TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s new chief financial officer says hurricane preparedness should start before a storm is even on the map. Democrats say his new outreach effort looks more like a political promotion.
CFO Blaise Ingoglia is launching a statewide door-to-door effort to hand out storm-season information to homeowners, starting in coastal communities before moving inland. The materials include guidance on emergency kits, evacuation planning, insurance claims, fraud prevention and who to call after a hurricane.
WATCH: Florida CFO’s hurricane prep tour draws Democratic criticism over state resources
“So we're really good at being reactive when the storms come, and I think we should do everything we possibly can to be more proactive,” Ingoglia said. “Get the information to the consumers in advance of a storm, so they can better prepare for the storm.”
Ingoglia argues hurricane preparedness is a core function of his office, which oversees insurance and consumer services. He is also defending the use of his name, face and likeness on the materials being distributed.
“We can sit there and say, ‘Hey, go to the website,’ where all the information is on the website. It has all of our information, my face, my likeness, on there,” Ingoglia said. “So — nope, not worried about that. Anyone who says that probably just doesn't care about the people of the state of Florida as much as I do.”
But Democrats are calling foul.
Online, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried accused Ingoglia of “campaigning with state resources,” arguing the CFO should be focused less on flyers and more on holding insurance companies accountable.
The criticism echoes a political fight Fried faced as Florida’s agriculture commissioner. In 2019, Republicans objected after Fried’s photo appeared on gas pump inspection stickers.
“I think official documents are official documents. They should stay that way,” then-House Speaker José Oliva said at the time.
Fried later defended the stickers, saying they helped raise awareness.
“We have already been replacing these stickers,” Fried said in 2020. “The stickers worked. They raised awareness.”
The new fight comes as Democrats continue attacking Republican leaders over affordability, arguing Tallahassee has been too focused on redistricting and property-tax politics while Floridians deal with rising costs for rent, groceries, and property insurance.
“Our constituents and our families are all telling us the same thing,” Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, said last month. “They're saying, everything is too expensive, and it's getting worse.”
Ingoglia insists Florida’s insurance market is in better shape, pointing to easing reinsurance costs, moderating premiums and rates, and new carriers entering the state.
“State is always in a good shape for hurricane season because we put away a lot of money,” Ingoglia said. “We prepare in advance for natural disasters. We're always hopeful that we don't get hit with a storm like we did last year, but we can't bank on that. We need to prepare.”
Critics say the next major storm could be the real test of Florida’s insurance market and the state’s preparedness efforts.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins in June and runs through November. While this season is expected to be calmer than some recent forecasts, emergency officials often stress that it only takes one storm to devastate a community.
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