767
Keywords:
military discharge, veterans, DD Form 214, confidentiality, grandchildren access, Oklahoma National Guard, education assistance, military benefits, dependents, CareerTech Assistance Act, burial grant, memorial headstone, eligibility requirements, funding, Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, fiscal management, state law, veteran burial, burial assistance, indigent veterans
AL
Alabama 2025 Regular Session
Alabama House County and Municipal Government Committee Feb 26th, 2025
County and Municipal Government
Transcript Highlights:
- choose not to fortify the house.
- You can get it fortified bronze and...
- You can still use the plywood for the fortified bronze.
- Fortified is on the gold, silver, and bronze levels.
- I have no idea how many houses have been fortified.
MN
Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session
House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee 4/15/26
Commerce Finance and Policy
Transcript Highlights:
- We need him to have a fortified roofs.
- We are supportive of the fortified program, building the fortified standard and finding a way to address
- But recently they've adopted a number of fortified— I think it's fortified fire, and that's just a technical
- So by putting a fortified roof on this, and this is just—you can tell me yes or no—so by putting a fortified
- And I want to emphasize it’s fortified roofs, not fortified shingles, because there are a few other elements—not
Keywords:
healthcare, insurance, regulation, financial institutions, prescription drug affordability, consumer protection, restitution account, financial compensation, attorney general, distributions, property insurance, homeowners insurance, fire and allied lines, hail insurance, appraisal clause, loss adjustment, alternative dispute resolution, insurance claims, claim valuation, actual cash value
MN
Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session
Task Force on Homeowners and Commercial Property Insurance 12/16/25
Minnesota House Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- <00:56:58.799>
roofs workforce to do uh fortified roofs workforce to do uh fortified roofs - <01:02:37.520>
or not, you know, using more fortified or not, you know, using more fortified - start working on fortified roofs? start working on fortified roofs?
- able to install their fortified able to install their fortified products.<01:08:39.920>
Um, - Are the as well as a fortified home.
Summary:
The task force approved the minutes from the previous meeting and then reviewed the structure and statutory requirements for its final report. Staff explained that the report must go to the commissioners of commerce, housing finance, and economic development, as well as relevant legislative leaders, and must include a summary of task force activities, adopted findings and recommendations, tort reform recommendations to reduce insurance costs, any draft legislation, and other necessary information. A draft report, likely excluding recommendations and draft legislation, is expected to be circulated before the first January meeting.
Most of the meeting focused on the Fair Plan and whether it could be expanded to help homeowners associations, affordable housing, and common interest communities that are struggling to obtain coverage. Supporters said these groups are facing availability problems and often end up in the surplus lines market, which lacks the consumer protections of the admitted market. They argued the Fair Plan could serve as a third-market option with stronger protections and better access, especially for properties that are having difficulty getting quotes.
Several members and witnesses raised concerns that the Fair Plan was never intended to be a broad affordability solution and warned against using it to artificially lower prices below risk-based levels. They said doing so could shift losses onto other policyholders through assessments and potentially weaken the broader insurance market. The Fair Plan administrator explained that any expansion would require substantial research, staffing, actuarial and underwriting expertise, reinsurance planning, IT changes, and likely assessments or other capitalization decisions, and that the plan would need to focus on a limited subset of properties rather than the entire market. No votes were taken on policy recommendations, and the discussion ended with agreement that more information and scoping work are needed before any formal recommendation is made.
TX
Transcript Highlights:
- For, you know, a fortified home that is fortified according to I.B.H.S., they recognize that standard
- and a non-fortified home.
- You can actually fortify your home against wildfire.
- It really socializes that concept of the fortified building.
- The fortified standard is actually a wind standard, but as Dr.
Bills:
HB778, HB 1266, HB1576, HB2213, HB2517, HB2518, HB2841, HB3306, HB3320, HB3388, HB3508, HB3520, HB3689
Keywords:
credentialing, healthcare, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, managed care, hurricane, windstorm, loss mitigation, grants, insurance discounts, property retrofitting, insurance, Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, board composition, coastal counties, property insurance, taxation, Texas FAIR Plan Association, premium taxes, maintenance taxes
TX
Transcript Highlights:
- home that is, that is fortified, uh, according to IBHS.
- and a non-fortified home.
- You can actually fortify your home against wildfire.
- It really socializes that concept of the fortified, uh, building.
- the fortified building.
FL
Transcript Highlights:
- And the cost of Fortified in Florida is negligible.
- of core Fortified requirements.
- of core Fortified requirements.
- The Fortified verification process includes the collection and review of documentation of core Fortified
- Interestingly, though, Fortified-designated homes perform twice as well as homes built to Fortified-like
Summary:
The Banking and Insurance Committee heard a series of presentations focused on mitigation, flood and wind resilience, and insurance discounts. Kevin Guthrie of the Florida Division of Emergency Management outlined several funding streams for mitigation, including federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program dollars, BRIC grants, flood mitigation assistance, and the state hurricane loss mitigation program. He emphasized the new Elevate Florida initiative, which will use about $400 million initially to elevate or reconstruct flood-prone homes, starting with National Flood Insurance Program properties and severe repetitive-loss homes, with no current per-home cap. Guthrie said the state will contract directly with licensed vendors and aims to reduce future flood losses, lower insurance costs, and keep properties on the tax rolls rather than relying on buyouts.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworski described Florida’s windstorm mitigation discount program, explaining that the 1802 inspection form is used to assess a home’s overall “envelope” and determine statutory discounts. He said the office is updating the program based on a new wind loss study, with likely changes including greater recognition of roof types such as metal roofs and possible territorial risk adjustments. He also said the Legislature now requires the office to revisit the study every five years. Stephen Fielder of the Department of Financial Services reported on My Safe Florida Home, noting that the program offers inspections and grants for roof and opening protections, has completed more than 100,000 inspections, and has reimbursed hundreds of millions of dollars. He said the department has validated its discount calculations with insurers and that the program is intended to help homeowners reduce premiums through verified mitigation work.
Michael Newman of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety said Florida’s building code is nationally leading and that post-Ian surveys found no wind-driven structural damage in buildings built after adoption of the code. He argued that mitigation should be treated as a system, not isolated upgrades, and suggested adding Fortified designation to the state’s mitigation form to better document verified resilience improvements. Bill Truex, a county commissioner and builder, stressed the need to educate homeowners about floodproofing and roof choices, citing examples where flood panels prevented damage and noting that asphalt shingles often do not last as long in Florida as their marketing suggests. In panel discussion, senators asked about program eligibility, outreach to elderly and digitally challenged residents, contractor vetting, roof-life disclosures, and whether flood insurance should be more broadly required. Officials said outreach will include call centers and in-person assistance, and several participants urged better consumer disclosure and more data-driven guidance on roof and mitigation choices.
TX
Transcript Highlights:
- And if you want the fortified designation, then you hire the fortified IBHS evaluator to come and make
- The bulk of our fortified homes are at the coast within the hurricane zone, but there’s also fortified
- or not fortified.
- Are you referring to like the fortified programs? Yeah, fortified programs.
- , the fortified roof code?
CA
California 2025-2026 Regular Session
Assembly Insurance Committee Apr 30th, 2025
Transcript Highlights:
- A key part of our program is the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety fortified standards
- The fortified homes have been proven to perform much better in storms than homes that have not been fortified
- Sally was the first hurricane to go over the tops of a critical mass of the fortified roofs.
- In fact, we also found that most of the claims on the fortified roofs were not about wind blowing the
- So the fortified roofs held. Let me also emphasize that this is a multi-year program.
Summary:
The Assembly Insurance Committee met to consider several bills focused on California’s insurance market, wildfire resilience, and consumer protections. AB 888, the California Safe Homes Act, was heard first. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Alabama Insurance Commissioner Mark Fowler testified in support, describing state grant programs that help homeowners harden roofs and create defensible space, with the goal of reducing losses and improving insurance affordability and availability. Supporters from the insurance industry, local government, and the Rebuild Paradise Foundation also backed the bill, and committee members emphasized the need for more incentives for mitigation. The bill passed the committee on a do pass motion and was sent to Appropriations.
AB 290, by Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan, would require the FAIR Plan to offer automatic payments and address non-renewal grace-period issues. The author described her own experience being forced onto the FAIR Plan and facing a large premium increase, while Consumer Federation of California called the bill common-sense consumer protection. The FAIR Plan opposed unless amended, saying it was already handling major wildfire claims and other operational demands and requested more time and changes to the non-renewal grace-period language. Members across the committee supported the bill as a needed modernization measure, and it passed as amended to Appropriations.
AB 1339, by Assemblymember Gonzalez, would direct the Department of Insurance to study insurance availability and pricing for affordable housing providers and report policy recommendations. Supporters from affordable housing organizations said rising premiums were forcing providers to cut services, defer maintenance, and use reserves, threatening housing stability for low-income residents. The bill passed as amended to Appropriations. AB 646, by Assemblymember Wallace, also passed to Appropriations; it concerns disclosure related to motor vehicle protection products and catalytic converter theft deterrence, with support from auto dealers and industry groups. The committee also approved AB 1531 on consent. Members later added on to the record in support of the bills, and the hearing concluded without recorded opposition votes on the measures that advanced.
FL
Florida 2025 Regular Session
Banking and Insurance Feb 4th, 2025
Transcript Highlights:
- IB HS FORTIFIED PROGRAM IS A VOLUNTARY NEW CONSTRUCTION RETHINK STANDARD TO STRENGTHEN ROOFS AND HOME
- AND THE COST OF FORTIFIED FLORIDA IS NEGLIGIBLE.
- IN FACT, MY COLLEAGUES AND I ARE ACT WHY FORTIFIED MATTERS IN THE FLORIDA CONTEXT.
- MORE INTERESTINGLY THOUGH FORTIFIED DESIGNATED HOMES PERFORMED TWICE AS WELL AS HOMES BUILT TO FORTIFIED
- THE FORTIFIED DESIGNATION PROCESS MAKES HOMES MORE SURVIVABLE.
MN
Minnesota 2025 1st Special Session
Task Force on Homeowners and Commercial Property Insurance 10/1/25
Minnesota House Floor Meeting
Transcript Highlights:
- something similar to the fortified something similar to the fortified program<00:45:27.040>
that - <00:46:17.839>
their benefit for people who fortify their benefit for people who fortify their - to to get Minnesota to a fortified to to get Minnesota to a fortified standard.<00:48:21.599>
- <01:02:22.960>
plans, we're thinking about fortified plans, we're thinking about fortified - framework there are standards fortified framework there are standards fortified standards<01:02:
OK
Oklahoma 2026 Regular Session
Health and Human Services Oversight Mar 4th, 2026 at 03:00 pm
Health and Human Services Oversight
Transcript Highlights:
- I would say you're allowing The option on the shelf for a fortified version or non-fortified version
- Would you believe that 80 other countries worldwide fortify their flour with folic acid as well.
- And last night, there's not one study worldwide, in 80 countries, that fortified flour causes any adverse
- Would you believe that you can go to an Oklahoma store today and buy corn masa that's fortified with
- I said studies as it relates to fortified flour, what we're actually talking about here is not folic
Bills:
HB3552, HB2984, HB4124, HB3934, HB3448, HB3131, HB4200, HB4201, HB3011, HB1912, HB3380, HB3881, HB3538, HB3851, HB3907, HB4430, HB4431, HB4457
Keywords:
childcare, differential pricing, Department of Human Services, child care subsidy, licensed providers, emergency legislation, child care, subsidy program, annual report, program integrity, overpayments, ivermectin, over-the-counter medication, pharmacy immunity, healthcare access, FDA approval, prescription, public health, dentistry, licensing
AL
Transcript Highlights:
- Over the years, we have fortified cornmeal, flour, grits, and things like that with folic acid, which
- It is not fortified, and it’s been a... ...not fortified.
- In some areas, that doesn't occur by fortifying with folic acid.
- If these products were fortified with folic acid, then it would help reduce that particular birth defect
Keywords:
food enrichment, corn masa, health regulations, nutritional standards, folic acid, respiratory therapy, interstate compact, public health, licensure, workforce mobility, military families, adverse actions, streamlined practice, traffic offenses, blood testing, law enforcement, chemical analysis, DUI, 1136, house