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Senate committee backs task force to study rising home and commercial insurance costs
Summary
The Minnesota Senate State and Local Government Committee recommended passage of Senate File 2205, which would convene a task force to investigate escalating homeowners, multifamily and small-business insurance costs in the state.
Senate File 2205, a bill to form a task force on homeownership and commercial property insurance, was recommended to pass and referred to the rules committee after members adopted an author's amendment and heard testimony on rapidly rising premiums.
Senator John Port told the committee that the state is seeing “a multiple sector insurance crisis in Minnesota,” citing a Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis report he said found multifamily providers saw “an average 45% increase in premiums and a 700% increase in deductibles over the past 3 years.” Port said the task force outlined in Senate File 2205 would convene after the 2025 legislative session and include lawmakers, the Department of Commerce, insurance industry experts and community development organizations representing multifamily housing, affordable homeownership and small business economic development. Key focus areas, he said, would include cost drivers, a review of liability laws, data collection and “the potential for a state supported reinsurance or insurance fund.”
Julia Nurbin, executive director of Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light, told the committee the issue is affecting homeowners directly and described recent local storm damage: “Many of you all probably experienced the hailstorm that happened in 2023 on August 11. It was only a 25 minute storm, but it was an $1,800,000,000 weather event. … Since then on my block in South Minneapolis, over half the houses had people's roofs being replaced.” Nurbin said her neighborhood’s policy rose by $555 in 2024, “That's a 30% increase in 1 year,” and urged that the task force include members who will examine historic redlining and insurance access equity.
Committee members adopted the author’s A4 amendment before voting to recommend the bill and refer it to the rules committee. Senator Port told members he expects to add a final amendment on membership on the Senate floor prior to a full Senate vote.
The bill will move next to the rules committee for further consideration.
