Leader Chippendale: 2026 H7865 SUB A - Opposes Unfunded Weather-Related Losses Program (5526)

We do see efforts like this across the country, and I don't necessarily think that this sort of mindfulness and preparation is bad, but I have some serious concerns with the bill, and it's contrasted by experience I do have with a state that runs a similar program. This program is being created without any funding secured. That's one of the issues that I think we have here. I won't say it's cart before the horse, but it's in that ballpark. It's creating a revolving fund, and the executive branch will have the spending authority outside the normal budget appropriation process. It diverts money into the general fund, so a portion of that is being squeezed off. 15% is going into the bottomless pit of the general fund. These are home-hardening dollars. They should be used for home-hardening, not for our general fund. We let outside funders set the rules for how the money is going to be used. They will essentially be writing some of the regulations on how this can be used. We are opening it to nonprofit entities, which can be good. It can also create a pipeline of favoritism. We give DBR extremely broad discretion over the income tiers, who will qualify. It's income-based. Eligibility is location-based. They're deciding it all, not us, the lawmakers. Prioritizing on income, I understand, but if our goal is to harden our homes, it shouldn't matter how much that person necessarily earns or is worth. It should be based on the goal. It excludes condos, which makes no sense to me. We're requiring the homeowners to pay the transaction fees, insurance costs, and any contractor costs above the grant. Where I've seen this work is a state I'm very familiar with, which is North Carolina. It didn't matter how much you made or how much your house was worth. It was funded ahead of time. They went around, and they would give you a specific amount if you embraced the hurricane-proof roofing, regardless of who you were, because hurricanes don't care how rich or poor you are. The money was secured in advance. Everyone knew what was happening. Contractors were very smart. They went around and said, hey, your roof is about a $12,000 roof. The state will give you $10,000. Don't worry about that. I'll do the roof for $2,000 right now, and I'll wait for the state to pay me. People lined up to do it. Houses are hardened all up and down the southern coast of North Carolina and northern North Carolina because of this. Interestingly enough, North Carolina since 2006 had six hurricanes. Why don't I see it in my notes? A whole bunch of tropical storms. In contrast, Rhode Island has had no hurricanes. I'm not so sure that we're creating an unfunded program that is addressing a specific issue. I'm not very comfortable with how this is structured so loosely and how we're giving a lot of our decision-making authority, particularly appropriation authority, over to the executive branch. For those reasons, I will be opposed to this. Thank you.