A letter, signed by a coalition of Republican and Democratic senators, asks Senate leadership to bring a long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program to the floor for a vote as soon as possible.
The letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) would extend the flood insurance program, which covers flood-prone properties for about 5.6 million property owners in the U.S., would extend the measure for five years. For more than two years, Congress has extended the NFIP for brief periods.
Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and David Vitter (R-La.), who held a press conference today (Feb. 14) to call attention to the letter and the need for the reauthorization, said short-term extensions of the NFIP are harming the program, noting 53 days of temporary lapses in 2010 resulted in the delay or cancellation of more than 1,400 home closings per day, further damaging an already fragile housing market.
The NFIP is scheduled to run out of funding May 31.
The U.S. House passed a five-year reauthorization bill, with overwhelming bipartisan support, in July, but the Senate’s approval stopped at the Banking Committee’s approval last September.
“The Senate should take this opportunity to capitalize on the bipartisan efforts by both the Senate Banking Committee and the House of Representatives thus far to make major improvements to this important program,” said the letter, penned by . “We sincerely believe that, with a concerted effort on the part of Senate and Banking Committee leadership, as well as interested senators, the bill can be brought to the floor of the Senate, debated and passed as soon as possible in order to ensure this process is completed before the NFIP expires at the end of May.”
The bill before the Senate, which differs from the House bill, would reform the program in ways many environmental and insurance groups support.
Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, an advocacy group, said in a statement: “Flood insurance reform would move the program toward rates commensurate with risk and give taxpayers greater assurance that their pocket wasn’t going to be picked to pay for someone else’s decisions.”
William Robert Irvin, president of American Rivers, another advocacy group, said the bill will be “a big step forward to improve the way we communicate and manage flood risk.”
Charles M. Chamness, president and CEO of the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said th program is vital since flooding is the most common natural disaster in the U.S.
“A long-term extension will provide much needed certainty to the recovering economy by protecting homeowners and businesses while easing the burden on taxpayers, Chamness said. “In a sharply divided Congress, flood insurance reform receives rare but overwhelming bipartisan support.”
Frank Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America, said the program encourages “a public-private sector approach to financing flood risk.”
The NFIP is nearly $18 billion in debt to federal taxpayers and that amount is likely to increase as a result of unprecedented flooding in 2011, according to the latest estimates. The program has more than $1.25 trillion in exposure.
Senators urge leadership to vote on long-term NFIP extension via IFAwebnews.com .
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