Lawmakers in Washington are hoping to pass within the next several weeks an extension of the pivotal National Flood Insurance Program before it reaches its expiration date of September 30.
The program, which was first created by Congress in 1968, currently insures more than 5 million homes nationally, and provides hundreds of thousands of dollars of flood coverage when required for a federally backed mortgage.
What is officially called the National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act will extend the program for five years, cap annual premium increases, and include affordability provisions for low- and middle-income policy holders.
The bill additionally includes a provision increasing federal funding for mitigation grants, while also modernizing mapping technology in order to reduce flood risks more effectively.
In a statement, Matthew Chase, executive director of the National Association of Counties, said the reauthorization legislation, if passed, will “provide much-needed long-term certainty and key reforms that would benefit counties and our residents.”
Continuance of the program, said New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, also in a statement, is particularly needed is view of “disastrous flooding events” that have become “all the more common.”
Lawmakers have said that they particularly want to bring greater financial accountability to a program that, according to a report issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, owned $20.5 billion in loans to the U.S. Treasury as of late last year.
The reauthorization legislation is currently under review in the House Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
By Garry Boulard
