The Senate approved legislation Sept. 26 that includes a provision keeping the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in business, at least through Nov. 18.
By a 79-12 vote, the Senate ended an impasse that threatened a government shutdown at midnight Sept. 30 by approving a continuing resolution that will keep the government funded for the next six weeks.
The key to the Senate vote was a determination by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that it had enough money to fund its emergency-loan program through the end of the current fiscal year without an additional infusion of government cash.
That allowed the Senate to forego a vote on a highly contentious bill that included a $1 billion replenishment provision that the House had refused to include in its continuing resolution passed Sept. 23. The House had demanded that any extra emergency FEMA funds should be fully offset by cuts in other government programs.
Charles Symington, senior vice president of government affairs for the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA), says, "This last-minute compromise clearly illustrates the need for a long-term extension of the NFIP. Thankfully the House has already passed its version of this much-needed legislation, and the IIABA strongly urges the Senate leadership to bring the Flood Insurance Modernization Act to the floor at the earliest opportunity."
Jimi Grande, senior vice president of federal and political affairs for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, says, "Congress had a duty to avoid a lapse in the NFIP by passing the short-term extension before Sept. 30." He adds that as the parties argued over FEMA-funding levels, they were missing the bigger point. "The House and Senate are very close to passing a bipartisan flood-insurance reform bill that will reduce the need for future disaster aid."
Grande adds: "The NFIP needs to more closely resemble a private-insurance model, thus reducing the under-funded risk exposure to the taxpayers. The reforms embodied in H.R. 1309 and the Senate bill take major steps toward achieving this end."
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