JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Nearly 1.4 million Floridians have already cast a ballot ahead of the August Primary slated for next Tuesday.
Without a GOP challenger, the only question in the Governor’s race is who will take on Ron DeSantis in the November General Election.
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Action News Jax sat down with both Democratic Gubernatorial hopefuls and asked them how they would deal with one of the top issues this cycle: Florida’s affordability crisis.
The average rent in Florida has skyrocketed nearly 40 percent just since last year.
Piling on, even with this year’s special session on property insurance, insurance companies are still dropping policies and raising rates by double digits for those fortunate enough to find coverage.
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Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL, 13th) both claim they have a plan to ease the burden on Floridians.
On property insurance, Crist said he was able to lower rates by 10 percent during his reign as Governor.
He vowed to do it again if he wins this time around.
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“There’s two problems. The insurance companies themselves, they’re gouging Floridians, and Governor DeSantis. He’s allowing them to do it,” Crist said.
Fried told us she would lock in rates for the CAT Fund to allow more access to reinsurance, which she says will keep Florida’s insurance companies afloat.
“That way, it would have reduced the rates for the insurance companies to be able to get that reinsurance and have created stability in the marketplace,” Fried said.
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On affordable housing, both candidates pledge to fully fund the state’s affordable housing trust fund.
Fried said she’d use the state’s reserves to fund more housing projects and she’d declare a state of emergency on day one.
“It is an emergency. And so, when you declare an emergency, you then allow one, our state attorneys and our Attorney General to go after our predatory landlords, cause that’s what it is, it’s predatory,” Fried said.
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Crist explained his plan centers around leveraging his relationship with the head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and working with local governments to make housing more affordable.
“What you do is you cooperate. You work with other people. What does this Governor do? Zero. He has done nothing to help Florida be more affordable,” Crist said.
Coming up on Action News Jax on Wednesday, we’ll hear from the candidates on their health care agendas and how they would deal with marijuana policy in Florida.
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