Florida has enacted smart policies, says Pete Sepp – President of the National Taxpayers Union – which shifted risk from a state-backed insurer to a wider pool of global private investors.

Writing in the Orlando Sentinel,  Sepp asserts that “In 2005, when hurricanes Wilma, Katrina and Rita battered the Gulf Coast and caused $59 billion in losses, foreign insurance and reinsurance companies stepped up to cover more than 60 percent of the payments. This global framework — with an array of investors and strong capital — is able to handle disaster recovery more effectively than a structure relying on smaller stateside companies, and its foundation rests upon sensible tax policy.”

Sepp states the threat to this advance for businesses and consumers is as follows: “Recent proposals by Reps. Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., seek a tax increase (disguised as a deduction disallowance) for foreign-owned insurers and reinsurers. The legislation closely resembles a proposal that President Obama, for the fifth year, included in his fiscal year 2015 budget.”

What supporters of the Neal-Pascrell-Menendez bill says closes a loophole. Opponents – which include some manufactured housing residents and businesses – say would cost in Florida alone $500 million a year in higher insurance rates for consumers and businesses combined. ##

(Pete Sepp photo credit: Daily Caller)