The Galt Mile Community Association received a legislative update from Ellyn Bogdanoff, from Becker Lawyers. She spoke about the upcoming legislative session, which begins March 7 through May 5. It is a 60-day session.
She said the agenda for this session will be set by the governor, so she does not expect many other bills to be passed. She is hopeful that the legislature will address the “glitches” in the new condo/coop law that passed last year, as the new law has many confusing sections that need clarification. The Engineered Life Safety System (ELSS), which requires an ELSS system and partial fire sprinklers to be completed by December 31, 2023, is still the law. However, through rulemaking, there may be a change to the Florida Fire Prevention Code that would delay full implementation until 2027. We will not know the final results until later this year.
Regarding rising insurance rates on both association buildings and individual units, the legislature has passed two insurance reforms, but none of these will immediately lower rates. The big issue is the number of providers. As the number declines, insurance rates go up. The hurricanes in the other parts of Florida and northers states hves also raised our costs. When we can attract more providers and more competition, then rates will fall.
Ellyn will be providing us legislative updates during the 2023 legislative session on bills introduced, status, and analyses of those bills.