Citizens' Funds To Be Loaned Rather Than Paid Out? Ron Reagan [R] Pushes Private Insurance Loans

"(The loans) are going to be paid back,'' Reagan said. "It's not a grant. We're not stealing it from (Citizens). We're paying it back."

--Rep. Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton

A quarter of a billion dollars that state-backed Citizens Property Insurance has set aside to pay claims could be moved to a fund that would instead lend the money to private insurers.

The transfer is part of the Florida House's budget bill and would revive a program established in 2006 that makes $250-million available as long-term, low-interest loans to new or recently established insurers.