A bill that would provide more assistance to rural areas in the wake of Hurricane Idalia and clear the backlog of citizens applying for home improvement grants to help lower property-insurance premiums was approved by the Florida Senate on Wednesday.
The $416 million bill (HB 1C) passed the Senate with a unanimous vote, and it is now ready to be sent to Governor Ron DeSantis.
During a special legislative session on Tuesday, the House passed the bill by a unanimous vote.
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As lawmakers approved more aid, Senate sponsor Corey Simon, a Republican from Tallahassee, said that residents of the Big Bend region, which was devastated by Idalia on August 30, especially those in the agriculture sector, are “smiling today.”
“It’s encouraging to see people recognizing rural Florida, our producers there, and their needs and desires,” Simon remarked.
A few people voiced concerns about the measure during the three-day special session. One of the issues was a two-year extension of a developer-friendly clause that forbade local governments impacted by Hurricane Ian in 2022 from implementing “restrictive or burdensome” modifications to land-development regulations and comprehensive plans, or from raising building fees.
However, those worries were overshadowed by matters like giving $176.17 million to the My Safe Florida Home program, which, according to the program’s website, offers matching grants of up to $10,000 to assist homeowners in covering costs for upgrading doors and windows, strengthening roof-to-wall connections, and other related projects.
The funds should cover the more than 17,600 applications for the program that have already been submitted. Nearly $210 million of the $215 million allotted for grants over the previous two years have already been approved for roughly 21,000 homeowners.
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The bill also calls for a number of actions to aid in communities’ and individuals’ post-hurricane Idalia recovery. It would provide $37.5 million to assist timber owners, $50 million for hurricane repair and recovery projects in counties designated as disasters by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and $75 million to a program that offers low-interest or interest-free loans to producers of agricultural and aquaculture products.
Along with tax breaks on agricultural equipment that was unused for two months following the storm, fencing and building materials needed for repairs following Idalia, and fuel used for agricultural shipments and debris removal, the bill would also give $25 million to the Florida Housing Finance Corp. for what is known as the Hurricane Housing Recovery Program in the designated counties.
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