ORLANDO, Fla. – People who have been rejected from getting Florida government help to hurricane-proof their homes may get a second chance under a bill filed by an Orlando-area lawmaker.
State Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis, D-Ocoee, filed SB 1148 before the Florida legislative session, which opened Tuesday.
The popular My Safe Florida Home program provides matching grants to residents who want to do home hardening upgrades, like adding hurricane-resistant windows or doors. Successful applicants can get up to $10,000 to reimburse their investment.
[WATCH: My Safe Florida Home program applications open, prioritize low-income Floridians]
Right now, people who are rejected from the My Safe Florida Home program get a second chance to file an application if their first one was denied or withdrawn because of errors or omissions.
SB 1148 expands the second-chance process to include people whose applications were deemed abandoned for program compliance, including failure to timely finalize construction and a request for a final inspection.
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The state would have to notify people that their application is going to be abandoned and give them five days to fix the problem.
Bracy Davis says she has talked to several constituents who say they were locked out of the program because of honest mistakes, like missing an email that went to spam, or incorrectly reporting income.
“These are hardworking Floridians who paid out of pocket, followed the process, and tried to do the right thing, only to be permanently disqualified by confusing rules and rigid bureaucracy,” Bracy Davis told News 6. “That’s not accountability, that’s the system standing in the way of people who are acting in good faith. This bill is about restoring fairness, common sense, and access, and making sure one mistake doesn’t shut families out forever.”
State Rep. Mitch Rosenwald, D-Oakland Park, filed the companion bill, HB 1045, in the Florida House.
If signed into law, the bill would go into effect July 1.
The My Safe Florida Home program is currently open for applications. If you want to apply for help, you can create an application on the state’s website.