Five Cat Bills Introduced In U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON--Florida's two senators introduced five pieces of legislation today they described as "comprehensively" addressing issues related to national hurricane preparedness.

The bills sponsored by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Sen. Mel Martinez deal with ways to improve preparedness and response, reinsurance reform, tax credits for mitigation, and the potential for developing a national catastrophe fund.

Many of them were introduced last year but did not create much reaction in Congress. This year, the lawmakers said, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has promised the bills will get substantial scrutiny, starting with a hearing on hurricane-related issues April 11.

At the same time, Sen. Nelson, Florida's senior senator, made clear he did not want the legislative package to be intertwined with the efforts in Congress by some legislators to repeal the McCarran-Ferguson Act and insurers' limited antitrust exemption.

"I don't want to get [these bills] wound around that axle," Sen. Nelson said, contending that insurers "would fight to the death" to retain the law. "I hope our efforts don't get involved [with the battle] over McCarran-Ferguson," he said.

At the press conference Sens. Nelson and Martinez also said they are drafting legislation that would create a regional catastrophe fund that they hope would allow the federal government to provide incentives for states to join for that purpose.

They mentioned that their efforts to mitigate the cost of homeowners' insurance for Florida residents will include trying to reform and expand the National Flood Insurance Program.

The reason for the blizzard of legislation initiatives, the two admitted, is that homeowners' insurance in Florida is becoming unaffordable, and they want to create a debate leading to legislation that would make hurricane and tornado mitigation efforts a national program.

"The big one is coming," Sen. Nelson said, referring to a hurricane involving losses of $50 billion or more. He said no state or insurance company could afford to pay such losses, and the federal government would clearly be the savior of last resort, as it is for most national disasters.