Switch to GOP gives Hillary Cassel leadership position on insurance panel

Days after announcing she was leaving the Democratic Party, state House Republican leadership elevated Rep. Hillary Cassel to the post of vice-chair of the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee.

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The decision by House Speaker Danny Perez this week arguably now makes Cassel one of the most powerful voices on insurance and tort-related issues in the Legislature for the 2025 Session.

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In an interview with the Florida Phoenix Friday, Cassel, a South Florida trial attorney, said she intends to focus on property insurance and revisiting the sweeping changes that the Legislature made in 2022 and 2023 — which, she said, have failed to lower insurance costs for homeowners or bring needed stability to the state’s brittle homeowners’ insurance market.

Cassel’s comments mirrored recent remarks by Perez, who said more work needs to be done on homeowners’ insurance to bring consumers relief.

“The reality is, consumers of Florida do not want their insurance bills written by insurance lobbyists and, by [my] switching parties, the Republican Party now has a voice that has always been consumer-focused while recognizing that we need a robust, available, and reliable insurance market,” Cassel said.

“I think the focus has to be on finding ways to ensure consumers have access to the courts, which, quite frankly, they don’t have right now, to hold those insurance companies accountable but finding what the right balance is. And now I have the ability to be at the table to have those conversations to figure out what the balance is,” Cassel added.

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While there’s enthusiasm in the House for action, any changes would need to be embraced by the Senate and perhaps more importantly Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“We’re going to have to get the Governor on board,” she acknowledged. “If you want to connect with people, you’ve got to deliver for the people.”

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Republished with permission of the Florida Phoenix

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