Arguing that "there is a limit to what a single state can do," Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty and other advocates for a federal role in natural catastrophe insurance urged congressional lawmakers at a Florida hearing last week to help local governments brace for the financial fallout of a natural disaster.

The regulator and other cat fund supporters delivered their remarks during a field session of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight in West Palm Beach, Fla., in which Sunshine State residents and officials detailed the troubles in the Florida homeowners' insurance market in the past few years.

Additionally, they offered support for legislation authored by Reps. Ron Klein, D-Fla., and Tim Mahoney, D-Fla., which would establish a national catastrophe fund to back state property insurance facilities, allow states to offer catastrophe bonds, and provide loans for mitigation programs.