The Senate Banking Committee is being urged to drop a provisionin flood-insurance legislation that would require homeowners andbusinesses to purchase federal flood coverage even if theirproperties are protected by levees.

“Areas protected by properly constructed and maintained levees,dams and other flood-control infrastructure should not bearbitrarily declared areas of special flood hazard,” reads a letterto the committee from 13 senators on both sides of the aisle.

Others vocally disagree. Ray Lehmann, a vice president of theHeartland Institute, which consults with the insurance industry oncatastrophe issues, said levees and other mitigation structuressometimes fail, and it is irresponsible public policy not torecognize that reality.

“We saw the devastating consequence of doing so most acutely inthe wake of Hurricane Katrina, when scores of homeowners found theywere inadequately insured because they faced no requirement topurchase flood protection,” Lehmann said.

The senators’ letter asked the committee’s leadership to removethe provision in the Senate’s version of a long-term NFIPextension, “The Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act.”

The bill passed the committee Sept. 8, but floor action has beenheld up because Senate leaders of both parties are using the billas an engine to attach unrelated provisions.

Rep. Barney Frank to Retire

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., one of the primary authors of thefinancial-services reform legislation passed by Congress last year,said he will not return after his term ends in 2013. Frank willhave served 32 years in Congress.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is next in line to succeed Frankas ranking minority member of the House Financial ServicesCommittee. Waters, however, is under scrutiny by the House EthicsCommittee for her role in aiding a troubled bank in which herhusband owns stock.

Next in line is Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y.

Frank, 71, had said in February that he would run forre-election, but said he changed his mind after his district waschanged to include several more conservative areas. Frank toldreporters he was too old to campaign in a new district and torepresent hundreds of thousands of new constituents.

“I think I’d win,” he added, but “it would have been a toughrace; I don’t like raising money.”

Joel Kopperud, director of government affairs for the Council ofInsurance Agents and Brokers, said, “It goes without saying that[Frank] was a real leader for members of the Financial ServicesCommittee and the industry as a whole.”

Kopperud said Frank “will be missed not only for his intellect,but his candor and humor—always making committee hearings a littlemore interesting.”

“During his long career, Frank showed an understanding andappreciation of our industry,” Leigh Ann Pusey, president and CEOof the American Insurance Association, said in a statement. “Thiswas particularly evident during his tenure as chairman of the HouseFinancial Services Committee.”

Ben McKay, senior vice president/government affairs for theProperty Casualty Insurers Association of America, called Frank “apassionate public servant…He remained committed to processthroughout the Dodd-Frank Act.”