Jenna Smith's favorite room inside her La Porte home is the large kitchen.

"I have a huge entertaining kitchen," she said. "When our family comes over, nobody goes into the dining room, they all want to be in the kitchen."

Her kitchen is where her family has made countless memories since moving in 11 years ago. It's where she and her husband Brian Smith raised their three kids and now, it's where their family gathers for birthdays and holidays since they became empty nesters.

They hope to live there as long as they can but fear they're being priced out. Brian Smith said their current insurance provider, Texas Fair Plan Association, will drop their coverage in April.

They've been on the hunt for another provider but most of the companies they've reached out to aren't covering their area. Brian Smith said he's had luck with just one provider, but they're asking for a $10,000 annual premium. That's more than double their current plan.

The Smiths are far from alone.

They joined nearly three dozen other residents Tuesday evening at a town hall in Clear Lake who are worried not only about hiking homeowners insurance rates but dwindling options in carriers.

"We live about 10 or 12 miles from water in La Porte, and nobody — nobody — will talk to us about insurance," Brian Smith said. "It's not even about high insurance, it's that nobody will insure us.".

John Cobarruvias, who organized the town hall, has been advocating for stricter regulations around homeowners insurance rates since Texas' 74th legislative session in 1995. He said prices have only skyrocketed since then.

In 2000, he said he was paying $750 in premiums with a $500 deductible for his home. His premium ballooned to $6,000 this year with a $9,000 deductible.

"And I’m one of the lucky ones," he said.

He's working with other residents on a strategy to focus lawmakers' attention on relieving the heavy burden of large premiums as the upcoming legislative session convenes next week.

"Their focus should be lower our premiums, reasonable deductibles, no loss of consumer rights, and no loss of coverage," Cobarruvias said.

e and others were disappointed and frustrated that state representatives Dennis Paul and Mayes Middleton did not attend even though they were invited.

"I invited them again months ago and I asked their staff to pick a date, that I'd work around it, I'll find a place for it," he said. "And I heard nothing from them."

Cobarruvias said he lives near Paul, whose district includes Clear Lake, and that they live close to Webster Activity Center where the event took place.

"It really bothers me that they did not show up here," he said. "I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on, it affects us all."

The evening was not only about airing out frustrations, they also discussed solutions to bring to lawmakers. Cobarruvias pointed to Fortified, a program Alabama adopted in 2009 that incentivizes homeowners to strengthen their homes.

Through the program, Alabama homeowners can get their premiums lowered by weatherproofing their houses.

"When you replace your roof, when you replace it with better materials, in exchange for that you get a reduction in your insurance premium," Cobarruvias explained to the group. "Sounds like a pretty good deal. Reduce the risk, lower premiums. What the hell was Texas doing for the last 15 years?"

Attendees said they will continue to ask lawmakers to explore similar policies throughout the legislative session and plan to make several trips to Austin together.

"The laws here in Texas do not favor the consumer," Cobarruvias said. "They all favor the home building industry, the insurance industry."