Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis said state is 'morally obligated' to keep funding My Safe Florida Home

MILWAUKEE — He is on the floor of the Republican National Convention, but Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis has his eyes back on Florida, and hurricane season.

Forecasters are predicting an extremely active season. Patronis is convinced it's not a question of if but when a storm's going to hit the state. Like other Florida officials, he has asked the state's 22 million-plus residents to have a plan and prepare ahead of an approaching yellow cone.

The state's consumers have been suffering through a different form of tempest in recent years — sharp increases in premiums and policy cancellations. In some cases, Patronis counsels, those frustrated by spiraling property insurance costs might benefit from asking their agents to shop around for a more favorable policy.

"If that insurance agent can't get you a good deal, then you'll need to call another insurance agent, because different insurance agents have different carriers in their portfolios that they can write from," he said.

Patronis believes another answer is expansion of the My Safe Florida Home program. This month, another $200 million was allocated to fund grants to reimburse property owners up to $10,000 for replacing roofs as well as installing storm-resistant doors and windows. But, in a nod to the program's popularity, state officials announced on Wednesday that funding is already exhausted less than a month after re-opening on July 1.

Patronis cited figures from Security First, an insurance company in Volusia County, indicating that the average participant in My Safe Florida Home has seen a 39.6% reduction in rates because they have hardened their home and it's less likely to be susceptible to storm damage.

The program makes sense on all levels, not least of which is that he said it "empowers the consumer to invest in their homes" and reap savings on insurance premiums. He said the state has stopped advertising the My Safe Florida Home program because it's been so successful that word of mouth from people who've benefited from it "is all it takes" to promote it.

"We don't have to advocate for the program because the customer has come to us," he added.

Patronis said another round of financing is a moral imperative because Florida's public coffers profit plenty from storms. For example, he said, the state pocketed $1.4 billion in non-typical sales-tax revenues because of Hurricane Ian.

"I feel like we, as a state, we're morally obligated to turn that money back over to the taxpayers as relief," he said.

He also cautioned Floridians people to beware of scams and fraudsters and turn away strangers knocking on their doors offering help with a claim but in reality they are seeking to "siphon off your resources."

"If it sounds too good to be true, it always is," he said. "The predators that come out of a storm, they're the worst of the worst."

In Milwaukee, Patronis also mulls his next political step

Politics, though, swirl around him.

As he spoke to a Palm Beach Post reporter, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot was on stage doing a mic check by reading Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. A candidate for the secretary of state post is giving an interview to a Canadian broadcast network. And delegates from all matter of states are coming up to take selfies with the stage where Donald Trump will accept the Republican nomination on Thursday.

Patronis, who is expected to seek the governor's office in 2026, said it would be "the honor of a lifetime to be the governor of Florida."

"My wife and my kids are big cheerleaders. They want me to do it," he said.

Patronis said he'd do the CFO job "forever" if not for term limits. He said he is proud of his record.

"The state of Florida is in the best fiscal health it's ever been in the history of the state," he said, adding laws have also been altered to protect residents from fraud, waste and abuse. "I just hope I have the opportunity to continue serving."

He added: "I don't think this is the last time you'll see Jimmy Patronis in public office. I just don't what it will be yet. Governor has a nice ring to it."

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.