ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
The economy tops the list of concerns among Republicans and Democrats alike as they consider who will be the next president. That's certainly the case in Florida.
NPR's Greg Allen reports on some of the economic issues that Floridians face as they prepare to vote in Tuesday's primary.
GREGORY ALLEN: Although the primary is not until tomorrow, Floridians have been voting for nearly two weeks, mailing absentee ballots and at special early voting sites across the state.
In Miami-Dade County, Angel Alamager dropped into Coral Reef Library last week to cast his vote for Republican Rudy Giuliani. His main concern: the economy, in particular, the downturn in the housing market.
Mr. ANGEL ALAMAGER (Resident, Miami-Dade County): I've seen the price of houses drop significantly. I've seen my neighbor lose over $100,000 in selling their house just over an eight-month period. So it's impacted a lot of people.
ALLEN: Florida ranks second in the nation behind California in the number of foreclosures. Following the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, homeowners insurance skyrocketed. At the same time, property taxes have been rising dramatically, making homes and even modest neighborhoods unaffordable. What's made the property tax issue especially problematic in Florida is an amendment to the state constitution passed more than a decade ago. That limited increases in property tax assessments to 3 percent a year for longtime homeowners.
It has shifted an increasing share of the tax burden onto new residents, first-time homeowners, and owners of commercial property. A referendum aimed at fixing the growing inequity is on the ballot Tuesday. Florida's governor, Charlie Crist, is spearheading a campaign for its passage.
Governor CHARLIE CRIST (Republican, Florida): What people need is more of their hard-earned dollars in their pocket. And this tax cut amendment, January the 29th, will do exactly that.
ALLEN: Efforts to make Florida's other pressing problem, the high cost of homeowners insurance, part of the selection have been less successful. When Florida's legislature voted last year to move up the state's primary to January 29th, one motivation was to build support among presidential candidates for a national catastrophe insurance fund. The fund would help lower insurance costs for homeowners in high-risk coastal areas. Politicians here hope to make it Florida's version of ethanol, a parochial issue that presidential candidates could not fail to embrace as they campaigned in the state's early primary. But it hasn't quite turned out that way.
Senator JOHN McCAIN (Republican, Arizona; Presidential Candidate): In all due respect, the bill that was passed through the United States House of Representatives, it means $200 billion a year. Somebody's going to have to tell me where that comes from.
ALLEN: Coming off his win in South Carolina, Arizona Senator John McCain is in a neck-and-neck race with former Massachusetts senator Mitt Romney here in Florida. Neither candidate has embraced the idea of a CAT fund. Though both say they would consider some sort of regional pool that would help spread out the risk. Rudy Giuliani is the one Republican candidate who has endorsed it. And he's been running ads in Florida to try to use the issue to his advantage.
(Soundbite of political ad)
Unidentified Man: Some say we don't need a national catastrophe fund, that FEMA can handle disasters. Others say they haven't looked at it yet and want to sit down with insurance companies first. Only one Republican candidate has proven experience dealing with disaster.
ALLEN: But even while he's been talking up his support for a national CAT fund, Giuliani has watched his poll numbers continue to drop in the state. Lance deHaven-Smith, a political science professor at Florida State University, says while a national CAT fund should be appealing to Floridians, the issue has not resonated with voters.
Professor LANCE DEHAVEN-SMITH (Political Science, Florida State University): In Florida, everything is media-driven. It's all done on television. And if you can't say it in four or five words, it's a very difficult message to get out. It takes a long time. This is not something you can start talking about a week before the election and expect to make a difference with it.
ALLEN: On the other hand, it took Iowa politicians years to build support for ethanol subsidies. And while Republicans are divided, support for a national CAT fund is an issue that all the leading Democratic candidates for president agree on.
Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.