Saud Anwar

Senators Cassano, Anwar, and Osten Praise Addition of $10 Million in Healthy Homes Funds to CFSIC

HARTFORD – The Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company (CFSIC) has announced it has received $10.6 million in Healthy Homes funds, $2.1 million more than it was budgeted to receive.

State Senators Steve Cassano (D-Manchester), Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor) and Cathy Osten (D-Sprague), whose districts and constituents have been significantly impacted by pyrrhotite-affected home foundations, today praised the funding, which they voted to create.

In 2017, the bipartisan budget approved $100 million in bonding for grants to homes affected by pyrrhotite. It also created the Connecticut Foundation Solutions Indemnity Company, which will oversee and administer the grant program.

During the 2018 legislative session, Democrats in the legislature passed House Bill 5209, “An Act Imposing a Surcharge on Certain Insurance Policies and Establishing the Healthy Homes Fund,” which put a $12 surcharge on a homeowner’s insurance policy, beginning on January 1, 2019. 85% of the funds generated goes to the CFSIC and is used to fix homes with crumbling foundations. $10.2 million will be raised every year for 11 years through the surcharge.

“Time and again we’ve seen the devastating impact that crumbling foundations has on people’s homes and livelihood,” said Senator Cassano. “Over the years as co-chair of the legislature’s Planning and Development Committee, I’m proud to have worked alongside my Democratic colleagues toward addressing this issue. The creation of the Healthy Homes Fund is a product of that work and I’m thrilled that these funds raised will go toward helping homeowners affected by this crisis.”

“In recent years, we have seen the extreme impacts of crumbling foundations on thousands of homeowners across the state,” said Senator Anwar. “These funds will go a long way to help these individuals recover from the extensive damage they’ve experienced as part of this problem, which occurred through no fault of their own. I look forward to finding additional strategies that can further counter this awful trend.”

“Banks, insurance companies, private-sector contractors and the federal government all refused to help homeowners whose biggest investment of their lifetime – their home – was literally crumbling beneath their feet, through no fault of their own,” said Senator Osten “But the residents that I represent in Hebron, Marlborough, Columbia and Franklin who are faced with this crisis can be assured that the State of Connecticut has stepped in and will assist them in rebuilding their homes and their investment. It is absolutely the right thing to do and I am proud to have voted for the legislation that created and funded this indemnity company that is helping so many Connecticut residents save their homes.”