National Flood Insurance Program Extended to January 19th

On Thursday, December 21, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend the National Flood Insurance Program once more, as part of a continuing resolution to keep the U.S. government open until Jan. 19. This vote was followed by U.S. Senate approval, and will temporarily avoid a government shutdown.

In response to this decision, SmarterSafer* noted:“Kicking the can down the road is not a viable way to preserve the nation’s broken and bankrupt flood insurance system, especially as countless communities continue to recover from this year’s devastating hurricane season. Although we are pleased that Congress has avoided a lapse in the program, temporary extensions maintain an unsustainable status quo that resulted in a $45 billion taxpayer bailout and inadequate incentives for important mitigation measures. With the NFIP now set to expire on January 19th, we urge lawmakers to use this time to pass much-needed reforms to the NFIP, so the program can better protect lives, property and taxpayer dollars from a future of more frequent and severe storms.”

The House adopted a bill in November to reauthorize the NFIP for five years, implementing several new forms, but the Senate has yet to vote on it. Currently, the program is about $25 billion in debt.

To read more, visit the original article here. 

*SmarterSafer is a a national coalition of taxpayer advocates, environmental groups, insurance interests, housing organizations and mitigation advocates

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Harvey