WASHINGTON, DC – Fox 26 Houston reported today that Governor Greg Abbott is proposing a $400 million taxpayer-funded grant program to help Texans reinforce their roofs, modeled on Alabama’s home hardening initiative. The announcement comes after repeated calls by Texas Democratic legislators and Unlocking America’s Future for immediate action by elected officials and regulators to address this crisis. Unlocking America’s Future’s spokesperson Jayson O’Neill told Fox 26 that Texas’ insurance crisis is putting homeownership out of reach for families in an interview following the announcement. Home insurance premiums have skyrocketed in Texas, eating into more and more of families’ and small businesses’ budgets.
Home hardening works, and Alabama’s results prove it. But Texas lawmakers had a nearly identical proposal in front of them last year, and it died without as much as a word from Governor Abbott or his appointed insurance commissioner. In the 2025 session, HB 1576 would have required insurers to offer resilience discounts, but the Insurance Council of Texas lobbied to water the mandate down to a vague standard left entirely up to insurers. Despite weakening the needed legislation, it still died in the Senate Business & Commerce Committee, which has killed three resilience bills in the past two sessions.
“Reinforcing roofs is a good idea, but Texans shouldn’t have had to wait years and front a $400 million taxpayer bill for something the Governor, state legislature, and insurance industry could have delivered long ago,” said Jayson O’Neill, spokesperson for Unlocking America’s Future. “Governor Abbott has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the same insurance industry that killed real reform in his Republican-controlled legislature in the past. Texans deserve to know why relief has been delayed and why it only gets proposed once it’s election season and funded by them instead of the insurance corporations profiting off their premiums.”
Home insurance corporations experienced record profits in 2025. Ranked the third worst in nation for monthly home insurance costs, the average Texas policyholder now spends $331 on monthly insurance costs, which comprise 14.4% of total household costs. Meanwhile, mortgage delinquencies among first-time homebuyers is climbing in the Lone Star state. According to a study by the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, insurers are overcharging at least $150 billion in inflated premiums.
What UAF’s Research Has Found:
- Texas home insurance rates have increased 55% since 2020, with homeowners now paying one of the highest rates in the nation.
- Texas has the highest consumer debt burdens, and the 7th highest mortgage delinquency rate in the country.
- Since 2016, the insurance industry has contributed over $8.98 million to Texas state candidates, 87% of it to Republicans.
- Gov. Abbott received over $700,000 from the insurance industry during his 2022 reelection campaign.
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