Greg Abbott to push plan to help homeowners build storm-hardened roofs

Gov. Greg Abbott plans to announce a legislative push on Wednesday for a $400 million grant fund to help homeowners fortify their roofs, which could help drive down home insurance costs. 

Abbott is set to discuss the proposal during a campaign stop at a Houston home that was damaged in the 2024 derecho. It is part of a series of policies the governor, seeking a record fourth term in office, plans to roll out in the coming weeks that are focused on affordability, a potential weak spot for Republicans in the upcoming midterms. 

BACKGROUND: Stronger roofs lower insurance costs. Why isn’t Texas helping homeowners build them?

“Keeping Texas affordable means helping hardworking families keep more of what they earn,” said Eduardo Leal, a spokesman for the governor’s campaign. “Gov. Abbott will be traveling the state to meet with Texas families and unveil commonsense policies that lower everyday costs, create more opportunity, and give Texans more freedom.” 

Home insurance premiums have skyrocketed across Texas in recent years, as the state led the country in losses from catastrophic weather. Homeowners paid about 80% more for a policy last year than they did in 2020 — roughly $3,500 for an average policy, up from $2,000.

Experts have said for years that one way to rein in rising costs is to make homes more resilient to extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change. 

“The problem is there are a limited number of things that you can do in a state where the vast majority of price increases are directly related to natural events,” said state Rep. Tom Oliverson, a Cypress Republican who made an unsuccessful push last session to create a grant program to harden homes. 

“What you have to do is lower the risk,” Oliverson said. “And so the governor very wisely sees that how do we get lower insurance costs in the state? We make our homes more resistant to damage.”

Oliverson said he worked with Abbott to craft the proposal, which is modeled on a program in Alabama that offers homeowners $10,000 grants to strengthen their roofs to a construction standard called Fortified, developed by the insurance industry and designed to withstand hurricane-force winds. 

Alabama’s program requires insurers to offer discounts to homeowners who upgrade their roofs. The state has more than 50,000 homes built or retrofitted to Fortified standards, most of them in risky areas along the coast. 

Oliverson’s bill – which the insurance industry overwhelmingly supported during a committee hearing last year – would have required the state’s insurance department to decide how much insurers should discount rates for fortified homes. The bill passed the House but died in the Senate.  

Oliverson said he would file “very similar” legislation when lawmakers convene again in January. 

Texas is the only Gulf Coast state that doesn’t offer incentives like grants to homeowners and mandatory insurance discounts for more resilient home construction.

The grant proposal is not the only measure Abbott will unveil Wednesday. He also plans to ask for legislation allowing all auto insurers to factor in driving records when setting rates so safer drivers pay less. (Current law only allows county mutual insurers to do so.) And the governor is pushing a major property tax overhaul that would cap appraisals and use the state surplus funds to eliminate school taxes for homeowners.

Democrats, including Abbott’s challenger, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, have homed in on affordability as they try to woo voters worried about the economy. Hinojosa earlier this month said she would declare an affordability emergency if elected governor and call on lawmakers to tap the state’s reserves to send $1,500 checks to every household in Texas. 

The focus on the cost of living comes as President Donald Trump has dismissed concerns nationally, saying last month that affordability is a “fake word, made up by Democrats.” 

In Texas, polling shows it’s a major concern. Voters ranked inflation and higher prices the most pressing issue facing the state in a University of Texas at Austin poll in June. The poll found independent voters were especially concerned about higher costs, with 23% ranking inflation the most important issue, compared to 18% of Democrats and 15% of Republicans. Forty-six percent of voters, meanwhile, said they believed the economy is worse than a year ago, while just 28% said it has improved.