TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — Governor Ron DeSantis wants more Floridians to benefit from the "My Safe Florida Home" program, which provides storm-hardening home improvements for homeowners. And as the 2025 legislative session kicked off this week in Tallahassee, there's renewed debate over providing funding for the program.
"We recently proposed in the special session for the legislature to fund the folks that are on the waitlist, that did not happen. We still think that needs to be done," DeSantis said.
Both the My Safe Florida Home and My Safe Florida Condominium programs are widely popular, so much so, lawmakers in Tampa Bay and beyond are taking a stab at expanding these efforts.
With week one of the legislative session now in the books, 15 bills have been filed surrounding the My Safe Florida Home and Condo programs.
State Representative Lindsay Cross, D-St. Petersburg, is taking another attempt at expanding the program to include flood mitigation grants.
"I think it's really important that we as a state help to invest in our residents and make sure that they continue to live in homes that are safe. It's been devastating to see people lose their possessions and their memories during these hurricanes," Cross said. "We want to make our communities more resilient. This is one step forward to make that happen."
Along with the array of bills, DeSantis proposed $600 million of the state's budget to invest into the home and condo grant initiatives, following a second consecutive year of funding shortages for the My Safe Florida Home program.
"We've got folks that went through the program that the legislature did, they got the inspection or (are) waiting for an inspection, they've qualified, now they need the grant, but the program ran out of money. So we are funding the waitlist as well as having $100 million recuring going forward," DeSantis said.
And as the governor and state lawmakers tout each program's popularity, questions and concerns rise around funding shortages.
"Could we keep up with total demand for it? You know, maybe not because it's probably unlimited demand, but certainly those folks that are on the waitlist now, we want to make sure that we get that done so that they can make the improvements that they need," DeSantis said.
News Channel 8 On Your Side took those questions and concerns to lawmakers at the statehouse who have filed bills around the matter.
When asked whether the state was doing enough to fund these programs, State Representative Christine Hunschofsky, D-Parkland, shared that there is always room for more.
"There is always room for more, but we also must be making sure that we're not overextending our budget," Hunschofsky said. "Of course we would always want more funding. We have to balance the funding in this program with all the other needs that we have in the state of Florida."
Hunschofsky is sponsoring legislation to make it easier for Floridians to access funding through the My Safe Florida Condo program.
With the slew of bills filed so far in the current legislative session, homeowners are one step closer to accessing the My Safe Florida Home grant money, but just like in the past, will that money fade fast?