Years of toil preceded windstorm insurance law

CORPUS CHRISTI - There was a different mood in Austin this year when Coastal Bend legislators began what had become their biennial crusade for windstorm insurance reform.

Previously it was seen as a Texas versus its coast fight. Before 2013, the battleground was over windstorm insurance legislation typically unfavorable to coastal residents.

"History shows all we had was barriers, and the insurance industry special interests were stacked against everybody on the coastline," said Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi, who spearheaded the effort in the Texas House of Representatives.

But history didn't repeat this year as the conversation was about a unified Texas and the bill's focus was on coastal ratepayers. The fight culminated this week when Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB900 into law. It was a bill drafted by Hunter and favorable to coastal Texans, and it stands in stark contrast to the numerous windstorm reform efforts that had passed and failed in Austin during the past decade.

Read more: http://www.caller.com/news/politics/state/years-of-toil-preceded-windstorm-insurance-law_03900986