The House passed a bill on May 30 under expedited procedures that extends the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until July 31.
The bill, H.R. 5740, also includes a provision demanded by the Senate that will phase out subsidies on second homes over four years, effective July 1.
The Senate had already passed its 60-day extension on May 23.
Based on commitments by the Senate leadership, the House action raises the likelihood that legislation reauthorizing the program until Sept. 30, 2016 could be passed by Congress before it leaves for its summer recess Aug. 3, one industry lobbyist tells NU.
Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has indicated that he hopes the full Senate will act on S. 1940—the Senate's five-year extension plan—within two weeks of returning from its Memorial Day recess June 4. That would set the stage for reconciling S. 1940 with H.R. 1309, the House's five-year extension passed last July.
If the House had not acted by May 31, the NFIP's previous reauthorization would have run out. A lapse was avoided, however, when the House passed the 60-day extension by voice vote.
The first market impact of the House vote will be a 25 percent increase in flood-insurance rates for any property that is not a primary residence—a provision that Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., demanded as his price for allowing the 60-day extension to be approved in the Senate.
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