A new bill filed the U.S. House of Representatives would phase out the National Flood Insurance Program, leaving about 5 million property owners in jeopardy.
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Candice Miller
Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) is sponsoring the National Flood Insurance Program Termination Act of 2010, which would end funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the program Dec. 31, 2013. The bill also seeks an immediate end to remapping efforts funded previously.
The program is set to expire this Sept. 30, after being extended late last year for a short term. Miller’s bill does not extend funding for the intervening two years, leaving further uncertainty about its future.
After decades of five-year extensions, the program has been kicked down the road with five short-term extensions, three in 2010, and two lapses in funding since its last long-term extension expired Sept. 30. 2008.
The uncertainty about the program’s future has made it hard for insurance agents who offer it and the property owners who count on it when buying or selling properties.
The NFIP provides coverage that other insurers have not provided because of the risk.
But as Congress looks for ways to cut the $14 trillion federal deficit, the NFIP provides a good target, according to Ryan Young, senior director of federal government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big I) said in early February. “This will be a huge issue for us,” Young said at a Virginia Day on the Hill legislative update in Richmond, Va.
Republicans, who earned the majority in the House in the 2010 midterm elections, have been aggressively pursuing budget cuts, saying the deficit grew too much under Democrats in Congress and in the White House.
“A lot of legislators will wants to cut budgets, and that could put the flood insurance program in a bad position,” Young said.
Congress asked to end National Flood Insurance Program in 2013 via IFAwebnews.com .
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