House approves windstorm insurance bill

The one known threat of a special session has just been dramatically reduced.

House members today approved the conference committee report shoring up a fund supporting hail and windstorm insurance coverage for coastal property-owners.

Assuming the Senate similarly OK's the legislation, it'll go to Gov. Rick Perry, whose threat to call a summer special session if lawmakers didn't address the windstorm topic helped kick-start negotiations about 10 days ago.

Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, said a moment ago he expects Senate approval tonight. Referring to previous efforts to amend the windstorm law, Fraser said: "This represents six years of work, so we're excited."

Details are in the Postcards entry. According to TrailBlazers, the vote was 147-0 in favor, so one hopes that this will carry forward and get signed. Doesn't mean there can't or won't be a special session, but it does mean the one issue that Governor Perry explicitly said could trigger one will be resolved. That's all one can hope for at this time.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 31, 2009 to That's our Lege