Albritton targets insurance, 'rural renaissance'

Tallahassee - Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, began a two-year term as Florida Senate president Tuesday, saying he will hold the insurance industry accountable and try to lead a "rural renaissance."

By Jim Saunders

Albritton, a citrus grower who succeeded Naples Republican Kathleen Passidomo as president, pointed to damage caused by a series of hurricanes, including hurricanes Milton, Helene and Debby this year. He also alluded to changes that lawmakers have made in recent years to help shore up the property-insurance industry.

"Floridians have been paying faithfully their insurance premiums for years, sometimes decades, and now they expect their insurance company to keep up its end of the bargain," Albritton said. "I want to make sure that impacted Floridians and insurance companies hear me loudly and clearly — we are watching. We've made changes that insurance companies said they needed to improve competition and stabilize rates. And, we've enacted pro-consumer transparency to protect homeowners. The proof will be in the results. I'm not going to sit idly by if legitimate claims get denied while rates continue to rise. Period."

Calling himself a "proud son of rural Florida," Albritton asked senators to join him in "the fight for a rural renaissance in Florida."

"Technological advances have led to tremendous economic growth and innovation in other parts of Florida. It's rural Florida's turn," Albritton said. "With your support, I want to make certain that Floridians who call our rural communities home, they have access to the opportunities the rest of Florida has to offer."

Albritton also asked senators to "join me in the fight to support our Florida farm families, our Florida food supply chain, and to save from extinction our iconic Florida citrus industry." Citrus production during the past two decades has dwindled because of problems such as deadly citrus greening disease, hurricane damage and encroaching development.

Lawmakers gathered Tuesday in Tallahassee for a one-day organization session after the Nov. 5 elections, when Republicans held on to super-majorities in the House and Senate. Also Tuesday, Rep. Daniel Perez, R-Miami, began a two-year term as House speaker, succeeding Palm Coast Republican Paul Renner.

Albritton was first elected to the Senate in 2018 after serving eight years in the House. He long ago locked up support to become Senate president — one of the most powerful positions in Florida — but Tuesday's organization session finalized his selection.

Many of Albritton's family members, along with state leaders such as Gov. Ron DeSantis, Cabinet members and Supreme Court justices, attended the largely ceremonial session in the Senate chamber.

Passidomo will remain in the Senate for two more years and serve as chairwoman of the Rules Committee. She called Albritton a "good man with a heart as big as this state."

In formally nominating Albritton on Tuesday, Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, described Albritton meeting with North Florida residents and farmers who sustained heavy damage in hurricanes.

"Farm by farm, business by business and family by family, Ben prayed with our fellow Floridians, offering solutions and long-term commitment to restoring storm-impacted communities here in the Big Bend and across this state," said Simon, who represents a sprawling, largely rural district that was hammered by storms.

Republicans hold a 28-12 advantage in the Senate, giving Albritton wide latitude to push his priorities. Along with insurance and rural issues, he used the speech Tuesday to signal a focus on water supplies and quality.

"Our water is invaluable," he said. "It's invaluable to our residents, our businesses, our economy, and our precious ecosystems. It's invaluable to Florida's DNA. We must continue to develop and advance solutions to rid Florida's waterways of excessive nutrients from urban runoff, septic tanks, wastewater, stormwater, and any other source harmful to nature."

Senate Democrats on Monday formally selected Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Sunny Isles Beach, to serve as minority leader. During a speech to Democrats, Pizzo said he regretted "time wasted" and the "opportunity cost" of the Legislature not addressing issues. He said "socially divisive issues consume this limited capacity" of lawmakers.

"We are less affordable, we are less resilient, and we are less equipped," Pizzo said of the state.