PIP proposal politics: Florida House pushes auto insurance repeal as DeSantis digs in (2025)

With Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature already bitterly divided over state spending and taxes, a new flashpoint is emerging: The House is pushing to repeal Florida’s no-fault automobile insurance and hike minimum liability coverage.

The switch will help Florida motorists recover medical costs in an accident, supporters say. But the move also would likely cost drivers a lot more, according to industry analysts.

DeSantis has condemned the House for siding with trial lawyers, who support the change. And the personal injury protection (PIP) repeal is now joining a growing list of battlegrounds between the House, Senate and DeSantis as the 60-day session moves into its scheduled closing month; the last day is currently set to be May 2.

“If there’s something that could help people have access to the courts, and good insurance they could lean on in times of an auto injury, I think we’d be supportive of that,” said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa.

But reflecting on the many clashes between Republican leaders, Driskell added, “It doesn’t seem like they’re on the same page at all. I don’t know if we’ll end on time.”

Unchanged since the 1970s

Florida’s $10,000 PIP coverage limit has been unchanged since the 1970s. And it’s widely seen as failing to cover current medical costs even as it is costing motorists more than any of the few other states that require only the minimum car insurance coverage.

The House bill (HB 1181) would erase PIP and instead mandate bodily injury coverage of $25,000 per individual, $50,000 per incident, and $10,000 in property damage liability by July 2026. The bill has one more committee stop before it heads to the full House for a vote.

In the Senate, a similar bill (SB 1256) hasn’t moved. And DeSantis is dead-set against the repeal.

The switch from the current no-fault PIP system to a fault-based system is seen by opponents as certain to turn more accidents into lawsuits. But advocates say it would remove outdated coverage that gives insurance companies too much control at the expense of drivers involved in accidents.

Insurance industry officials warn that higher, bodily-injury coverage levels could prompt more drivers to drop coverage completely. Lawmakers in 2023 limited attorneys’ fees – mostly focused on property insurance claims – which industry allies say also are serving to lower auto insurance costs.

DeSantis sides with insurance industry, businesses opposed to repeal

DeSantis has joined with the chorus of industry and business groups urging that the 2023 changes need more time to take effect. He’s framed the House bill – and GOP House Speaker Daniel Perez’s support of it – as a sellout to lawyers seeking a new avenue for lawsuits.

“Let’s just be clear. I mean, you know, we know that’s something that people from the legal and the trial bar have wanted to do. And so why would they want to do that? Obviously, they see that there’s opportunities for them to make money off of it,” DeSantis said at last month’s start of the legislative session.

“I think that goes without saying. So, I don’t want to do anything that’s going to raise the rates,” he added.

A 2021 consultant’s report to the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation showed insurance costs doubling or even tripling across much of Florida if PIP was repealed in favor of mandatory bodily injury coverage.

Perez, R-Miami, last week acknowledged that the PIP repeal hasn’t moved in the Senate. DeSantis also looks poised to veto a PIP repeal if it was approved, just like he did in 2021, the last time the measure advanced that far.

“The budget is happening, there are bills that are moving, there are bills that are kind of reaching their last breath,” Perez said recently in sizing up the session. “We’re taking them on a case-by-case basis.”

But once it gets out of the House, as expected, the PIP repeal could end up being part of what looks like a wide-ranging landscape of potential trading chits, part of every end-of-session deal-making. And there’s a lot to be settled by the scheduled adjournment.

House, Senate billions apart in state spending plans

The House and Senate are a stunning $4.4 billion apart in deciding on a state budget for the year beginning July 1. And Perez is championing cutting the state’s 6% sales tax rate by 0.75%, a $5 billion savings for Floridians that would reduce state revenue even as state economists project a $6.9 billion state deficit in two years if spending continues unchecked.

The House’s budget proposal does scale back spending, coming in at about $113 billion, while the Senate spending plan is $117.3 billion, down $1.3 billion from the current year's level.

DeSantis, though, has his own $5 billion tax cut plan. He wants to send $1,000 rebate checks to every homesteaded property owner in the state, a prelude to the governor’s bigger plan of putting a major overhaul of property taxes on the ballot next year.

In the meantime, the darkening economic cloud stemming from President Trump’s tariffs could shadow much of the Legislature’s session-ending negotiations on the budget and more.

Perez also is pushing back, again, at DeSantis over the governor’s portrayal of him as doing the bidding of the state’s trial lawyers with the PIP repeal.

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Perez says there's a chance

Perez said the Florida Justice Association, the trial lawyers’ organization, favors the Senate version of the PIP repeal, which hasn’t moved. And he pointed out the Florida Chamber of Commerce is opposed to the repeal because it thinks the trial bar wants it.

“Usually, when you’re in this process and both sides disagree with the product that’s being presented, it’s because you have the right product before them,” Perez said. “So, to say this is for the trial bar is wrong. I think it’s desperate.”

Perez also attempted to cool tensions with the governor, who repeatedly has lashed out at the House in public appearances.

“I still consider the governor a friend. I consider him a partner,” Perez said.

John Kennedyis a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached atjkennedy2@gannett.com, or on X at @JKennedyReport.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Gov. DeSantis slams Florida PIP repeal backed by GOP House leadership